What car & engine lasts the longest?

[Spitty]

I had an 81 Toy Pu with a 22R, I ran it 300 miles a day, 6 days a week, and racked up 500k (on cheap 20w-50 oil) before I gave it away.
Would be interestinf to know what mileage could be attained with good oil and in a Rust Free enviroment.
The replacement Truck, a 91 with 22R only lasted 200k before the 'revised' Timing chain system wore through the the water pump housing, killing the engine.

 

[98RegalGS]

Mopar 318
Ford 302
Chevy 350
GM 3800
Ford 300 I-6
Jeep 4.0 I-6
Ford Modular V8s

 

[1sttruck]

If you were going to bet $30k on which vehicle has the best chance to get to 500k miles, which is kind of what you do when you buy a vehicle, I'll guess that the Dodge with a Cummins is the safest bet. Average life in a medium duty application is 350k miles.

 

[andyd]

my BMWs have a 2.7 sohc I6. as long as you replace the timing belt before it breaks, these engines are bullet proof. My 88 is at 297k miles, I have never lifted the valve cover. I follow a 6$ oil and filter, 3k oci regimen.

 

[bfg9k]

The 'high mileage' list over on Saabnet lists an '89 900 Turbo SPG with 761,113 miles. That's their 2.0L turbo engine. Not bad!

The 2L inline 4 in my old '90 Camry was still going strong at 185k when I sold it. The body was rusting way faster than the engine was wearing. I don't recall ever, not even once, changing the manual tranny oil the 100k miles I owned it! And yet it shifted just fine...

 

[TheFuror]

quote:

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Originally posted by Speed racer:
Assuming regular oil changes and regular care; what car or truck lasts the longest for the average Joe, without major work? (We are debating this at work.)

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GM 4.3 V6 in a 1990 Chevy Work truck? The one I sold had 175K and passed my county's SMOG II test (although, it was a total hooptie...).

Actually, I think the vast majority of the "I got a b'zillion miles on my blahblahblah" are the result of 1) virtually all highway miles; 2) reasonable maintenance, and 3) luck of the draw within a manufacturer.

Bob W.

 

[Vstrom]

Just pulled the Mazda 2.2 in my son's B2200 down this past weekend. 190,000 miles and still had cylinder crosshatch, bearings looked great. Was burning oil however. Oil rings were crudded up and may have been worn out...$40 for a new set of rings, $50 for gaskets and it may go another 190,000 miles!

 

[michaelc80]

quote:

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Originally posted by mormit:
As far as the record for highest mileage on a car, that would be Irv Gorden on his Volvo P1800. He hit two million miles back in March. Volvo gave him his second free car at that time...I don't know why they don't use him in commercials. The guy's a driving nut. Used to have a >100mi round trip commute to work. Drives from NY to Cleveland for lunch.

Retired so I guess he's got the time. Look up Irv Gorden or Irv-o-meter and you should find him and pics of his car.

Otherwise, AJ's right. Any engine & tranny maintained well should hold up until you get bored with the old car. This goes for most makes.

Some commercial trucks make it well over 2,000,000. Many of those are Volvos and Mercedes(Freightliner).

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According to the website his engine was rebuilt at 680K miles. Still impressive though.

 

[jthorner]

The Volvo inline 4 cylinder motors up through the 940 series are some of the longest lived motors ever made, even when not babied.

Considering their modest power output the bearings are massive and the crankshaft looks like something which could support many times more torque than the motor puts out.

High nickel content swedish iron in the blocks is also reputed to be part of the magic.

A heavy engine which never won any power-to-weight ratio runoffs but which could last a very, very long time.

John

 

[TC]

Not sure about cars (older Volvos were supposedly quite durable), but as for historical engines, the old 1960's Chrysler Slant Six 225 engine was virtually indestructible.

 

[TCP442]

My vote for "old tech" engine longevity goes to big block Olds v-8's of mid-60's...ran my 65-442 for 192,000 miles from almost new to 1992...learned alot about oils during that time....Valvoline= poor result, Castrol= best....current day" tech", my 86 Honda ran to 167,000 no issues...My semi- "current day" tech vote goes to Ford's 3.0 Vulcan in my 88 Sable 203,500 K on Castrol 5-30 w/4mo/4,000 mile changes.....my theory, break it inright, warm it up, with reasonable change intervals, even with conventional oil, most motors will run to 150k plus w/o issues...ps - I also am having good result with 5-30 Exxon Superflo " mixed " with 1 qt Mobil 1 as an additive....what do you guys think of that mix??

 

[JMG]

I am going to go with Honda/Toyota for Gas and MB for desiel. My sister had a 97 Camry which might have had 2 oil changes in the 3 years she had it and it had 125K miles when she totaled it. However, I have many freinds who have had a Toyota in the 2-400,000 range.

Honda too because most of my freinds are Honda people. One had an Accord with 700K miles. auto, and Honda gave him a new car. The more miles you have on a Honda the cooler you are

MB desiels can not beat them. I knew some people who had that 5 cylinder who had over 5-600K miles.

 

[BIGJ552000]

Gm 3800 Series whatever... These are from the 60's for christsake. Bulletproof!!

 

[brianl703]

I once had a Grand Prix with a 3.1L V6 with 180,000 miles on it. The transmission took a crap two days after I bought that car. Fortunately, I only paid $300 for it (the last owner knew it had transmission problems, I thought it was just a TV cable adjustment problem).

 

[Earl Filter]

I was fleet manager for a "limo" company that mainly ran standard Town Cars (late '90s up to 2003 models). Out of about 50 cars, 2 were over 400k miles, several more had over 350k, and most were well into the 200k mile mark. We did cheapo 3-3500 mile oil changes. All cars had the original engines, although valve seals had been replaced, along with timing chains and such. On top of the mileage, these cars were treated like taxis, and idled a bunch, too!

 

[mechtech]

As much as I love the old air cooled VWs, they have got to take honors for the least longevity.
As to longevity, I'm with the gentleman who said the slant 6 and 22R, along with some Ford straight 6 truck engines.

 

[terminaldegree]

quote:

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Originally posted by BIGJ552000:
Gm 3800 Series whatever... These are from the 60's for christsake. Bulletproof!!

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I don't believe the original reputation of those engines was actually that great, especially compared with other GM powerplants like the Olds 307. By the time we reach the 3800 series I, II, III, it's another story [late 80's-early 90's].

I own two series II's now and like them a lot-- good power, torque, fuel economy. the composite intake manifold is a p.o.s. on the series II's that have them, and because of that I don't think the engine should make the list here...

 

[Alan]

BMW used to make tough motors.The BMW M10 design has a tank reputation,they just keep running!

Unfortunatly BMW has steered in the wrong way in recent times

.

 

[dustyjoe1]

1971 pontiac leMans 350. Last of the big block 350's. 250 horse/350 lb-ft torque. made 110,000 miles 1.5 miles at a time over 23 pennsylvania winters. In the last two years of its service life it drove from pa to tx and back twice and delivered 21 mpg ( slightly mod with 68 fbird manifold, Holly spreadbore 4bbl and duel exhaust). Car still runs well but could use a valve job.

Soon to be resurrected and driven again

{yes I know the math doesn't add up, it was driven on trips too...it was the family car you know..}

 

[Rev440]

I am average Joe who owned what many say is worst gm engine ever...
1988 2.3 Quad-4.
I had 555,000 kms [345,000mi] on it before I give it the Viking Funeral.

Initially I had thought of taking engine and stuffing it into a 90 grand am because I figure it had lots of life left, then thought "ahh fk that, get newer car"

I ran Rotella, Esso, Husky oil in it for life of car. Drive 205 kms [120 mi] to/from work each day and figure that the oil help engine last so long with good oci.

I cut top rad hose, threw an xtra liter of oil in pan, stuck throttle wide open and started her up.
She bounced off revlimiter 7500 rpms for 9 minutes before grinding to 5000 rpms for about 10 seconds then rod through the pan, oil on the header....FIRE!!!!

Supposed bad engine but why last so long?