Which of today's vehicles will be...

[Klutch9]

High-mileage champs 15-20 years from now? Today, we see lots of high mileage early to mid 90's Accords and Civics. A couple of other commonly seen high mileage vehicles are S10s, Jeep 4.0 I6s, etc. Cars are built much better today, so the average mileage that a car can potentially last has gone up as well. What do you think?

 

[01rangerxl]

3.7 powered Chryslers. My roommate's Jeep Liberty 3.7 has 204K miles on it now, original engine and transmission. It runs great. The CEL just came on, but it's running fine so it's probably nothing major. The body is falling apart with broken latches, broken window regulators all around, and broken a/c, but it starts and runs great every day without fail.

Rangers will be around. 1993 models are still around and are pushing 20 years old. 2011 models are largely the same, so they should be around too. The same can be said for the last Panthers and pretty much any other old platform.

I think 4.3 GMs will be around for a while too. This engine is still available in the Silverado and Express.

A lot of new vehicles have the potential to be reliable, but are just unproven at this point.

 

[daves87rs]

Depends...

Small cars- Corollas(still run forever),Civics. I'd also add pretty much anything with an ecotec motor, though I have yet to see how the rest of the car will last...

Mid size- There is not a clear winner here, as all seem to hold up pretty well.

Large cars- Kinda in the same "boat"

Trucks-not going there. Still see plenty of all...

SUVs- Libertys, Escapes, GMs with the inline 5s/6s

I could think of more...this just off the top of my head.

Though all cars are built tougher than years ago...

 

[MaximusD]

Anything can last "forever" with proper maintenance. Although, I do see a lot of Japanese luxury cars around from the early/mid 90s. Know a girl with an Acura CL that has 350k on the clock. Original engine, transmission, even the alternator. Can't say the same for Cadillac, but there are a TON of old, rusted buick centuries out there. Seeing quite a bit of 8+ year old Hyundais too. Perhaps they're catching up.

My opinion? Winners will be the flagship cars: Accord, Camry, Altima, Focus and Fusion. IMHO

 

[yonyon]

I'm a bit doubtful about the Altima. Too many of these are running around making nasty noises due to lack of oil.

 

[Newreet]

Originally Posted By: MaximusD
Anything can last "forever" with proper maintenance...
Agreed.

 

[JHZR2]

The issue wont be with longevity of the mechanical systems if regular PM is performed. The isue is that the electric parts will get to the failure point where something that is pretty expensive will go and "total" the car. The more electric gadgets, the more likely this will occur. If you cant turn on your AC because your nav screen is busted, and it is $2500 to replace, then there starts to be an issue to many folks, since other PM will also always incur cost.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
If you cant turn on your AC because your nav screen is busted, and it is $2500 to replace, then there starts to be an issue to many folks, since other PM will also always incur cost.


This is exactly what I think whenever I see a car with touch screen controls. But the iPod society doesn't see it that way. For them car is just another toy that they will get rid of whenever it goes out of fashion. That is why car manufacturers are so busy stuffing their bottom line models with all electronic toys imaginable, as low operating costs are no longer needed, only the cheapest initial price.

 

[cchase]

I think the issue comes down to WHO owns these vehicles. Plenty of good vehicles end up in the scrap yard because the level of ownership decreases faster than the inherent longevity of the vehicle. Some vehicles are magnets for trash to buy, use up, and throw out. Cavaliers come to mind.

 

[BISCUT]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
If you cant turn on your AC because your nav screen is busted, and it is $2500 to replace, then there starts to be an issue to many folks, since other PM will also always incur cost.


This is exactly what I think whenever I see a car with touch screen controls. But the iPod society doesn't see it that way. For them car is just another toy that they will get rid of whenever it goes out of fashion. That is why car manufacturers are so busy stuffing their bottom line models with all electronic toys imaginable, as low operating costs are no longer needed, only the cheapest initial price.


+ Another! I love the luxury vehicles offer us but some of them, like the touchscreens, will kill the wallet when they go!

 

[bretfraz]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
The issue wont be with longevity of the mechanical systems if regular PM is performed. The isue is that the electric parts will get to the failure point where something that is pretty expensive will go and "total" the car. The more electric gadgets, the more likely this will occur. If you cant turn on your AC because your nav screen is busted, and it is $2500 to replace, then there starts to be an issue to many folks, since other PM will also always incur cost.


Agree 100%. I see this every day and discuss this frequently with my customers.

Modern engines and transmissions are pretty solid. 100K+ miles should be a piece of cake with proper PM. It's all the electronic components that are going to fail, and will be very expensive to replace, that will kill the modern car.

Older Japanese cars and domestic trucks are models of simplicity compared to newer models. Even new trucks are coming with all sorts of electronic gizmos; Microsoft Sync, touch screen head units, hi-res info displays in the IP, etc. Those things may not kill a car but they will be expensive to fix and may induce an owner to just dump the car instead of repairing it.

 

[rjundi]

IMHO if fuel prices increase the highly efficient ones will be coupled to low tech , eg Corolla, Civic. One thing that is going to hurt longevity is decline in manual transmissions or really simple automatics (popular in Civic/Accord once). High mileage vehicle + transmission failure = auto recycler.

 

[The_Jeff]

Originally Posted By: cchase
I think the issue comes down to WHO owns these vehicles. Plenty of good vehicles end up in the scrap yard because the level of ownership decreases faster than the inherent longevity of the vehicle. Some vehicles are magnets for trash to buy, use up, and throw out. Cavaliers come to mind.


You forgot grand ams and berettas.

I wonder how the turbos will be in twenty years. My 21-year old volvo got a new turbo at year 19. Not too shabby. Thinking of the cruze and the ecoboost, specifically. Both should be able to be found in relatively stripped mainstream cars that should get careful owners.

 

[The_Jeff]

And even if those gadgets appear as $3000 options they do not cost the mfr anywhere near $3k. They're about 2% of the parts content! The loss leader stripper truly is a tool to get you in the door. They aren't stupid for making them common like unicorns.

Biggest ripoff is cruise control on a DBW car, where it's just a switch on the steering wheel and a computer flash.

 

[fdcg27]

Probably what they are now.
Hondas, Toyotas, American brand trucks.
Our '97 Accord still has working A/C, never touched, and the car overall remains quite decent after 204K in the southern part of the rust belt.
Engine performance remains very good, with no smoke and minimal oil consumption.
I sometimes need to add a quart of oil after 4K, but not always.
Some of this is PM over the years, but some of it is the quality of the car as designed and built.
OTOH, if you're willing to drive a barely functional car that's falling apart around you, you'd be surprised how long any such car will last in years and miles, like the guy who posted the first reply and his roomate's Liberty.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: cchase
I think the issue comes down to WHO owns these vehicles. Plenty of good vehicles end up in the scrap yard because the level of ownership decreases faster than the inherent longevity of the vehicle. Some vehicles are magnets for trash to buy, use up, and throw out. Cavaliers come to mind.



Not mine. I'm running my two into the ground first.

 

[artificialist]

Well, I have to wonder what replacement touchscreens cost in the future. After all, think of the other car parts that eventually became cheap enough to rebuild.

Compare the price of a rebuilt CV axle back in the 1980s, versus what you pay nowadays.
Compare the price of power steering rack rebuilding back when they were introduced versus what they cost to rebuild now.
At one time, if an engine computer failed, you had to pay $1000 or more for a new one, now you can have most of them rebuilt for $300 or less.
AC compressors have gotten cheaper.

So the way I see it, all that touchscreen stuff might be rebuildable, and when enough cores are in circulation and enough businesses know how to rebuild those things, they might actually be affordable.

 

[sciphi]

I bet one will see a lot of Cruzes around in years to come since they're rapidly becoming ubiquitous like the Cavalier once was. The one bugger is that many of the electronics are VIN-linked, so scrounging a replacement BCM, PCM, or radio from the boneyard will get more complicated. I'm not worried about the turbo, since that was supposed to be engineered to be very durable. Time will tell. Also, the volume trim levels don't have fancy touchscreens or other fancy cabin tech to go wrong. The displays might go, but that would likely be repairable in a few years.

I also bet a lot of Fits will be running around since those are old-school Honda in how they're built. Low-power engine coupled with a simple transmission, and very few cabin electronics to go wrong.

I see a LOT of old Buick LeSabres around. It's a pretty basic powertrain, and most of them were well cared for at first since it was marketed to oldsters who mostly maintained them well. And, there are a lot of Pontiac and Olds variants in the boneyards to get spare parts from.

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
I bet one will see a lot of Cruzes around in years to come since they're rapidly becoming ubiquitous like the Cavalier once was.


I still wonder with that turbo engine. Most folks dump an older vehicle with a higher cost repair. Irregardless to how durable the turbo is, they are a real weak point if owner neglects the oil (common) even once. The Cruze's Hyundai/Kia, Toyota, Honda, Ford counterparts all have real simple engines in comparison.

 

[morris]

my idea is that the plastic parts will be the reason they go to a early grave.