Make your car last 200,000 miles -CR
- Thread starter John K
- Start date
- Status
It doesn't seem hard to me. My Mazda is at 227k and climbing - runs great. My brother did very little maintenance and got 200k before he sold his Mazda. My mom's Nissan is over 200k now - oil changes and an alternator; still on the timing chain. My sister's Toyota will be hitting 170k soon. All cars are on their original clutch/tranny and most on the original rotors too.
200k isn't a big deal when you have no rust/corrosion to worry about.
200k isn't a big deal when you have no rust/corrosion to worry about.
IMO, it's much easier to hit 200K+ in any car if you live in the Southwestern states/California than it is if you live in the Northern/Northeastern states.
The bigest big ticket item on most domestic's that usualy fails to last 150,000 mile let alone 200,000 miles is the transmission. Even on pickup trucks if you had 10 0f them used the same way with the same service interval's 7 out of 10 of them will have to have a transmission replaced before 100,000 miles. The engines almost never fail out right it is usualy the alternator,starter,ingnition controls,fuel pump, fuel injector's etc, rotor,pads,wheel bearing/hub assembly,blower motor and window regulator's... that seem to nickle and dime you to death!
it's also much easier to make a new car last 200K miles. I think it's age that breaks them.
You might just as well say that 15-16 yrs is the practical life of a vehicle. Most current new vehicles are capable of 200K if they are reasonably maintained (299K if owned by a BITOGer or similar).
They do age out, however, with rust, sun damage to the paint and interiors, and so on.
Back to point, if you drive any car enough, it can probably see 200K without major work. If your mileage per year is limited, you'll never have a 200K vehicle.
They do age out, however, with rust, sun damage to the paint and interiors, and so on.
Back to point, if you drive any car enough, it can probably see 200K without major work. If your mileage per year is limited, you'll never have a 200K vehicle.
When do you consider a vehicle to be at the end of its life? When it fails or when it has a repair that exceeds the cost of buying a new vehicle?
I drive a 1995 Toyota Avalon and I expect it to operate long after I am unable to continue driving it (i.e. I expect it to be running 200 years from now if my successors maintain it).
Kestas
Staff member
Except for something a CPA would cook up related to depreciation, there is no hard answer for that question. End-of-life for a car is when the owner is sick of it and wants it replaced.
As a side note, only 3% of car owners own a car from cradle to grave (barring accidents). This means that only 3% of the motoring public buys a new car and hangs on to it until it is ready for the scrap heap. This also means that 97% of vehicles have two or more owners during the vehicle's lifetime.
I'm proud to say our family owned two such cars.
As a side note, only 3% of car owners own a car from cradle to grave (barring accidents). This means that only 3% of the motoring public buys a new car and hangs on to it until it is ready for the scrap heap. This also means that 97% of vehicles have two or more owners during the vehicle's lifetime.
I'm proud to say our family owned two such cars.
You (and Kestas) raise good points.
I have had but one cradle to grave machine, an '86 Civic Wagon, which went from dealership to junkyard in our hands, well past 200K.
Anything can be fixed. If you read the Brit magazine, Automobile, you see piles of ancient parts transformed into London-Brighton runners.
However, when viewing an average car, there comes a point where it is no longer reasonable to keep it. Also, the cars of the past forty or so years, full of injection molded plastics, and of the past twenty, full of irreplaceable and quickly obsolete electronics, will not be very restorable. This is why, for example, you see most running mid 'seveties 912Es converted to carbs (I only know this because I've been looking for one). There is no desire to play with and find parts for the old Bosch FI.
Also, the option of bastardizing a car to keep it on the road is reduced with each new emissions inspection and testing requirement. At the end of the day, almost every car reaches the end of its natural life sometime before its twentieth birthday.
I have had but one cradle to grave machine, an '86 Civic Wagon, which went from dealership to junkyard in our hands, well past 200K.
Anything can be fixed. If you read the Brit magazine, Automobile, you see piles of ancient parts transformed into London-Brighton runners.
However, when viewing an average car, there comes a point where it is no longer reasonable to keep it. Also, the cars of the past forty or so years, full of injection molded plastics, and of the past twenty, full of irreplaceable and quickly obsolete electronics, will not be very restorable. This is why, for example, you see most running mid 'seveties 912Es converted to carbs (I only know this because I've been looking for one). There is no desire to play with and find parts for the old Bosch FI.
Also, the option of bastardizing a car to keep it on the road is reduced with each new emissions inspection and testing requirement. At the end of the day, almost every car reaches the end of its natural life sometime before its twentieth birthday.
Plastics have been improving. Dashes do not crack and fade like they used to. 10 years ago, a 10 year old car would usually be showing its age quite a bit. Nowdays, a 10 year old car that is reasonably well cared for can look close to new. Also, not all that long ago 80K miles was considered high mileage. Nowdays, it is dissapointing if you don't hit 180K miles.
Replacement parts will become available as they are needed. Aftermarket companies will step up and offer replacement parts just like they have in the past.
I think the biggest enemy cars face are their owners. I think the main thing keeping cars from lasting longer is the mentality that many people have today. They have become disconnected from their vehicles. People don't understand the importance of maintenence, and they are more than happy to throw away a decent vehicle when they just want something newer. At Jiffy Lube, they have a policy that requires the vehicle owners to pull the hood latch release so that JL can't be blamed if it breaks, and you would be amazed at the number of people who don't even know where the hood release is on the interior of their car. When people are that disconnected from their vehicles and know so little about them, you really can't put all the blame on the vehicle.
I take good care of my truck, and it shows. A lot of people think it is only one or two years old, when in fact it is approaching 7. It looks close to new, it runs like new, and I don't see any reason for it to not last over 20 years unless I sell it before then and the next owner doesn't take care of it.
Years ago I made the mistake of selling a car that I liked and now I have an 84 Civic wagon I've owned since new and I'm not making that mistake again. I'm going to drive it into my grave. When a good car comes along you might consider keeping it longer than you might otherwise do.
Kestas
Staff member
With the news today of 14 states winning a court battle of requiring 43 mpg CAFE from the automakers in ten years, I shudder to think of what anemic offerings will be in the future auto market. We may have plenty of incentive to keep our present vehicles for a long, very long time.
Glad to see that some other people have notices that HonDatToy's don't all live trouble free lives. The repair shops in Southern California seem to be filled with them.
Having worked only on European cars I can say that they get scrapped primarily because of wiring harness problems, followed by overheated engines, followed by blown transmissions.
Having worked only on European cars I can say that they get scrapped primarily because of wiring harness problems, followed by overheated engines, followed by blown transmissions.
- Status
