The 200,000 Mile Debate

[Opah]

I have a 96 ZR2 4X4 chevy S10, first engine I pulled at 310,000, only because I got a free rebuilt engine 4.3 Vortec, going to rebuild the original with My Grand daughter, first year auto shop.
Toyota Corolla 95, Toyota Tacoma 2005 4x4 and a GMC Yukon XL 8.1 2005 4x4, all are Banging 200,000 plus, all run great. I swear by:

Once every year, The best product for the Buck,

 

[WRM]

Great project with your granddaughter! Only shocked they still offer auto shop, particularly in CA.

 

[Sapcut]

I just saw this thread. My family has been driving Toyota Land Cruisers and the twin Lexus LX models since 1996, and nothing else. Our current herd is below. They are the best rolling machines on the planet whether we want to admit it or not....And these are vehicles that do not require OCD maintenance to run forever.

1996 LX 497k miles, 1999 LC 441k miles, 2000 LX 238k miles, 2000 LX 367k miles, 2004 LX 335k miles, 2006 LX 289k miles

 

[browning2480]

I just saw this thread. My family has been driving Toyota Land Cruisers and the twin Lexus LX models since 1996, and nothing else. Our current herd is below. They are the best rolling machines on the planet whether we want to admit it or not....And these are vehicles that do not require OCD maintenance to run forever.

1996 LX 497k miles, 1999 LC 441k miles, 2000 LX 238k miles, 2000 LX 367k miles, 2004 LX 335k miles, 2006 LX 289k miles

Are all these the 4.7s?

 

[D S 319]

Wow those land cruises are not cheap..

 

[Opah]

That made two of us, but I was very happy when she called and want to know what tools I had , how they were sized and how they were used.
Bought her a working 4 cylinder turbo charged model motor, sparking spark plugs, working lifters and valves, pistons, timing chain, starter , alternator, a 100%
complete working motor. Really cool see thru plastic, watch the crank, connecting rods pistons, valves cam shaft, it runs off of battery instead of gas but that is the only difference.

 

[Sapcut]

Are all these the 4.7s?

All except the 1996. The incredible 4.7 V8 engine first showed up in the ‘98 Land Cruiser. According to the chief engineer at the time, Takeo Kondo, he said they designed it to be a 25 year engine.

Wow those land cruises are not cheap..

No, they are not inexpensive brand new. But I never buy new. Before the recent used car crazy prices the last year, LC/LXs could be had at decent prices if you could find one at all. They are very good investments today.

 

[hodgeman]

All except the 1996. The incredible 4.7 V8 engine first showed up in the ‘98 Land Cruiser. According to the chief engineer at the time, Takeo Kondo, he said they designed it to be a 25 year engine.



No, they are not inexpensive brand new. But I never buy new. Before the recent used car crazy prices the last year, LC/LXs could be had at decent prices if you could find one at all. They are very good investments today.

I really wanted a LC before my last 4Runner purchase. The local dealer got a 2019 model...MSRP of $70k.

That rig today is worth over $80k...even with 30,000 on the ticker.

 

[Maverick1]

I really wanted a LC before my last 4Runner purchase. The local dealer got a 2019 model...MSRP of $70k.

That rig today is worth over $80k...even with 30,000 on the ticker.

That V8 engine is nice in the LC and the 4Runner!

 

[hodgeman]

That V8 engine is nice in the LC and the 4Runner!

I wish I had the V8 in the 4Runner... the 4.0L six will likely last forever, but it's gutless.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

My buddy just picked up a near-mint Mid-90s Lwith the 6 cylinder. It was fairly low miles and he gave around $9,000 for it. Truck has all kinds of potential.

 

[Newtosavage]

I'm about to roll 200k on my 2015 Silverado and I fully expect 300k before I buy another. All I've ever done is change the oil and filters on schedule. I use fully synthetic oil only.

Yes, vehicles are expensive these days, but when I ran the numbers, they aren't any more expensive per mile than they used to be. In the 70's and 80's, a lot of vehicles were done at 100k. In the early 2000's they were done at 200k and now we're getting 300k out of them without major work. I paid $24k for mine with 16k miles on it ( I felt I got a good deal ) and I'll be below $0.10/mi by the end of next year.

There was a time I could wring out close to $0.05/mi but that was doing a LOT of work myself and I'm getting to old for that bs.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I'm about to roll 200k on my 2015 Silverado and I fully expect 300k before I buy another. All I've ever done is change the oil and filters on schedule. I use fully synthetic oil only.

Yes, vehicles are expensive these days, but when I ran the numbers, they aren't any more expensive per mile than they used to be. In the 70's and 80's, a lot of vehicles were done at 100k. In the early 2000's they were done at 200k and now we're getting 300k out of them without major work. I paid $24k for mine with 16k miles on it ( I felt I got a good deal ) and I'll be below $0.10/mi by the end of next year.

There was a time I could wring out close to $0.05/mi but that was doing a LOT of work myself and I'm getting to old for that bs.

Congrats on your experience with the Chevy. The only problem I have with them is that the rockers, cab corners, and quarters rot out bad if you live on gravel and areas with salt/brine on the roads.

 

[Newtosavage]

Congrats on your experience with the Chevy. The only problem I have with them is that the rockers, cab corners, and quarters rot out bad if you live on gravel and areas with salt/brine on the roads.

Yea, fortunately for my truck it lives in an area where we don't have much of that so the body looks pretty new still.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Yea, fortunately for my truck it lives in an area where we don't have much of that so the body looks pretty new still.

Roger that man... My 2000 Silverado is heading to the junkyard soon. That little 4.8L V8 still runs like a charm, but the body and frame has just rotted around it. Took the bed off a couple years ago to address frame corrosion issues, and local master blacksmith/welder refused to weld on it. He said there just wasn't enough good steel left to anchor to. I could probably clip it with a used frame, but I don't want to invest any more $$$ into it. I bought a '94 F250 ext cab to replace it in the line up. Its a heavy duty rig with dual tanks and a long bed and is a beast. However, I have a heat sink issue with it that I can't figure out. Starts cold, but wont start warm.

 

[Eyeman]

Do any of yall high mileage guys use Lucas Fuel Treatment or any other type?
I have been using as of late and Im thinking I notice a difference.
Seems to make my rig run overall better.

 

[gibbons025]

The company I work for has a Toyota Tundra that’s out running at this moment with over 450,000 miles. I think it’s a 2013 or so. It’s for our tank monitor guy and they just run and run and won’t die.

 

[browning2480]

Do any of yall high mileage guys use Lucas Fuel Treatment or any other type?
I have been using as of late and Im thinking I notice a difference.
Seems to make my rig run overall better.

I have 298,000 on my Chevy Tahoe. I have used Seafoam in its whole life. Half a can Twice a year or so directly in the intake and a can and a half in the gas tank every couple months.

 

[alpine_troop]

Have had this debate with myself a lot over the last year as I go back and forth between wanting to trade in and buy new, wait until used market dies down, or hold what I’ve got.
One thing that concerns me with modern cost-of-ownership marketing and high-turnover ownership mentality: companies are marketing longer and longer oil change intervals to suggest a “lower cost of ownership.” However, that claim is by a marketing department not anticipating on you trying to own the vehicle for more than 100-150K miles.
Which makes me skeptical of low mileage used vehicles that people are trading in every year or two: did they follow a reasonable maintenance schedule during the early life of the engine? Or did they run it long between fresh oil and permanently maim engine components?

 

[ElkNut1]

No doubt oil changes are important BUT they are way over rated as being needed every 3000 miles or so.

My youngest Son is terrible at servicing his Toyota pickup, it was a 1999. He changed that thing aprox 12,000-15,000 miles, no kidding. It had 275,000 miles & still trucking right along then he rolled it & it was totaled.

I have a 1993 Toyota that I picked up a couple years ago & you can tell by its condition it wasn't remotely serviced but I got it for a song & dance knowing with a few bucks & elbow grease it would do just fine. I've replaced so much stuff on it to my liking with still under 2500.00. It has 307,000 on it & runs awesome! Great truck for hunting!


ElkNut