A million miles on the odometer

nist7 · Post by **nist7** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 11:12 am

One of my friend's dad drives a Mazda (forgot the exact model) which has about 350k miles on it. The company said that if the car logs in a million miles, they'll give him a free, brand-new car.

I'm wondering how long before a personal, daily driver logs in a million miles on original engine and tranny and with no major repair work.

obivously commercial trucks and vintage cars don't count.

my goal is to log in exactly 500k miles on my honda. it can prolly be done but will take a couple of decades...

audiofreak12 · Post by **audiofreak12** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 2:01 pm

Is that even possible?

nist7 · Post by **nist7** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 2:20 pm

we'll just have to see. a million miles will be extremely difficult to achieve on original engine and tranny. and 500k may be somewhat easier. i'm only on 163k, so still got a ways to go

Jonathan · Post by **Jonathan** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 2:29 pm

It's been done before. Mazdas older rotary engines could last a very long time, usually the vehicles that you see last a million are diesels. The average Hondas and Toyota dies around 200k on average, very, very few will clock over 400k and it won't be worth having the car clock that much because the maintenance required will be horrid.

William from NOLA · Post by **William from NOLA** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 2:41 pm

If you could do highway miles, it would be easier. It would probably take you 7-9 years to put on the rest of the mileage. One of my friend's mom's trucks had 88k miles before she sold it... it was 11 months old.

Jonathan · Post by **Jonathan** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 2:50 pm

Very, very true. Highway miles are much, much easier on a car than city miles. That's when you usually do see vehicles that last over 400k. Come to think of it, I can't remember a car that did clock that high that wasn't owned by someone that traveled a lot. Most of the diehard vehicles that I've seen turn over 500k+ were straight sixes, I really wish you'd see more inline sixes nowadays.

Post by **GlassWolf** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 7:16 pm

I know people who put 150K miles on a car every year, but they trade in their cars every 2 years as workvehicles.
The problem with small engines and that sort of offer is that most are DOHC, or at least SOHC which means a timing belt, not a chain, which also means most likely an interference engine. These don't last that long unless you do major maintenance like new belt and gears every 60K miles or so. Most transmissions in modern small imports are throw-away trannies as well and won't hold up that long without rebuilds.
Now, if a rebuild doesn't count as replacement or major repair, then it's possible.. but you're going to end up replacing most of the motor, suspension, transmission, and differential several times over in the process of keeping any vehicle that long if it's a gas engine import. high RPM small displacement motors aren't designed for long life.
too many moving parts at too high a speed to last for long periods of use.

audiofreak12 · Post by **audiofreak12** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 7:17 pm

Hey, my envoy is a straight six..god i hope it last 500k miles...that would be good.

armedforglory · Post by **armedforglory** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 7:42 pm

my dad has an '86 Mazda B2000 pickup truck, four cylinder five speed. It has an 88-hp engine (pitiful, I know!) and is a single cab. My dad worked in Louisiana for 20-something years, and commuted over there monday morning, and back and forth between work and his apartment, and then drove back home on thursday or friday. at the time that we removed that original engine, it had 495,000 miles on it. crazy huh? the thing still ran, too, my dad just wanted more power from it, only thing he did was put gas in it, and change the oil...sad that we cant get the same quality this day in age...That old mazda body now lies on an S10 frame, with a blazer engine and transmission. thinkin about how 88 hp would do for a daily driver, imagine 200..I love driving that thing!!

nist7 · Post by **nist7** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 8:36 pm

only time will tell