I was wondering if a TL could be the type of car that one can take to a million miles. Is it reliable enough to try?

 

I would be more concerned about if you were to live that long since even if you drove 20,000 a year it would take you 50 years LOL.

 

You'd be surprised at the number of cars/engines that can (and have) made it to 1,000,000 miles and beyond.

 

As long as you take care of everything, yes, you can hit 1 million.

 

A early 90's Saab just hit 1M miles. The Washington Post had a article on a mid-90's Accord sedan that reached the 7 figure mark also. The owner was a route driver who would spend his entire day driving roads around MD/VA/WV/PA.

That Accord was still on it's original exhaust system (which makes sense since the owner spent most of his time making long drives). He also used Castrol Syntec synthetic oil. The Wash Post auto-writer of the article drove the Accord and said the driving experience was very anti-climatic since it drove like any other mid 90's Accord.

In terms of the 3G TL, with proper care and maintenance you can reach 250K miles easily. The main factor with getting to 500K and 1M is also more TLC and getting used to driving the same car for that length of time. Alot of folks get bored with their vehicles.

 

Sure, depends on the climate and geographic location.

In the rustbelt? Good luck. Your best chance of hitting 1mil miles with the frame/body still in tact is probably in a salt/snow-free region.

Who knows what condition the interior will be in...or the interior electronics.

It's all dependent upon time...

But I really doubt that you'll hit 1 mil miles on the original engine/transmission if it's an AT. You'll probably be on your fourth transmission rebuild (at least) and second engine.

 

I've seen a 3-series BMW hit over 1 million miles but that was not a true example since it was on a test track. I think it was done my Mobil because it was reported in a segment on MotorWeek (Pat Goss) and the engine was maintained with Mobil 1 oil. Pat had the engine torn down and displayed on a few tables for examination. The cam was in superb condition as was most everything else. But of course, this not a representative example since it was not "normal" use.

I've seen a pick truck go over 1 million miles (don't recall whether it was a Ford or a Chevy). Then there was the Dulles Airport taxi driver in a full size Chevy sedan who had over 500,000 miles with no internal replacements to his Chevy engine.

It certainly can be done. One of the longevity stories that really was interesting to me was the man who lived in Detriot (I think this is right) and commuted 60 miles each way to work every day in his Acura Integra 5-speed. He had 315,000 miles on his original clutch.

 

There was a story of some guy who drove a Volvo over 1 million miles.....

Volvo GAVE him a new top of the line car to get publicity... he still drove the old one most of the time according to the article...

 

a million miles could be done, but the car would require alot of driving and very good maintance. Also modding it would shorten the lifespan (supercharger). Also i;d doubt that you would keep the car after 500,000 miles because the spouse will start nagging, honey, i'm bored with the car, honey i want this new technology in our car, honey the car leather needs to be redone......

 

The Saab was operated in Wisconson so anything is possible, but I agree living in the rust belt will take it's toll on the chassis over time.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16070928/

In our family we've had 2 Acura's and 3 Honda's reach 200K+ miles, besides fluid/filter and and other consumable parts there was nothing else out of the ordinary.

I agree on the transmission replacement for any 2G TL, but by now I would have hoped Honda/Acura have sorted through all the 5AT issues (it was more than one problem area). Also the reason I drive a 6MT

 

Never made it to 300K mark, but my wife's 86 Integra made it to 245K miles on the original clutch. The interior was in extremely good condition when we donated it to charity in 2004.

 

I had an 86 Honda civic hatch that had well over 280k when I finally got rid of it. Also had an 89 Toyota truck that I bought from my dad and eventually sold to a friend... that truck has about 380k on it now and still gets the same mileage as it did when it was brand new.

I think with the proper maintenance and a little bit of luck(a lot of luck if it's a domestic) just about any vehicle is capable of hitting the 1mil mark.

 

I reached 180K on my 95 Dodge Intrepid back in the day... and I'm sure the engine/transmission had many more miles in them. (quite a feat, especially for the transmission, being a Chrysler product and all..) The unfortunate thing was everything else was starting to nickel-and-dime me out of the car.

 

i think that with proper maintenence and care, any car can get up there...

 

My father put 500,000 on a 1990 4 cylinder auto Camry, nothing but timing belts, water pumps, brakes, tires and 4 mufflers, no other exhaust parts. He sold it for $1500 in 2001.

 

You could probably make it to a million with some reasonable care, especially if it's a manual transmission. My wife put about 460,000 on her '88 Accord and was closing in on 350,000 when some fool totaled her '96. Neither used anything but "consumables" (oil, filters, belts, tires, brakes, etc.). She only replaced the clutch once in each of them. When she had the '88 the dealer said there were several cars coming in with more mileage, one a Civic with over a million.

The biggest problem getting a TL that far is all the gadgets. I suspect it would start eating you out of house and home before you got to 1,000,000. Don't forget the car will not only be high mileage, it'll also be getting old. Old means lots of thermal cycles and things that start to get brittle and fragile with age.

Like me.

 

Just as an aside, I purchased a honda civic last week that I just could not resist. A teacher who is a neighbor of mine, has a 1990 honda civic, that she purchases new, and only drives to the market on sundays.
The vehicle has 22,000 miles on it, and looks brand new, with original everything. She asked me if I wanted the car, since she inherited a practically brand new car. She wanted 3,000 dollars for it. I grabbed it. Dont know what I am going to do with it just yet, but darn, its fun having an "old new car".
I think I will get rid of my old toyota carmy with 185,000 miles on it, which my family uses as an "extra car" and use this one. I hate to get rid of the toyota, my family has had it, and it has never broken down, and has never burned a gallon of oil. Original engine and tranny. Maybee a college student could use it, or a workmate who could use a good commuter beater.
Color is sort pale blue or green, not a pretty color. Perhaps I will put some flames on the hood. LOL

Much regards

 

Yeah, I know what you mean. My dad bought a new '67 Chrysler 2dr hardtop just before he was diagnosed as terminal. My mom rarely drove it, just a mile or two to the mall or grocery store once in a while. Twice a year I'd take it home, change the oil and filter and give it a complete checkup, wash it, wax it and bring it back to her. When she passed away in '97 the car still only had about 30,000 miles on it. She kept it in a garage, never once drove it in rain or snow. The only time it got wet was when I washed it. You literally couldn't tell it from new. Even under the hood everything was spotless, with all the chalk marks and grease pencil scribbles from when it was assembled. The last few years, the guy who ran the gas station where she bought fuel (what little she used) picked it up and did the oil changes and state inspections, washed it and returned it to her. He never charged her a penny, he just thought is was a good thing to do for a little old lady.

When my mom died, I drove the car over to him and gave him the title. I figured one good turn deserved another. My sister was furious - the greedy bag wanted the car herself, although she never lifted a finger to help mom.

 

Camrys seem bullet proof. I worked on one for a guy who had racked up over 650k on it. I assume he is still driving it - I left the garage before the car died. I assume its still running though. Keeping up with the maintenance is key.

 

Sorta off topic but my friend had an 91 camary with 300k on it. And this is in Hawaii. Thats like driving 600k in the states IMO. Talk about a crap load of driving around an tiny little island. Right around that time it started to have some major problems so I'm guessing the salt air got to it. But for the most it lasted until 2004 before he had to let her go.

 

What's the point? You'll get tired and want a new car before it even hit 500,000 miles. Nonsense talk...........................

 

I'd like to keep my TL for as long as possible.

 

That's classy, as to both station manager and you. I'd do the same (well, unless the Chrysler happened to be a hot Belvedere or Roadrunner equivalent...).

 

Chances are it will get totalled before it ever makes it there. If you're willing to spend the money on maintenance you can get there with a lot of patience and luck. I doubt the tranny would last that long, but the engine could probably under the right conditions.

 

i drive alot i live way up north of town and i have to drive about 30 miles everyday plus doing some errands so about 80miles a day, yeah alot of driving lol, so i decided to keep my car in the garage for awhile, I've been drivingmy beater car lol, plus its winter so i have to drive my winter van lol
~Jason

 

That would be Irv Gordon, and he's driven his 1966 Volvo 1800S more than 2,000,000 miles.

(The 2,000,000 mile rollover event was originally scheduled at Times Square for September 2001; they postponed the ceremony for a few months.)

http://www.vcoa.org/irv-o-meter/

I'm sure you can keep driving most any car as long as you want, as long as you're willing to replace parts. Look at what they drive in Cuba! Sure, a TL will last 1,000,000 miles if you keep fixing it. The question is : do you really want it to last that long?