Car mileage

[badunnin]

Helene mentioned in Klatch today that her hubby's car just passed 100,000 miles, and mine is rolling at just over 120,000 right now. She's 9 years old. I was wondering, how many of you have high-mileage cars? What was the max you have ever had? My dad had a Honda Accord (92) that had 160,000 when he sold it, and it is still going at almost 200,000 (he sold it to a woman he works with).

[lorilei]

I think the car I had the longest was a 1983 Monte Carlo that I put 195,000 miles on -- and still sold for a couple thousand dollars. That was a great car. Ran superbly up until the end, when it started mysteriously leaking oil. But no complaints here.

I also had a 1991 Pontiac Grand Am that I kept until it had about 180,000 miles on it. We sold that one right before we bought our first NEW car after we got married

[funnybone]

Hmm, the highest I had was a Mustang that had about 175,000 KM (in Canada) on it - so that is about 110,000 miles I guess. I traded it in because it just wasn't convenient once I had kids. It worked well though. When I worked, I used to put a lot of miles on my car as I drove a distance. Now I only need the car to run errands and chauffer the kids around, so I only put about 6,000 miles a year.

[BeachBum]

I had a Ford, Yes a Ford Taurus that I drove through high school and college (bought used) when I sold it, it had 120,000 and was going very strong. I sold it because I got a job, and could afford a nicer car.

[Kismet]

I have a Ford Escort with 140,000 on it - 6 years old. My DH's Escort just died with close to 150,000 - 11 years old. My Dad's Ford Taurus has 160,000 on it and is still going strong!

[Jasmine-Rose]

I saw this and I just had to reply...

I have a 1991 Honda Civic 5 speed with no A/C, no power anything, no cup holders and no clock. She's got 164,700 miles on her, but she's still going strong and she gets great mileage (43.7 mpg on the last tank of gas).

My Sweetheart has a 1992 Toyota Camry. He has all the luxuries my Honda lacks, lucky guy. As for the mileage on his car - he's approaching 375,000 miles!!!

[badunnin]

Originally posted by Jasmine-Rose
I saw this and I just had to reply...
My Sweetheart has a 1992 Toyota Camry. He has all the luxuries my Honda lacks, lucky guy. As for the mileage on his car - he's approaching 375,000 miles!!!

Criminy! The distance to the moon is 239,000 miles (give or take). What does he drive so much for? WOW!

[HRJ]

As Bethany mentioned, DH's Suburu Legacy recently passed 100,000 miles -- it's a '95, we bought it in the summer of '94, so it's 9 years old.

In a different vein, I wonder if I hold the record for leastmiles put on a car -- I owned my first car (a 1983 Sentra) for nine years, and when I sold it, it had 63,000 miles on it -- only 7,000 miles per year. And that included a road trip to Florida and back. I really don't like to drive much.

Helene

Editing to say, I see funnybones drives about 6,000 miles a year -- so I guess I'm not the lowest.

[gertdog]

The ailing '88 Toyota Camry I sold last year had 120K on it. It wouldn't start in the rain, and burned oil and coolant. Plus it had a massive rust problem- the wheel wells were just gone.

The '95 Jetta we will trade in today has 105K. It has also begun to burn oil and coolant, and develop rust spots. It has not been a good car- the electrical system is a disaster. We would need to sink a ton of money into the car to keep it road-safe- hence the new Subaru we're picking up today!

[badunnin]

And I think this begs a follow-up question: do you like to drive? What is a long trip for you? I went to university in a town that is 550 miles away, with no train/bus travel possible, so I drove it several times a year. I love to drive, especially distances. Detroit to Boston to me is fun (OK, until I get to downtown Boston, of course )

[Peggy C.]

Hmmm interesting, I had an '87 Ford Escort that had over 100,000 when I got rid of it in maybe '96. I can't remember exactly how many. The engine was pretty ok, the rest of it was just falling apart. We also have a '94 Ford ranger that has quite few over 100,000 and it runs great and isn't yet in horrible shape.

As far as the car with the lowest miles, I leased a Honda a few years ago and only put on 6-7k a year.

As to the follow up question. I don't like to drive. If we're going on a very distant trip I'd prefer to fly, but that is usually not an option so we end up driving. DH= will do most of it. I've never lived more than 15 miles from where I work and take public transportaion for work purposes now.

[gertdog]

As for lowest mileage, I sold my '88 Tercel in '93 when I moved from California to New York. I wanted something a bit more substantial for winter driving. I think the Tercel 44,000 miles on it when I sold it.

I don't love driving. If a drive is over 5 hours I will generally choose to fly. I take the train rather than driving when I travel on the east coast.

[wallycat]

I hate driving I'm always falling asleep...whether I'm the passenger or the driver

Last year I think I put on 3,000 miles

I don't think I've ever owned a car wth miles over 100,000...used or new

[valchemist]

my DH has a 1983 Pontiac Grand Prix that has over 400,00 miles on it. It is still running. He is a car nut. He has never taken it in to be serviced. He does all the work on it himself.

[Natasha3]

My husband's car has quite a lot of kms on it so far, and we expect to get at least a couple more years out of it. He takes religious care of it and loves working on it, so that helps.

As for driving, I love it (except in traffic and yucky weather). I also adore long car trips. I believe I come by my love of long road trips from my childhood. My dad got to go to a lot of fun places for work (conferences, mostly), and when they were in North America, he'd often opt to drive instead of fly, so he could take along the whole family. I still love travelling that way -- it makes me nostalgic, and it's just plain fun to me. There's just *something* about an open road...

Natasha

[Melman]

My current Honda (#4) has about 108,000 miles on it. My previous Honda history was Honda #1 - ~128,000, #2 - 205,000, and #3 - 140,000.

I'm doing my lowest amount of driving per year with this car averaging about 18,000 per year. In the past, I was well over 2,000 per year. Now that my son drives his own car, those are only MY miles.

I do like driving distances. Greenville to Boston is a LONG drive, and I'd much rather fly. Greenville to Pennsylvania is not a problem. It's about 10 hours. Greenville to central Virginia (about 4.5 hours) is a piece of cake. I guess it depends on where I'm going and how much I want to be there.

[ChristineVA]

My 1992 Toyota Camry had 190,000 on it when I sold it in 2002.
Christine

[JHolcomb]

DH's car has over 160,000 on it (it may be nearing 170) and it's still going (more or less) strong. Which is pretty impressive, considering it's a 1989 Jeep. We're going to get rid of it in the near future, since it's needing a good number of repairs, but I have a feeling we won't let it go until he sees 200,000 roll over.

As far as my car, I've had it for four years and I have 65,000 on it. I drive a fair amount because Dh and I use my car for almost all of our trips. Plus I was commuting 4 hours daily for a month 2 yrs ago, and that really racked up the miles. Anywaym, my car=32 mpg. His car=12 mpg. See why we drive mine everywhere?

I don't like to drive because, like Ana, it makes me sleepy. I can have a pot of coffee in me, all hopped up on caffine, but once I get past about 20 miles or so, my eyes just won't stay open. We're driving to Charolottesville tonight to visit SIL, and I think I'm going to make DH drive (tho I'm a nervous passenger, too...but only in my car, not in his, because his is built like a Sherman tank).

[slknight]

My 93 Acura has about 106,000 miles on it. That's the most miles I've put on a car since that's my first car. Our Subaru is newer, so only has about 50,000 on it.

But my sister had a VW golf that had around 300,000 (many of which she did in the snow). She finally had to get rid of it and got a new one.

I do like to drive. I once drove from Quebec City to DC in one day with a detour over to Lake Placid. It was 800 miles by myself. I only had about $5 and a box of Little Debbie's. I wasn't sure I'd have enough money to make it through the Baltimore toll.

[Kristine]

I drive a 1995 BMW that has about 113,000 miles. It was my mom's car before I started driving it, and she racked up the majority of those miles (driving me around - just kidding).

[lhall]

I sold my Honda Accord with 149,000 on it and it was 13 years old. My dad's mechanic purchased my younger's brother old car from my dad. It's still going strong with 230,000 miles on it. Then again, the owner is a mechanic.

Leigh

[swquilts]

DH is driving a 94 Saturn that we bought for $500, replaced the head and now has about 145,000 on it. We both drive about 30 miles each way to work so he's driving that car. I drive a Durango that is rapidly approaching 50K and is only a 2000. We've also bought another Saturn beater for $500, needs a new motor.

Did I mention that DH is a Saturn mechanic???

[CompassRose]

This question has much meaning for me today; I just test-drove a very charming silver '91 Volvo 240 (oh, I'm a Volvo girl, my parents have driven one or another all my life, and that hefty, solid rumble of engine is in my blood!). Oh. Woop. I digress.

Anyhow, said Volvo has not quite 300,000 km on it. (186,450 miles.) According to Consumer Reports, the price she's asking is a good one for a mid-range condition car. As far as I can tell (I barely know my oilstick from my radiator reservoir) the body's in good shape and it runs well... but, pending a complete going-over from MY mechanic (which of course I would insist on) is this too much tread-wear for me to even CONSIDER the car?

(Boy, that would make me sad. Sitting down in that nice polyester-flocked seat felt just like home...)

[Robyncz]

Originally posted by HRJ
In a different vein, I wonder if I hold the record for leastmiles put on a car

When my Nana died in 1995, we sold her 1969 Dodge something-or-other that had 7000 miles on it. She had never driven it on a highway. Only in her neighborhood!!!

[HRJ]

Nana wins!

[Gina O]

The first new car I purchased, a 1992 Cavalier, is still going strong with 234,000 miles. It has not been without problems, but it still runs. We keep it in Tulsa for Brian to use when he is working there.

I love to drive! Last year I drove to Atlanta and back, to Raleigh, Washington, DC, Allentown, PA and back, from MO to San Francisco, all by myself, sometimes doing 15 hour days. I listened to a lot of books on tape and had a great time. Gina

[tbb113]

I've never kept a car long enough for it to get those kind of miles on them Last car I had I put 75,000 miles on it and then traded it in a year and a half ago when everyone was offering those LOW interest rates (car was always causing me problems).

But in California you really put miles on a car without trying. I have almost 30,000 miles on my car in just over 20 months (and some of those months I was gone two weeks of the month on business trips. My daily round trip commute is 35 to 40 miles and some people do that one way

But, yes I do like to drive...but I prefer to fly really long distances. I have been toying with the idea of a road trip though

[d_ferrero]

Originally posted by HRJ
Nana wins!

No, my aunt Bev does. She drives a 1984 Ford Mustang whose mileage as of last summer was a little over 2K.

[ebobbitt]

I'm glad someone posted a number higher than I'm about to post (Valchemist)! My previous truck was 7.5 years old and had 276,000 miles on it when I traded it in.

[lldjslim]

I have a 1992 Chevrolet S10 pick-up truck w/ 223,978 miles on the odometer.
It had 94,000 miles on it when I bought it.

I still have this truck.

I just bought a 2005 Ford Ranger 2wks ago and it currently has ove 3,000 miles on it. It had only 24 miles on it when I bought it.

I sure do drive a lot