Tell me the truth...

[doublebase]

99 GS400, 344k mi

Motor mounts, 2 timing belt services, lower ball joints & caster arms, couple alternators & batteries, on 2nd starter, upstream O2s changed once, lower intake gaskets (probably from over-tightening intake bolts during starter swap), fuel pump, chills couple transmission drain & refills, on 3rd set of dampers - KYB slightly lowered with Eibach springs. Few other random things. This sled is easy to drive & easy to wrench on

There’s a GS350 thread on clublexus.com that is probably the most impressive thread I’ve ever seen. Guy drove his GS to somewhere around to your mileage point and documented everything with pictures and receipts. Had some awesome pictures.

But your GS has done amazing! I tried to go long distance on my Lexus LS460...didn’t quite make it. Stopped at 179,000 miles because of oil consumption and it needed $5,000 in repairs (which I would have done if not for the oil consumption), but I loved that car.

 

[doublebase]

Number of times I replaced those same items in 606k miles on my Mazda:

0 engine mounts
2? mufflers
0 Two charcoal canisters
0 Two EVAP vent solenoids
1 EGR valve
0 [non-power] steering rack
1½ Front calipers
0 fuel lines [except one section]
0 brake lines
0 gas tank
0 front subframe
0 V-Tec solenoid
0 Sway bar links front and back twice
0 Sway bar bushings five times
1 Front axles
0 Upper control arms front
1½ lower ball joints front
2 Radiator
2 Struts front
1 Outer tie rods
0 Brake hoses front [did change rear ones]

Plus a few more things that would take me a while to remember or look up, most of them after 300k.

That’s great, but you have to understand something...where I live, your Mazda would have rusted to dust.

The mufflers, gas tank, fuel lines, brake lines, charcoal canister, subframe, were all courtesy of New England salt. Even the charcoal canister (which was replaced twice) was because of a rust issue...the evap solenoid is attached to it and you can’t get it out because of rust. Rust gets between the valve and canister, expands it and cracks the canister and ruins the valve. And half my suspensions repairs comes from courtesy of potholes made by snow plows.

 

[doublebase]

'87 VW Golf GL est. 530,000miles (these all had odometer issues from the start)
main fuel pump & relay
timing belt/tensioner 5X
rear brake shoes 5X
front pads 7X
windshield 3X
tires 6X
radiator 3X
heater core (to 'undo' the VW recall, they never swapped the original, pressure checked I guess then filled with blackgoo that plugged it 2 years later.....?
three am/fm radios (one cassette, one CD player, one mp3 player) time marches on......
wheel bearings front: 3X
wheel bearings rear: 3X
muffler1X
front seats swapped out, tired
motor /trans mounts, all three
fuel filter 6X
fuel lift pump 2X
>>engine, changed out for Pikn'Pull special, 3rd rod was blued for lack of oil flow, the crank drilling was coked up blocked about 65%.
Seeing as the head & shortblock ran $96.00, cheaper than clean/ de-carbonizing the old unit with 315k on it. Also that third rod was BLUE.
>>trans was serviced with 3 quart flush & filter screen every 70k. Direct clutches (3) burnt out along with brake band. Required less than $150 in seal kit & brake band & three friction discs to get it mobile again. Ran 100k plus, diaphragm spring in Forward clutch failed, $2.85 part took out all forward gears, but not reverse. Another $150 in rubber clad seals, (diaphragm spring broke into three pieces & nicked the forward seal)
including ATF fluid. Three friction discs for Forward Clutch as well.
starter3X
CV axles 2X
CV axle reboot, 2X
alternator3X, plus 3 voltage regulators (the contact brushes inside wear out)
window regulators 2X, driver's door (just overuse) & one rear door unit, (corrosion, poor cable protection)
blower motor 2X
parking brake cables 1X
headlight switch 3X
seatbelt (1), driver' side (original was getting shredded on the leading edge, these came with belts that extend to the door, even as you open it. )
struts, 1X, all four.
balljoints 1X
tierods 1X
oxygen sensor 8X the GL has a dedicated odo box that triggers the change light every 60k)
throttle cable 1X
kickdown cable 1X (it's actually the throttle cable from the foot throttle to transmission bell crank)
differential seals 1X
Final Drive & torque converter are original. FD gear oil has been drained & filled 3X.
The driver's door had an issue last year, the lower attachment point was tearing out of the sheet metal door structure, they used assembly
epoxy at the factory in Mexico & it held so well that it proved stronger than the surrounding sheet. Through bolted the lower hinge hole
& fitted a grade 8 5/8" bolt through it, and sandwiched it back together with a wide washer & a CV axle spider hub to brace it to the door skin
interior. Door now closes correctly instead of sagging when unlatched & opened. < I though this flaw might take it off the road for good, but NO. : l

Wow, impressive. How far do you plan on driving this thing? Reading something like this makes me want to keep my current vehicle (Toyota Avalon) till 500k.

 

[Cujet]

F150

Oil changes on the "5"s, 5000, 10,000, 15,000 etc. Welded a transmission drain plug and exchanged the pan's volume every few oil changes with Mobil 1 ATF.
Other than that, normal wear item maintenance, an alternator, and a heater core replacement. Ugh.

Transmission finally died at 355,000 miles and the truck was given away. Still ran perfectly.

 

[eljefino]

05 prius.

Got it with a bad HV battery module at 237k. Fixed that one and never had battery issues again.

-- 2 front wheel bearings
-- front pads and rotors
-- rear shoes and one drum
-- rear springs, then, later, struts. One spring failed catastrophically and put it on the bump stop. Common! The other was cracked in the pocket.
-- Muffler broke on the foot-long pipe going to the flange. Patched it. Muffler later failed completely, replaced with a Borla, cheapest option!
-- capacitor went out on the speedometer display. Got five for 99 cents on ebay.
-- car started complaining about "Park" while driving 70 on the highway. Rewired something to shut the computer up about that. Still worked perfectly, it was just missing part of the feedback loop.
-- headlight ballast, many marker and license lights. Used 194 LEDs for replacements.
-- polished the plastic headlights every fall. The HID auto height adjuster failed so I dialed them in manually.
-- 12V battery. $150! This was before I discovered the $60 35Ah AGMs from Harbor freight fit and worked better.
-- Bumper cover wouldn't stay "clicked", ran a few drywall screws to solve that problem.
-- air deflector shield underneath fell off halfway, zip tied it back up.
-- exhaust heat shield fell off halfway, ripped it the rest of the way off
-- charged the AC once. Still blew cold! Took a cabin air filter and a couple engine air filters.
-- spark plugs when I got it, and a throttle body cleaning to clear some bizarre cruise control code.
-- Odometer stopped registering at 299,999. Sold car with around 303k.
-- ATF change with genuine Aisin fluid.
-- Water pump belt (as PM)

 

[doublebase]

05 prius.

Got it with a bad HV battery module at 237k. Fixed that one and never had battery issues again.

-- 2 front wheel bearings
-- front pads and rotors
-- rear shoes and one drum
-- rear springs, then, later, struts. One spring failed catastrophically and put it on the bump stop. Common! The other was cracked in the pocket.
-- Muffler broke on the foot-long pipe going to the flange. Patched it. Muffler later failed completely, replaced with a Borla, cheapest option!
-- capacitor went out on the speedometer display. Got five for 99 cents on ebay.
-- car started complaining about "Park" while driving 70 on the highway. Rewired something to shut the computer up about that. Still worked perfectly, it was just missing part of the feedback loop.
-- headlight ballast, many marker and license lights. Used 194 LEDs for replacements.
-- polished the plastic headlights every fall. The HID auto height adjuster failed so I dialed them in manually.
-- 12V battery. $150! This was before I discovered the $60 35Ah AGMs from Harbor freight fit and worked better.
-- Bumper cover wouldn't stay "clicked", ran a few drywall screws to solve that problem.
-- air deflector shield underneath fell off halfway, zip tied it back up.
-- exhaust heat shield fell off halfway, ripped it the rest of the way off
-- charged the AC once. Still blew cold! Took a cabin air filter and a couple engine air filters.
-- spark plugs when I got it, and a throttle body cleaning to clear some bizarre cruise control code.
-- Odometer stopped registering at 299,999. Sold car with around 303k.
-- ATF change with genuine Aisin fluid.
-- Water pump belt (as PM)

Are those the repairs you did between 237,000 miles through 303,000 miles...or was that from the previous owner?

With my own personal experience, I made probably more repairs between 220,000-289,000 than I did in the first 200,000 combined.

 

[javacontour]

For those people with 200,000-300,00 plus miles on your car and “never did anything but tires and oil changes”. What did you really do to get there? Tell me the truth.

Here‘s my only trip to 250,000 plus, land...

1999 Honda Accord (purchased new). Babied. Highway mileage. Oil changes every 3,000 miles (ST conventional). Here’s what I had to do to get it to 289,000 miles with non maintenance repairs.

Three engine mounts
Three mufflers
Two charcoal canisters
Two EVAP vent solenoids
EGR valve
Power steering rack
Front calipers twice
fuel lines
brake lines
gas tank
front subframe (rotted out, design fault)
V-Tec solenoid
Sway bar links front and back twice
Sway bar bushings five times (3 in front two in back)
Front axles twice
Upper control arms front
lower ball joints front
Radiator
Struts front
Outer tie rods three times
Brake hoses front

All this^^ to get to 289,000 miles. And I consider that lucky...no major repairs (tranny, engine). Although subframe is probably major. And at 289,000 miles all brake and fuel lines needed replacement again, the thing was drinking a quart of oil every 800 miles and it would stall at idle (if you didn’t keep your foot on the gas a little). But great car overall. Original alternator and starter. Engine never needed one single major repair...no head gasket issue or even a valve cover gasket. No vacuum leaks or misfires. Never one single AC repair. Never even needed an AC charge.

But it takes a lot of effort to get a car to 300,000 plus. Love to see some of those stories.

Believe it or not, our most trouble free was the 2010 Altima that my son now drives. Not quite to 200k as he WFH coding so doesn’t drive it very often, so probably at 190k

Only repairs were an AC evap drain hose under warranty and an AC compressor around 90 or 100k miles.

Coming in second was our 2002 Camry with 274k miles.

Repairs over that mileage were a CV axle, starter, coil and a door handle.

It did need an exhaust when we traded it on the RAV4 in Oct 2016 and gave the Nissan to our son.

I took my ‘94 Geo Prizm to 254k miles and my ‘03 Protégé5 to 23xk but they needed a few more repairs and were used car buys so no telling what the PO did.

The Prizm needed an AC compressor, harmonic balancer, radio, exhaust manifold and a thermostat IIRC, maybe a door handle too. The Mazda needed an alternator and it actually broke the brackets on the front struts for the sway bar links. Also needed coils, rear brake caliper and are headlight bulbs like candy.

None left us stranded other than the Camry with the starter. I changed it in the parking lot of the local library in a couple of hours including taking the old one to the parts store for testing as well as testing the replacement before I bolted it to the car.

 

[OM605]

1995 Mercedes E250 Diesel wagon, 300k miles, only 25% highway miles maybe. Owned by my parents since almost new. For the last 20 years it had :

Oil change every 6 to 10k with cheap 10W40 or 15W40 (yes, up to 10k miles with conventional)
Filters, many diesel filters and prefilters
Tires changed every few years
All 5 injectors, once
Fuel tank dropped and cleaned three times because of algae contamination clogging the fuel system
Brake discs and pads, many times
Engine mounts, twice
Flex discs, twice
Driveshaft bearing
Both CV axles
Front shocks
Rear self leveling hydraulic shocks (SLS)
Some wheel bearings, can't remember
Balljoints and other front suspension work, multiple times but can't precisely remember either
New power steering hoses
New water pump and belt, twice
New EGR
New battery, 3 times
New glow plugs, 3 times
Gearbox and rear diff oil change, twice
Coolant flush
New muffler

Needs : new radiator, possibly an injection pump adjustment, a new or overhauled power steering/SLS pump (PS fluid leaking into the SLS system), a new window motor on the driver side, A/C needs to be refilled.

Still drives very well, starts perfectly and is quiet but has a steering play and a loss of power probably due to the injection pump's timing. Burns close to no oil (half a quart between oil changes). Interior is still perfect however if it stays oustide, water will find ways in. Paint looks sad.

 

[01rangerxl]

By the time most cars get to 200,000 miles, they’re over 15 years old. The interior is ragged out and unpleasant.

This kind of depends on the vehicle. Some vehicles just have really durable interiors. Believe it or not, my 1997 Explorer with over 220k miles has a nearly perfect original cloth interior aside from carpet stains. Only the console lid has been replaced (Dorman makes new ones). It has the "high series" interior so it has the upgraded velour cloth which is incredibly durable. I rarely see rips or damage to this type of cloth unless there are cigarette burns, even on Copart junkers. What's funny is the leather Ford was using then was terrible. Even the dash is perfect, I don't think I've ever seen a 95+ Explorer with a warped or cracked dash. I am lucky that the steering wheel leather is intact.

 

[OM605]

This kind of depends on the vehicle. Some vehicles just have really durable interiors. Believe it or not, my 1997 Explorer with over 220k miles has a nearly perfect original cloth interior aside from carpet stains. Only the console lid has been replaced (Dorman makes new ones). It has the "high series" interior so it has the upgraded velour cloth which is incredibly durable. I rarely see rips or damage to this type of cloth unless there are cigarette burns, even on Copart junkers. What's funny is the leather Ford was using then was terrible. Even the dash is perfect, I don't think I've ever seen a 95+ Explorer with a warped or cracked dash. I am lucky that the steering wheel leather is intact.

+1. After 300k and 26 years, mine looks perfect, the only noticable difference between mine and a very low mileage one is that the steering wheel looks a bit polished. And it had a tough life.

 

[meep]

No transmission work? Must have been a five speed...no clutch replacement? That’s a lot of miles.

thats right. No trans work, and it’s an AT. I can’t remember... 2004? 2009? Somewhere in there. It’s not a CVT. my mom is very easy on cars, but my brother is not, so it’s had a mix of ownership. She’s good about oil changes and tires and general upkeep, and finds mechanics she likes and can stick with. The transmission has, to my knowledge, only been serviced by me. It was on factory fluid until about 120k IIRC. I did 1, maybe 2 d/f with amsoil, and I believe did that again around 220. I can’t be certain, it’s been a while.

it’s approaching 400k and my brother is getting suspicious of the HG again. The earlier swap was a swap only, and no machining. I’m not sure they’ll keep it much longer.

 

[doublebase]

thats right. No trans work, and it’s an AT. I can’t remember... 2004? 2009? Somewhere in there. It’s not a CVT. my mom is very easy on cars, but my brother is not, so it’s had a mix of ownership. She’s good about oil changes and tires and general upkeep, and finds mechanics she likes and can stick with. The transmission has, to my knowledge, only been serviced by me. It was on factory fluid until about 120k IIRC. I did 1, maybe 2 d/f with amsoil, and I believe did that again around 220. I can’t be certain, it’s been a while.

it’s approaching 400k and my brother is getting suspicious of the HG again. The earlier swap was a swap only, and no machining. I’m not sure they’ll keep it much longer.

That's amazing! Don't see too many automatic transmissions lasting almost 400,000 miles.

Yeah, and if I remember, head gaskets were fairly common on those Civics and yup, if I remember quite a few required some machining on the heads.

 

[eljefino]

Are those the repairs you did between 237,000 miles through 303,000 miles...or was that from the previous owner?

With my own personal experience, I made probably more repairs between 220,000-289,000 than I did in the first 200,000 combined.

That was all me! As chinese water tortures go it honestly wasn't that bad.

Another prius I had started its life in a snooty upstate part of NY. Customer paid dealer $500 for rear drums & shoes!!! Had an inch thick binder of receipts.

 

[Rmay635703]

1982 Diesel Suburban
438,000 miles then drove to junkyard
700r4 worn at 98k, nv3500 replacement
1 fuel tank
3 alternator rebuilds
5 starter rebuilds
3 belts
1 heater core
Rusted out rear xmbr finally took it out

 

[Electromotive]

85 Corolla 4 dr. sedan 4AC engine, auto trans. bought new Jan. 85. Put just over 300,000 miles on it while I owned it
Sold it to neighbor fall 1998 who drove it another couple years
Other than tire and oil changes:
Two sets brakes all around and turkey baster fluid change couple times.
Two timing belts (valve adjustment at same time), and two sets of drive belts
One alternator
3 or 4 sets plugs, one distr. cap, one set wires
EGR valve recall performed early in cars life
Couple of fuel filters and 3 or 4 air filters
One set front struts
Couple of mufflers
Dropped tranny pan couple times and refill fluid.
Added freon a time or two
Still had orig. CV axles , starter, PS pump and A/C compr. when I sold it

 

[Electromotive]

85 Corolla 4 dr. sedan 4AC engine, auto trans. bought new Jan. 85. Put just over 300,000 miles on it while I owned it
Sold it to neighbor fall 1998 who drove it another couple years
Other than tire and oil changes:
Two sets brakes all around and turkey baster fluid change couple times.
Two timing belts (valve adjustment at same time), and two sets of drive belts
One alternator
3 or 4 sets plugs, one distr. cap, one set wires
EGR valve recall performed early in cars life
Couple of fuel filters and 3 or 4 air filters
One set front struts
Couple of mufflers
Dropped tranny pan couple times and refill fluid.
Added freon a time or two
Still had orig. CV axles , starter, PS pump and A/C compr. when I sold it

Oh, I forgot, this car had sealed beam headlights , and it went through them pretty regular ( I did drive a lot at night at the time) Probably put six or 7 on it the 13 yrs. I had it.

 

[Electromotive]

That was all me! As chinese water tortures go it honestly wasn't that bad.

Another prius I had started its life in a snooty upstate part of NY. Customer paid dealer $500 for rear drums & shoes!!! Had an inch thick binder of receipts.

That's the kind of used car I like to buy......... from the guy who has the binder of service receipts for every little thing that was ever done to the vehicle.

 

[1uz_4me]

There’s a GS350 thread on clublexus.com that is probably the most impressive thread I’ve ever seen. Guy drove his GS to somewhere around to your mileage point and documented everything with pictures and receipts. Had some awesome pictures.

But your GS has done amazing! I tried to go long distance on my Lexus LS460...didn’t quite make it. Stopped at 179,000 miles because of oil consumption and it needed $5,000 in repairs (which I would have done if not for the oil consumption), but I loved that car.

I have a manilla folder full of receipts for things other than basic maintenance. No pics except for randoms that I'll take even someone texts "whatcha doing?" (Usually my youngest brother saying his wife locked him out & he's hungry). I just love the car. LCD navigation screen also died, but all the functions still work (screen works if the car has sat in the sun awhile). Ill probably get some Android tablet eventually, but that's not a priority.

I put 400k mi (bought at 70k, sold close to 490k) on a 93 Mustang GT. Blew up stock motor @ 108k, put nearly 200k on an aluminum headed stroker, put the rest on a stock bottom end with ported stock heads & small cam. Beat the snot out of that car, so much fun. Blew up the stock transmission with the stroker, so I added a Tremec 6spd. Maximum Motorsports road race suspension, Brembo brakes, bunch of other junk. It was really reliable actually I things were replaced when I broke them...not much actually wore out, lol

 

[CR94]

That’s great, but you have to understand something...where I live, your Mazda would have rusted to dust.
...

Maybe, but it did spend its first two winters in North Jersey, with multiple winter trips across Pennsylvania. It got a dealer-applied rustproofing when new. I don't know whether that helped significantly.

 

[doublebase]

I have a manilla folder full of receipts for things other than basic maintenance. No pics except for randoms that I'll take even someone texts "whatcha doing?" (Usually my youngest brother saying his wife locked him out & he's hungry). I just love the car. LCD navigation screen also died, but all the functions still work (screen works if the car has sat in the sun awhile). Ill probably get some Android tablet eventually, but that's not a priority.

I put 400k mi (bought at 70k, sold close to 490k) on a 93 Mustang GT. Blew up stock motor @ 108k, put nearly 200k on an aluminum headed stroker, put the rest on a stock bottom end with ported stock heads & small cam. Beat the snot out of that car, so much fun. Blew up the stock transmission with the stroker, so I added a Tremec 6spd. Maximum Motorsports road race suspension, Brembo brakes, bunch of other junk. It was really reliable actually I things were replaced when I broke them...not much actually wore out, lol

400k miles on a mustang GT!!?? Oh my lord! That’s crazy.

I had an 88 LC 5.0 when I was 19. Loved that car! But I only drive it maybe 14,000 miles. Lol