How may people keep a car for a long time...

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I purchased at least three of my Turbo Mopars from towing auctions, They were in various stages of disrepair from a bad axle to a bad head gasket.
 
The Escape is the longest to date. Almost 9 years and over 100k and don't plan on ever getting rid of it. The 2 runner up's would be the 88 GMC S15 and 00 F150 Supercab Lariat, both were owned 5 years and 50k. The 88 was a costly affair to keep though, multiple computers and alot of sensors. In comparison the F150 only needed 2 door lock actuators. The Focus would be next had it 4 years and over 40k but has been in the family 11 years.

Coming from a family that gets new cars every 3-4 years and typically less than 60k I'm the black sheep. Granted I take care of mine better than I should and they still drive and look new even after 9 years. If you don't take care of anything it isn't going to last.. may it be vacuum cleaners, heaters anything! Got to thinking the other day and I have household appliances that could get driver's licenses!
 
We've had the Tracker since new, probably won't sell it ever as now its not worth much, and its handy to have around the farm when it gets taken off the road. I think we will keep the Focus for quite a while too as its simple transportation with lots of cargo space for the kids stuff.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
The NOS rebuilt kit for the engine, the machine work, clutch kit, radiator and transmission bearings and seals plus misc parts may have cost me about $1,000. I consider my labor to be worth nothing. I really enjoyed doing the work and taking my time to do everything with great care. I used the best of everything. At least it was money well spent. And it's better than the cost of depreciation and loan interest if I did the typical thing of starting over with car payments. The real truth is that I like the car. It has lots of room inside, drives well and gets good gas mileage. I average 37 mpg in mixed driving. The real key to keeping a car a long time is good weather, garage parking, good maintenance and reasonable driving habits and actually liking the car.



I've owned lots of other cars in my time. My wife and I tried to list them all and got to about 50 before quitting. Many of them were purchased to fix up and sell but I usually drove some of them around for a while before letting them go.

A friend that owned a new car dealership used my cash to purchase some trade-ins to keep them out of the deal. It was good cash flow for me and made his life a lot less complicated. There are about 5 or 6 cars I now know I should have kept but it's too late now.





This is as far as I could make it. So, if replacing parts is not maintenance then why not get a reusable stainless steel oil filter. Do you wait for it to fail before replacing it? How about brake pads, they squeal indicating time to replace, yet they still stop the car. So is the car no longer original since you change out the brake pads?

Way to go, I hear a lot of folks purchasing rebuilt parts instead of overhauling the factory originals. You spent extra time and used expertise in exchange for a swap.

OEJ, I don't know if these folks are trolling you or are seriously baffled!
 
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OEJ, what did your oil consumption go from before the rebuild to, after the rebuild.


I used to keep cars for about 4 yrs, but this Saturn I had, I kept it for six and 170k. Now I am looking for something that I can keep for a good while.
 
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My wife's '06 HHR is longest time frame we have ever kept a car. Purchased new in July of '06 it has been with us for 8.5 years. We have kept it because it's paid for and we really don't want a payment just to have a new car. She drives it locally and take care of the car so its fine for another year or two but she wants Mini Countryman so that may be in the near future.

The F-150 sold last week I owned for 7 years. I purchased it used in '05 and I purchased a new KTM every 2 to 3 years since 1990 depending on how much I ride so this year may be the first time I have ever gone this long on a bike. Probably getting a new one in March or April.
 
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I've had the Mazdaspeed for almost 8 years and 148k. It's been my daily driver almost the entire time. It needed some unscheduled work under warranty, but since then I've only replaced the thermostat, the serpentine belt, and the front anti-roll bar bushings. Everything else I've added has been solely for fun(Michelin PSS, Koni FSDs, Hypertech tune, JBR rear anti-roll bar w/billet bushing brackets, and an E-Focus rear motor mount).
 
I buy new, maintain them and run them for at least 10 years, usually longer. Currently the wife's 2005 Explorer is 9 1/2 years old. It has 162,000+ miles on it. It has had good maintenance done. The Explorer is surprisingly rust free and it runs great and looks great. My 2002 13 year old F-150 is suffering from the effects of the NJ salted roads greater than the Explorer. Both sit outdoors on a stone driveway. Mechanically it's fine however. I'm yearly making an effort to slow the rust progression down. Just normal maintenance has been done. Lastly I have a 1996 Ford Contour that turned 19 this December. It has had only normal maintenance and very little else. It's garaged for the winter so it's rust free. It runs great and is a blast to drive, a 5 sp mt. It's a keeper for as long parts are available.

Whimsey
 
Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
OEJ, what did your oil consumption go from before the rebuild to, after the rebuild.

I used to keep cars for about 4 yrs, but this Saturn I had, I kept it for six and 170k. Now I am looking for something that I can keep for a good while.



At about 350K I noticed that the oil level started moving down on the dipstick between oil changes. As the oil consumption continued to increase I moved up in viscosity from 5w-30 to 10w-40, then 20w-50 and finally to 20w-60 over a 5 year period. I used the 20w-60 (actually motorcycle oil) for about a year and then the car failed smog because of visible smoke and then came the rebuild. At the time I was really frustrated because the compression was within new car specs and even between cylinders. It passed a leak down, as well. During this time I replaced the valve guide seals twice with no real change noticed.

Early on I used Auto-Rx and the oil consumption stopped for a while. But about a year or two later it started up again. At first the rings were probably wearing and getting stuck and the Auto-Rx was well worth the investment and the car actually passed smog twice with Auto-Rx. The test is required every 2 years. Finally it was time to actually replace the rings and so I did the rebuild. Once I had it apart I did the while engine. And now I use 0w-30 engine oil and I continue to use Red Lines MTL.

Someone posted that it's not the same car, anymore. I went out to the garage and checked. The car there is the same color, has the same scratches, same license plate and the same engine and VIN numbers so I must be living in someone's parallel universe. Oh, and my secret emergency 20 dollar bill is in the same hidie hole along with the flashlight and toolkit, spare fuses and bulbs.
 
I've owned my GTI longer than any other vehicle. Over five years now... at the rate I'm going I'll probably get another five years out of it. At that point maybe I'll gut it and turn it into a track rat.
 
I've had my 1995 Club Sport since November 1995; it's not my daily driver but it does serve as my track rat a couple of times per year.
 
One Eye Jack-you said
"The car has been completely reliable and I have no plans to every sell it or stop using it every day. Tell me about your long term daily driver."

You never mentioned in order to keep it road worthy (i.e. reliable) you went in to the motor. Whatever the reason(s)was (in this case emissions). So-it doesn't have the same INTERNAL FACTORY PARTS it left with. As a matter of a fact-if you wouldn't have performed this REPAIR-you couldn't have continued to drive it every day.

I still maintain it's not the same car that left the factory.
 
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Most of those here have never owned a Civic of this generation, so they have no appreciation for the care that went into designing these cars.
Nothing new can match the combination of light weight, interior space, good handling, zingy engine and great shifting of these old Civics.
In many ways, these cars were the peak of Honda design.
I liked the Wagons we had.
Our '12 Accord is a bloated boat in comparison, although much roomier and faster. Fuel economy isn't all that much worse either.
I could hit 40 mpg with our old Civic Wagons while the Accord delivers 34+ mpg on a long trip at speeds kept below 85 mph or so.
 
Originally Posted By: CKN
One Eye Jack-you said
"The car has been completely reliable and I have no plans to every sell it or stop using it every day. Tell me about your long term daily driver."

You never mentioned in order to keep it road worthy (i.e. reliable) you went in to the motor. Whatever the reason(s)was (in this case emissions). So-it doesn't have the same INTERNAL FACTORY PARTS it left with. As a matter of a fact-if you wouldn't have performed this REPAIR-you couldn't have continued to drive it every day.

I still maintain it's not the same car that left the factory.



Besides bearings, pistons, rings and gaskets the internals are the same. And those parts were NOS parts just like the originals. The head was redone but no new parts. Do you have a list of specific things that would cause this car to be a completely different car if changed? I assume that I could change the oil and oil filter and have the same car but what about say, a coolant hose. Or would it have to be 2 hoses. You could not continue to drive the car with a leaky hose. Or what if I had a flat tire and had to replace the tire because I could not continue to drive the car with a bad tire? And we can't forget the brakes. Would changing the pads and shoes be okay but not the caliper? I'd really like to see a list. And when this happens what about the registration? This sounds complicated. And none of the rest of the car gets any notice for being reliable like the window regulators or switches or the w/s wiper motor and linkage? This could get complicated. I sure hope you share your list with is. Inquiring minds would like to know.

You need to get in touch with this guy and let him know his record is not valid. He's had his engine rebuilt a couple of time and has changed almost every wear part a couple of time. This could need he's been driving 3 or 4 different cars and never knew it. Be diplomatic about it because this will really be bad news.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack


You need to get in touch with this guy and let him know his record is not valid. He's had his engine rebuilt a couple of time and has changed almost every wear part a couple of time. This could need he's been driving 3 or 4 different cars and never knew it. Be diplomatic about it because this will really be bad news.


I think his point is that when most people brag about wringing X amount of mileage out of a car it is made in respect to an engine with untouched internals (like the million mile Ford van). As soon as you've been into it, you can't make that claim (like the Volvo guy). The Volvo record is for a single driver in a single vehicle, not miles on an engine. That feat is doable with any car as long as you don't live in the rust belt and don't mind swapping out components when they catch the dead. The thing is that very few people are willing to drive one vehicle that long and put that much money into one.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Originally Posted By: CKN
One Eye Jack-you said
"The car has been completely reliable and I have no plans to every sell it or stop using it every day. Tell me about your long term daily driver."

You never mentioned in order to keep it road worthy (i.e. reliable) you went in to the motor. Whatever the reason(s)was (in this case emissions). So-it doesn't have the same INTERNAL FACTORY PARTS it left with. As a matter of a fact-if you wouldn't have performed this REPAIR-you couldn't have continued to drive it every day.

I still maintain it's not the same car that left the factory.



Besides bearings, pistons, rings and gaskets the internals are the same. And those parts were NOS parts just like the originals. The head was redone but no new parts. Do you have a list of specific things that would cause this car to be a completely different car if changed? I assume that I could change the oil and oil filter and have the same car but what about say, a coolant hose. Or would it have to be 2 hoses. You could not continue to drive the car with a leaky hose. Or what if I had a flat tire and had to replace the tire because I could not continue to drive the car with a bad tire? And we can't forget the brakes. Would changing the pads and shoes be okay but not the caliper? I'd really like to see a list. And when this happens what about the registration? This sounds complicated. And none of the rest of the car gets any notice for being reliable like the window regulators or switches or the w/s wiper motor and linkage? This could get complicated. I sure hope you share your list with is. Inquiring minds would like to know.

You need to get in touch with this guy and let him know his record is not valid. He's had his engine rebuilt a couple of time and has changed almost every wear part a couple of time. This could need he's been driving 3 or 4 different cars and never knew it. Be diplomatic about it because this will really be bad news.


Bearings,pistons and rings in my opinion disqualify that vehicle. Period.
It HILLARIOUS to even call that original.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
That feat is doable with any car as long as you don't live in the rust belt and don't mind swapping out components when they catch the dead. The thing is that very few people are willing to drive one vehicle that long and put that much money into one.



That's true, assuming there is parts availability or the parts can be fabricated, but some cars make it much easier to do than others. Low volume cars are harder and often prohibitively expensive to do this with. A Civic or E-Series van will go as long as you want it to if it doesn't get rusty, and that is a form of reliability in itself. Just being able to fix it easily and get parts now. Ultimately, reliability is minimal amount of inconvenience for the miles driven. A 1990s Corvette has an engine that can absolutely do high miles, the electronics, not so much. The million mile E-Series is the example of examples for running on the unopened engine and trans, but it was getting good maintenance and had the ideal duty cycle to pull that off. It was driven more like a semi truck is than the average commuter car, and is a fairly simple vehicle with forever parts availability.

Even with a refresh of the original engine and trans, I would say OP's car qualifies as reliable. Those things were done to keep the car in tip top shape, not because it had a catastrophic failure. Even when the transmission was done, I bet the car still exceeded the average mileage of cars on the road, and 420K on the engine is totally acceptable. Is it totally original? No. Nothing with a ton of miles ever is. Is it reliable? Yes. Is it a testament to how good the car is? I would say so...when major components did need refreshing, it was worth doing, and was apparently not a major inconvenience. He hasn't been sticking a Jasper engine and trans in it every 100K.

We have a 2004 Silverado 1500 V8 at work that is fast approaching 400K on the original engine, no internal engine work at all. I think it may have had one transmission, but I can't remember for sure. No more than one replacement, so it's still averaging 200K per 4L60E at least which is pretty good. There is a blend door knocking like crazy somewhere in the dash though, among other feature issues. CEL has been on a long time, probably for various reasons that haven't been investigated. The last time I drove it, the oil level warning came on and the PS sounded like a dying whale. I added nearly a quart of PS fluid, 2 quarts of oil, and a half gallon of coolant. When the engine or trans goes out, it will be junked as it's just worn out overall...seats are mush, steering wheel is getting down to metal at the top, body is trashed, etc. We ran another one (but with a 4.3 V6) to 425K before the engine went boom...distributor gear came apart, and it went to the back lot and has been partially stripped of useful things. AL's lack of state inspections have been somewhat conducive to their long life at minimal cost, and there are a LOT of old vehicles in this state. Vehicles over 20 years old are a very common sight here.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack


You need to get in touch with this guy and let him know his record is not valid. He's had his engine rebuilt a couple of time and has changed almost every wear part a couple of time. This could need he's been driving 3 or 4 different cars and never knew it. Be diplomatic about it because this will really be bad news.


I think his point is that when most people brag about wringing X amount of mileage out of a car it is made in respect to an engine with untouched internals (like the million mile Ford van). As soon as you've been into it, you can't make that claim (like the Volvo guy). The Volvo record is for a single driver in a single vehicle, not miles on an engine. That feat is doable with any car as long as you don't live in the rust belt and don't mind swapping out components when they catch the dead. The thing is that very few people are willing to drive one vehicle that long and put that much money into one.



Exactly. To say it has been reliable is IMHO disingenuous. Just about ANY car can go a half-million miles if you throw parts at it.
 
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My post was about the car itself not just the engine. So if someone thinks that at 420K when the engine was redone means the car has failed then I'm driving a failed vehicle. I think that the rebuild was accomplished without replacing any major pieces except the pistons means that the engine is long lasting and reliable. The crank was just polished and the pistons are standard size, not oversize. The bores were just cleaned up. There was no taper or ridge and no glazing. The head was rebuild and the exhaust valves were not replaced, or the guides. Now with about 12K miles on the rebuild the oil level on the dipstick does not move between oil changes. I would say the engine is wearing gracefully and I'm expecting to not live long enough to have to do it again.

My idea of "not original" would be a modified engine or a different model engine. My original post was about a car that was purchased new by me and maintained by me except for things like wheel alignment and smog tests. All the engine parts were the exact model and NOS. It's also about all the body hardware that has been zero problems, too.

Today I finished installing an NOS master cylinder, the first such replacement. I attribute the long life of the master cylinder to replacing the brake fluid every 2 years. Neither front caliper has been rebuilt but I'm going to look for rebuild kits. The rear cylinders were replaced last year when one showed some slight seepage when I redid the brakes. I did not replace the master until I could find an NOS one at a price I wanted to pay. I replaced it as a safety measure because of it's age. When I took the old one apart it looked okay but I feel better with the new one in place.
 
I am glad you really like your Honda and it's well cared for. Your probably way ahead of those of us who purchase newer cars that are just about impossible to get your hand in to the engine compartment, and can't be worked on without an OBD reader.
 
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