Can a car go past 300,000 miles if well properly maintained?
Sure…Taxi companies regularly get 350K out of their Crown Vics…
2.7 million miles and still going: http://www.autoblog.com/2007/10/26/man-with-2-6-million-mile-volvo-p1800-aims-for-3-million/
Heck, vehicles can go past 300k even if NOT properly maintained. We have an old Ford E-150 i6 at work that had “officially” died two years ago w/ 290k on the clock. One day I took it upon myself to tinker w/ it- trying to run up my time on the clock.
The air filter was completely clogged w/ dust and dirt and debris (I’m inclined to think it was even the original filter it was that bad!)
And the spark plugs were so bad that two of the six plugs were completely missing the electrode, and a third was corroded completely closed.
I replaced filter and plugs, changed the oil, and fired that puppy up!
She just passed emissions again and rolled past 330k this week.
Of course I don’t recommend that type of neglect, but it illustrates how mechanical ignorance (or in this case, indifference by my co-workers) can condemn a vehicle to an early grave.
1990 Toyota Pick-up - 325,000 miles - no oil burning - compression good - still passes emissions with no tricks.
1992 Toyota Celica - 333,000 miles - same story as above.
1988 Toyota Supra - 251,000 miles - same story as above.
2000 Ford Explorer - 199,000 miles - same story as above.
Any car can go past 8yrs/150k however more expensive repairs(some call maintenance) are very likely.
It all depends on how deep your pockets are. Everything is fixable on a vehicle, the most expensive is rusting which limits vehicles lifespans to about 15-20yrs in my locale (New England).
No vehicle is considered “dead”, it really just means the owner can no longer stomatch the repair bills associated.
Lastly the cost of keeping life past 8yrs/150k has to do with about 3 equal factors: luck, driving style/habits and maintenance.
It’s sort of like the hammer that lasted forever; all it needed was a new head or handle every so often! Seriously, as stated, most cars can reach 300,000 miles now but not all can do it economically.
Popular Japanese cars can all go that far economically. Some German and nearly all British cars and the lower quality US vehicles virtually need to be rebuilt and that makes it uneconomical to operate them much beyond that point.
The higest mileage car I’m familiar with is a guy in my town who owns a 1983 Toyota Celica, built in the US and driven mostly in Nevada, a dry state. As of 1997 he had recorded 964,000 miles and by now approxomately 1,250,000 miles. This is a WHITE coupe and there are almost no visible rust spots! Like you, he believes in regular maintenance and drives gently.
The most our own family ever put on a car was a 1984 Chevy Impala V8, which we sold at just under 300,000 miles. This car was an average US car and received good care all its time we owned it. Just the same, the following parts were replaced:
- Gas tank (rust)
- Alternator
- Starter
- 4 exhaust sytems (muffler & Tail pipe)
- water pump
- Timing chain and gear set
- Front springs
- 3 sets of shocks
- 4 brake jobs
- Radiator
- Fuel pump
- Speedometer cable
13 3 batteries - Rear axle seals
- Heater fan motor
Engine, transmission and the rest of the drive train were all original at time of sale. We did not sell it because it was uneconomical to repair; Chevies of that year were inexpensive to get parts for. The car is still being driven by a kid somwhere around town.
Even if you can mechanically get to 300,000 miles without major repairs, if you live in the “rust belt” or have a car with poor rust protection, it would be dangerous to keep driving it. We have another post of a couple with a Honda Acccord with high mileage but mechanically OK. Unfortunately the body is so corroded that even the body shops advise against trying to fix it.