Super high mileage cars - highest you've seen?

[19jacobob93]

Sorry if this thread has come up before, but I find it to be an interesting topic! What is the highest mileage car you've ever heard of (apart from the famous Volvo!) seen or driven? How many miles/KM did it have and had it had work? What makes and engines are among the most reliable? The highest mileage I've driven was a 1996 EL Falcon with 410,000KMs on the clock, and hadn't had a service in over 90,000KM. I currently own as a beater a 1996 Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero with 370,000KM but had a rebuild at 280,000. The highest I've seen is an ex taxi 1999 AU Falcon with 1,200,000KM and had never had the head off or any internal work, although it was on it's third transmission. I spoke to the guy who owned it and he said he knew of one with 1.6 million on it! Also seen a 1992 mazda with 620,000KM on. This is the reason I bought a Falcon as my run around! They can by run for a long time without oil and forever without coolant (which has happened to me) as 3 cylinders shut down and are used to draw cold air into the block when it gets too hot. This can be witnessed at 3:30 in this video which some might find interesting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR6sKfaBlGM This video was to settle the debate between Ford and GM fanboys at and event haha both cars had their fan belts cut and most of the oil drained. The red Holden has a Buick 3.8 V6 in it, which were also a very good engine as I owned one a couple of years ago

 

[01rangerxl]

I have seen a number around 500K miles, but not many above that. I can only remember two above that, a 600K mile '96 Explorer and a 700K mile Saturn L-Series of all things. The ones that hit 500K are usually some kind of Ford or GM pickup or van. F-150s, Astros, and the like. My current employer has the highest number of high mileage vehicles I have seen in one place. We have a bunch of GMT800 Silverados and Sierras in the 300K-400K mile range. One '04ish Silverado 1500 has about 385K mi on the original engine and trans with no major repairs to either component. We did have one 1500 die recently at about 400K mi...distributor gear had some kind of major malfunction and that was it.

 

[Lillikai]

485k on an early 90s toyota corolla. Theres a toyota dealership that has it sitting in their parking lot, the owner of the car bought it brand new from them and then many years and miles later traded it back in for something new. Im sure that owner got a really good deal from that dealership.

 

[AKhan87]

Originally Posted By: Lillikai

485k on an early 90s toyota corolla. Theres a toyota dealership that has it sitting in their parking lot, the owner of the car bought it brand new from them and then many years and miles later traded it back in for something new. Im sure that owner got a really good deal from that dealership.

Just got done fixing an oil consumption issue on a 99 corolla with 342k, runs like a champ now...new rings/seals/rod bearings/gaskets! The car doesn't burn oil anymore, 2k and the dipstick is still full. All that wear and tear and these 1zzfe motors don't care, right back to business as usual. another 342k is easily attainable.

 

[synthetic_crazy]

I saw pictures of a Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor that was in taxi service with 700,000 miles. Those 4.6L V-8 engines are known to last a long time with proper maintenance.

 

[cashmoney]

My friend has a 96 Lexus ES300 with 410k miles on it and still going - no major engine or trans work done on it.

 

[Clevy]

I've seen a 2v 5.4 with over 500k on the odo. That's kms though. I personally owned 2 dodges with 318 engines that went 450k before either totalled or not worth fixing,and the engines ran great still. One was an 89 ram the other was a 96 ram. My dad bought them both new and I bought them from him when he bought new ones. Those trucks got poor maintenance at best yet still ran great at those high miles.

 

[expat]

I had an 81 Toyota pick up that had just about 500k in miles before I gave it away. During the time I had it, I did replace the head gasket after an overheat after the rad got holed. I have seen a Volvo that was reputed to have over 600k, and some London Taxi's (Perkins Diesel) that have had reputed HUGE mileage.

 

[abycat]

I had over 1 million km on my 91 sunbird. But it was literally ready for the scrap heap.

 

[OneEyeJack]

My 84 Civic wagon just hit 429K miles. I'm the original owner. I have no plans of ever getting rid of it.

 

[Chris142]

735000 miles in an early 80's tercel.original unopened engine and trans according to the owner. i used to have a customer that went to Bonneville to race often and his chevy truck had 525k on it last time i saw it. our little tacoma shop truck is @399k this week.original drivetrain. it got a clutch and ball joints around 370k.

 

[Nebroch]

Plenty of old taxi Mercs with over million km on them (W124 type).

 

[supton]

The mechanic I used to go to had a diesel Jetta pushing nearly 500kmiles. Last I knew he was past that. I think my car is the one with the most miles in our family.

 

[bigt61]

Saw an early 90's Chevy work van at Manheim Auction with 740k miles on the clock - diesel engine - sounded good and didn't look hateful. Also a 91 Honda Prelude 5 spd with 727k miles - engine nice and quiet, the rest of the car was roached, especially the interior. Many Chevy & Ford work trucks, vans and small p/u's with over 300k and some w over 400k miles when I used to go to auctions for a living.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I have seen a few near-half-million mile Cherokees in the junkyard. Correction: I have seen a few half million mile piles of rust that kind of were shaped like a Cherokee in the Junkyard. I bet they'd fire right up too!

 

[Jarlaxle]

I drove a Town Car with 585,000 miles. It was retired from service (due to hairline cracks in the frame) with 640,000 miles. 500K on a Panther taxi is common! Drove an F-550 rollback...it was wrecked (head-on with a Hummer H2) with 930K. Same company put 1,000,000 miles on an 86 F-350. It's a medium-duty, but they have close to 2,000,000 on an International S1700 wrecker. Fates know how many overhauls it had, but the GMC PD4106 highway coach I drove was close to 4.5 million miles. Dude in Natick, MA has a 2003-2007 E-250 with 522,000 miles.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

It's not uncommon for highway tractors to go well over 1,000,000 on the original engine/trans/rear ends.

 

[rjundi]

My father in law had 1980's Ford F150 with manual transmission 4x4 extra cab with 735,000 miles on it when sold rusting apart. He said it was on a 2nd motor as he picked up for free and had engine replaced at 400k. At a job site a well running 1986 Accord got destroyed by a construction worker who improperly attached a clevis hitch trailer to a ball hitch using chains. The compressor broke loose and demolished it. It had 525,000 miles. The owner was quite happy as insurance company did not take into consideration mileage just age.

 

[OVERKILL]

Airport Limo (Lincoln Town Car), 2003 IIRC, had 1.2 million Km's on it. Original engine and tranny.

 

[Silverado12]

Have seen 2 Dodge Dakotas with the 3.9 w/o any internals replaced with over 400,000 miles. Both were 2WD automatics. Both had one tranny replaced in that time, though.