Cars That Last A Million Miles
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Yes, its still rare to see a million miles on an odometer, but it happens. And while in decades past automobiles were often junkyard-bound at 100,000 miles, todays cars can easily run 200,000 miles or more with minimal maintenance.
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By Christopher Solomon
Automaker Saab announced recently that it would give a free car to any original U.S. Saab owner who drives the car 1 million miles or more. Spurring the challenge were Wisconsin insurance salesman Peter Gilbert and his 1989 Edwardian Gray Saab 900 SPG, whose odometer not long ago clicked over to six zeros.
His car, now in a museum, still has its original engine and turbocharger.
Thats impressive, but he cant touch retired New York schoolteacher Irv Gordon, whos in Guinness World Records for having driven more than 2.5 million miles in his cherry-red 1966 Volvo P1800.
Though stories such as Gilberts and Gordons happen once in a blue moon, people who drive their cars for several hundred thousand miles today arent so unusual. And theyre not all devotees of Swedish iron.
Virtually every marque — Chrysler, Honda, Chevrolet, even Miata — has a not-so-underground community thats just as proud of the car at 500,000 miles as when it was new, maybe even more. (Mercedes and Volvo hand out grille badges and window stickers.) And their secrets range from the mundane to the downright mystic.
How long should a car last?
“Days past, 100,000 miles was usually the average life of a car,” says John Ibbotson, a workshop supervisor whos in charge of vehicles that are tested for Consumer Reports Auto Test Center in Connecticut, referring to vehicles from the 1950s to 1970s.
“At 100,000 miles, we were into major engine and transmission rebuilding,” Ibbotson says. “Cars in the 90s, it was 140,000, 150,000 miles.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation reports the average life span of a vehicle is 12 years, or about 128,500 miles. But that could be low simply because people dont maintain them, Ibbotson says. “If you bought a car today, there shouldnt be any problem with that car going 200,000 miles,” he says.
Ibbotsons tips:
* Read the book. “The biggest key is doing the maintenance thats in the owners manual,” he says. Simply stick to that schedule. But amazingly, he says, “very few people read the owners manual.”
* Clean me. Dont let road salt build up on a car if youre in a state where you have to worry about that. Itll rust the cars body.
* Money isnt the answer. Not every service will prolong your cars life. “Some dealers offer fuel-injection cleaning (for example). Its not necessary,” Ibbotson says.
* Pray for luck. “There is some level of luck” whether you get a car that lasts forever, Ibbotson says. He recalls his father recently sold a 1995 truck with 200,000 miles, and it was in good shape even though he had done almost “absolutely nothing” to it. Meanwhile, a friend has a newer truck of the same model, same body style, with only 65,000 miles, “and that vehicle has had much more maintenance done.”
A fascination with Festivas
Suzanne Mitchell and her tiny 1992 Ford Festiva L have had quite the love affair. “We bought it when we left (New York City) and moved to the suburbs,” says Mitchell, who lives in Rockland County, N.Y. She started using the Festiva to commute to her job as a TV producer. The years, and the miles, rolled by.
Today the Festiva has about 250,000 miles — not bad for a car that cost her $5,600 new.
So much does Mitchell love this car that when the odometer approached 200,000 miles she threw a “Fiesta for the Festiva,” complete with margaritas, Mexican food and a piД±ata filled with toy cars. About 10 people jammed into the Festiva — including a cameraman — to watch the odometer turn over.
Why does Mitchell adore it so? It isnt because its beautiful. In fact, its runty, stripped-down and tinny. But others love the Festiva, too: “I could be driving in a Bentley Continental GT, and nobody would care where I got it,” Mitchell says. Yet several times each year people leave notes on the Festiva asking if she wants to sell it. “Not only notes — but people will signal me or give me the thumbs up,” she says.
“Its just incredibly, highly efficient,” Mitchell says, explaining that a fill-up costs only about $15 and that the car still gets in the “high 30s” for gas mileage. “Its perfect for the city” — shorter than her familys Mini Cooper by 4 inches, she says, yet theres more interior room than the Mini.
What has she done to keep it going? “Nothing. We repair a little rust. And I swear Ive only done oil changes. And we recently put a strut in. But anybody would have to do that for a car that old.” The car has never been garaged, either. It helps that the car gets mostly highway miles, Mitchell adds.
Her advice:
* Change that oil. “My husband completely disagrees with me, but I change the oil religiously every 3,000 miles; hey, it works for me.” (Other experts say to stick to the oil-change regimen prescribed by the owners manual, whatever that is.)
* Think simple. An inexpensive car like the Festiva has almost no electronics — and therefore less that can send it to the mechanic, says Mitchell. Unfortunately, they dont make them much like that anymore.
Sticking with his Saturn
Duane Delegan isnt shy about it: Hes frugal. Superfrugal. Growing up, when the family was “really, really poor,” the Chicago-area man even recalls lending his parents money from his piggy bank.