I heard stories of car engine lasting well over 1m miles. Then I often hear stories about its time to trade a car before it reaches 100k miles.
I’m wondering if a vehicle engine can potentially last forever ?
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Sure!
If you never start it, your engine will last forever.
No it would not, the rings would rust or corrode to the cylinder walls. Nothing lasts forever.
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I suspect that the actual engine block, being a solid hunk of iron or aluminum, might last indefinitely.
However, in terms of functionality…no. ICE engines need to be run to keep lubricated, among other things. That’s why I always cringe a little at folks that keep cars parked in the garage all the time, weeks or months on end.
It was built to be run.
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That’s not what he asked. If he just wants a huge automotive-themed paperweight, his unstarted engine will last forever—whether it is functional, or not.
Forever? I don’t know, but there are still many pre WWII cars&trucks being driven to car shows. Sure rebuilding/overhauling is required, the older the vehicle the more maintenance is required. Especially true if the owner wants to keep it “pure”, as delivered, ie drum brakes, points&condensor , etc.
The other option, place in a giant baggy filled with nitrogen.
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Everything wears. If you end up with the only original parts being the block and head castings, do you consider that lasting forever? With a large injection of cash, anything can be refurbished enough to keep it in operation. If the question is- how long can an engine last before it needs major work, that is a different scenario…
This is kind of like the statement that my engine does not use any oil. By design, they have to consume some oil. It may be minimal but there is consumption. The reason the level may not go down noticeably is the consumed oil is replaced by other liquids or materials. By the same token, every interface with moving parts experiences wear. The oil can slow that down but it doesn’t eliminate it.
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Depends on what you mean by “forever”. With proper service, ther are many engines that have gone 200K, 300K, 400K or even 500K miles. Or in one case, 1 Million miles.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a28991860/the-million-mile-lexus/
If you drive 5000 miles a year, 200K miles is 40 years… “forever” for practical purposes. 1M miles? 200 years! Clearly forever! Or if you live in a rust belt state, cars die from corrosion but are still running fine (my Avalanche has that problem)
Every engine wears out the internal parts. How long that takes depends a lot on maintenance. As far as rubber seals, well, time is an issue too. So maybe at 10 years, the engine gets re-sealed and away it goes.
People concerned about 100K being a lot of miles are the very same people who start to neglect their car’s maintenance because the car is “old”.
Most cars don’t wear out, owners kill them with neglect.
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How long is a “lifetime” warranty? We have some dealerships saying “home of the lifetime warranty”.
Some of it has to do with the metallurgy of the block, remember the small block chevy, many times you would have to use a ridge reamer before you could even pull the pistons out or the rings would hang up in the the stroke…Never had to do that to the Buick, Olds, Pontiac as well as other manufactures, so it can have a lot to do with the total design of the engine just as one of many examples..
My brothers 1st gen Tacoma (1998?) 2.4L has around 700,000 (yes 700K) miles on the engine that has only had oil changes and tune ups done to it, I don’t think I might have replaced the valve cover once but other than a starter, nothing else has been done to the engine…
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I once read Chevy castings were softer (my word, I don’t have the vocabulary for the correct word) and that is the reason four bolt mains were desirable. The GM siblings used a harder compound.
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In those cases they’ve received excellent care, and often major repairs (some of which you’ll never hear about). I read about a Mercedes diesel that went over a million miles. Had an engine rebuild every 250,000.
Yes it was the nickel content in engine blocks… Mopar LA engines had a high nickel content to them… as one example…
So did Hudson, whose engines were legendary for their durability. This was due to the use of high-chromium alloy iron for their engine block. Also, beginning in 1951, Hudson’s Wide Block Big Six engines received hand-fitted pistons and bearings during assembly.
Generally speaking, it refers to how long the original buyer owns the car.
In other automotive arenas, such as calculating any mileage offset for warranty purposes such as a “buyback” or vehicle replacement under the terms of the factory warranty, the lifetime of a car is defined as 120,000 miles. For example, if you buy a car, and at 20,000 miles the car malfunctions in a way that can’t be reliably fixed in a reasonable timeframe, you may be entitled to a buyback under the terms of your state lemon law. But since you’ve used up 20,000 miles, or 1/6 of the useful life of the car, you will only get 5/6 of your money back when you surrender the car.
Some manufacturers did not anticipate just how long a customer might keep the car. Back in 2008 or so Chrysler was offering lifetime warranties on their engines. A customer bought a 2008 Commander, performed all of the scheduled maintenance and inspections by the book, and in 2024 at 240,000 the engine seized. Chrysler stated that due to the age of the car, the repair would cost more than the value of the car, and told the customer they would receive Blue Book value for the car instead of a repair (though they would be able to keep the car). Customer filed a warranty dispute claim that went to arbitration and Chrysler was ordered to replace the engine, as there was no language in their warranty that provided an out for someone keeping a Commander on the road for so long.
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I see. Make sense as to why it lasted for so long.
When I initially read about a vehicle reaching 1M miles, I was thinking on time oil change could be the reason for that, and driving at low speed and/or gentle driving habit.
My sister’s Camry is at 240k miles ( 2012 model ) and the engine seems like it won’t quit for any time soon, which is why she hasn’t bought another vehicle yet.
Interestingly, she’s a M.D and drives a 2012 Camry with the roof starting to rust now and leak. And the nurses she works with most of them are driving a late model Acura SUV.
She thinks the Camrys engine will last a lifetime.
It’s been my experience that the longevity of cars often is summed up by the phrase: It Depends.
While the engine in your sister’s car may be doing well at 240K miles…pretty much everything else on the car is now 13-ish years old. Meaning, the seats, suspension, electronics, various rubber seals, etc. The engine may last another 100-200K miles…but if the seats wear in such a way that it irritates the driver, then it might make more sense to replace the car, given the other factors un-related to the engine.
Sometimes people have a perfectly good car, but their life situation changes. I’m thinking having babies, or perhaps the last child moving out of the house. You don’t need that minivan or SUV anymore, for example.
Sometimes you just decide you want something new for various personal reasons.
This topic is a little close to me. I have a family member who drives a 20+ year old pickup truck that’s clearly beyond worn out and has become unreliable. He’s in a financial position to literally write a check for a brand new truck, but simply will not consider getting rid of his current truck. He’s poured money into it over the years trying to “fix” the problems that have only grown. He’s also talking about putting a new engine and transmission in it (!).
A truckdriver described how Ruan, the truck rental, maintains their engines, expects to get a million miles out of them. They had an automated oil-changing system that pumped the old oil out.
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The only way to get lots of miles on a car is on the freeway. Also, steady driving at 70mph creates about the least wear/mile of any type of driving.
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Then as an MD she should know that what she has is a Mold problem just waiting to happen . And Mold is not good for a persons health . The more you post I am wondering if Clueless is a family condition.