US car longevity

driving

Well, to be honest, I would expect a lot more than 50k out of most cars. Unless 2.0 Corolla's are epspecially bad I'd expect them to do over 100k in this country (especially being a Toyota).

In America cars do tend tend last longer, and I think there are two main reasons for that. 1st is the frequent oil changes, and the 2nd is that they generally do longer trips in America.

most jap cars will do incredible mileages without problems if they are used nicely and the oil is changed. even if they are abused they still do good mileages, so I don't know what you have been looking at. in the states they tend to do long distance gentle cruising which is good for engines as they get really hot, yet are running lightly.

mrcheerful

Here's my experience... My US built 1996 Honda Accord AUTO estate (2.2l petrol) died* about a year ago as a result, I think, of it not getting the recall notice to fix a known (in the USA) engine oil seal problem. It had done around 89,000 miles, and servicing had been strictly according to Honda's schedule. *Fixing the leak on this engine in this chassis meant lifting the engine and gearbox etc. Cost of repair was far too close to its book value. Not a happy bunny, as the ride was good as were many other aspects of it, but you can't go around losing 1litre every 1/2 mile.. (I'm now driving an 1.6l Astra estate auto which has gear ratios etc. much more in tune with speeds our motorways than I found on the "more powerful" Honda.)

I can't think of any current car in the UK that would be finished at 50k. Or 100k, come to that.

But the figures give a clue. Some 20k a year. Which means long journeys in a large country. Private annual mileage in the UK is likely to be half that - and likely in heavy traffic, which causes more wear.

The message from snipped-for-privacy@totalise.co.uk contains these words:

115k high? What planet are you on? My elderly Montego's near 180k and isn't even fully run in.

I've got family in the states, they've got some cars with tremendous mileages - one Volvo 240 Estate with over 400k on it, still going like new. I reckon it's something to do with the longer distances they have to drive to get anywhere (they live out in the sticks in Louisiana), the fact they don't go very fast and their obsession with oil changes. Hell, even my cousin's modded 1969 7 litre Chevy Nova with 400 BHP has over 300K on it. Never has so much power been used in such an ill handling car BTW..

Mike

I find it very refreshing out there. You drive into the lube bay every 3000 miles and pay a pittance for an oil & filter change because there's one on virtually every corner. Drivers don't think twice about it, unlike the prevalent attitude over here!

The roads are emptier on average, top speeds are lower, although cruising at

75 is quite normal, and average journeys are much longer. I also find the driving far more relaxed with more patience shown. Can you imagine four way stops (where on arrival at the line you watch who arrived just before you and go just after they've gone) working over here? Perhaps they don't have reps in BMW 318's to contend with :-)

Turning right on a red light also works well, as does undertaking and multi occupancy commuter lanes.

A friend of mine worked around Seattle for a few years and privately bought an '83 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cierra 4.3 litre diesel as a cheap run about. It was a one lady owner car with a very low 72,000 on the clock and I drove this beastie frequently. Fully loaded with tasteful white wall tyres, brown vinyl roof and air con it was a tribute to the 1970's and American engineering! :-) 35 mpg and dirt cheap to maintain it was ideal.

I was in Florida a couple of years ago and hired a Suzuki Esteem (Baleno) with 12,000 miles on the clock from Dollar Car Rentals (Eurodollar over here). A windscreen sticker stated it had received a 7,500 mile oil change (and needed another at 15,000 miles) and sure enough it wore an American branded oil filter. I have never hired a newish car in the UK that has shown any sign of having been serviced, even those getting towards the end of their rental life. In fact I believe that many major fleet UK hire cars that are not replaced before the usual 12,000 miles have their service book doctored when they are later sold through a main dealer. This is not so much of a problem with current longer service intervals, but was an issue with Ford requiring 10,000 mile services, and Vauxhalls, Peugeots and Renaults at

9,000 intervals.

But 3000 mile oil changes were the norm in the early '50s. Don't they realise things have moved on since then?

And weather (in most parts at least)? Over here most of the car has rusted away before the engine gives up. And in Japan they don't even have the need to underseal their cars.

Salt's probably a big contributary factor to that. Everytime it's icy they fill the roads with salt :-(

Its just a state of mind. A bog standard Astra Diesel calls at my place every day, a 'daily call' if you like. It is owned and run by a large company and is one of hundreds of cars on their fleet. It has a main driver and several relief drivers and is serviced about every 6000 miles if it is lucky. Its daily run consists of country roads and farm roads with a quick dash between calls and about 15 or twenty minutes on stop. Presently it has

215,000 miles on the clock and it runs as well as ever. The fleet has several Vectras and Peugeot vans approaching 200k as well.

There is no magic involved with this and most people who travel lowish mileage cannot get around the fact that cars can last so long these days with no major problems. My friend has a Shogun which has had a hard life and sporadic servicing but is still going strong and is just coming up to

160,000.

It would be unusual, even for the Big Country, for a Corolla to reach

400,000 miles though, and of course the car has only 115k on it so far so its total life is pure speculation. There is one hell of a difference between 200,000 and 400,000 and many a slip etc etc.

Huw

How frequently should we do oil changes? I try to do my oil every 6 months, which is less than 3000 miles.

Hi,

a few years ago one of the japanese car companies started an ad campaign with this really strange guy going on and on about how he got out of his car with a sign on the side of the road when his japanese car hit

100,000 miles.

they dropped it a while later when Cheverolet ran an ad with several different people talking about how they put 100,000 or 70,000 or 120,000 miles on their Chevy.... then it was revealed that this was THE SAME CHEVY with several hundred thousand miles on it.

it's not unusual at all for a pre-metric US car to do 200,000 if maintained.

the th> I find it very refreshing out there. You drive into the lube bay every 3000

That is really sad.

Huw

The message from petermcmillan snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com contains these words:

Having "Montego" on the back seems fairly corrosive, too.

Possibly. The Suzuki I hired was following manufacturers recommendations at

7,500 miles. I think the question though, is why wouldn't you have a lube change at 3000 miles when you don't even have to get out of the car, and it costs so little? It's like going through a car wash to them.

Thinking about it, my car goes far longer than 3000 miles between washes :-)

The message from petermcmillan snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com contains these words:

To what end?

Why? 115k is just about run in for alot of engines. Ford Zetecs should do 200k+.

Seems not. Hence why there is a 'drive-thru' 'JiffyLube' or similar every couple of yards. Don't know how you can get a proper oil change in a drive-through though, so maybe they just grease the nipples there ;)

A lot of respondents seem to have mis-read my original post. Of course any old bucket can do 50k but this car has 115k at the moment and, as I said, even at that I would expect difficulties in a bog-standard car over here.

Most seem to be saying that a properly maintained vehicle should get something like 250 thousand miles but I'd hazard a guess that this group is generally frequented by those who do their own servicing and/or know how to keep a car running, unlike the average joe. What I'm saying is that over there that same joe can get 300k out of their standard motor without much thought whereas here he'd be lucky enough to get 150. So what's the difference? Is it the obessive 50's-style oil changes? Is it the auto boxes? (she said heself that manuals tend to die earlier) Maybe it's that because things are that much further apart their cars get properly warmed up more often?

And I'm talking engines and transmissions here..cars in Michigan get a lot rustier than here from what I've seen. It's colder and there's more salt more often to cope with the regular -10 to -30 degrees C in winter.

Chandy