Most miles from a vehicle?

[NorTex]

I'm allowing for rebuilt transmissions/transaxles but not engines themselves. (Edit: Valve jobs are fine but no bottom or top end rebuilds whatsoever!)....As for me I drove a 1989 Chevrolet Corsica, 2.8 liter V-6, automatic, to 286k miles (460272.384 km).....The engine was still running but I blew the head gasket as I couldn't trace a leak. It wasn't a radiator or heater hose either. I parked it, bought a wrecked '96 Corsica with a 3.1. If you are familiar with these cars, then just know the engineering nightmare it was to swap out the engines/suspensions/wiring. Yep, I even had to cut out part of the engine bay sidewalls and weld in the new motor mounts from the donor car! (that is, the metal things your motor mounts attach to.)

I haven't driven my '81 Mercedes 280SE in years (ouch...about nine years now!)...It has about 176k miles but a weather-rotted wire to the external fuel pump made it not start up and I haven't yet fixed it.

[Cobrafan427]

My '90 Ford Crown Vic LTD's odometer stopped working a long time ago but i'm well over 200,000 miles on it. It has had a litany of problems but still nothing of a large magnitude *knocks on wood*

[Magnum9987]

My dad had a '91 Mitsubishi Diamanti 6 cylinder that he put 287K on. Replaced that with a 95 Diamanti that puked at 267K. Both suffered from endless power steering issues from 200k+, but else wise were bullet proof cars.

[pimento]

We had a BMW E30 323i that went about 355k kms before the odo stopped, a few years later the head gasket blew so that was it. Bulletproof, otherwise.

[NSXType-R]

My father's Integra had about 187,000 miles on it. Granted, it was a waterlogged engine- it had run under water for some time. My father picked it up at around 100,000 miles and decided to bash it in and get whatever mileage he could out of it.

We once put over 1,000 lbs of rocks in it for the backyard. The car was close to bottoming out over bumps, we felt the wheels hit the inside of the wheel wells.

Also, at speed on the highway, there'd be bubbles in the carpet because the chassis was so rusted out. It was a scary ride, but fun.

It's nice to drive a beater- you never need to worry about scratching up the car, and no one wants to park next to your car.

[250gto boy]

my dad's 06 corolla is getting to 130K miles. The only problem we had was that its hubcaps fell off after 95K.

[csl177]

Originally Posted by NSXType-R

My father's Integra had about 187,000 miles on it. Granted, it was a waterlogged engine- it had run under water for some time.

Please explain... hydrolocking is instantly fatal to engines, so do you mean a rebuilt flood victim?

Originally Posted by NSXType-R

It's nice to drive a beater-you never need to worry about scratching up the car, and no one wants to park next to your car.

Not only that, but in traffic most assume it's uninsured and steer clear. I've owned a coupla tetanus-mobiles that went like stink but were never messed with. Cheap is goooood. Northern friends garage the good cars in October, drag out the beater until the salt is gone. Rust belt examples have the best presence... 1980-'90s Tauruses, Crown Vics or Impalas especially.

[Ferrer]

Ages ago we had a Renault 11 GTL that went past 200.000km. Never gave us any problem and we changed it because it was old and didn't have air con or power steering.

[Dino Scuderia]

I put 235k miles on a '94 Mazda 626, mostly highway miles, only needed brakes once and no other maintenance other than the usual oil change. The distributor went bad at 235k and I gave the car to a friend who has an auto shop, he fixed it and used it to run errands in. The air conditioner and everything still worked. It was ten years old when I kissed it goodbye.

[MRR]

Friend with an E28 5 series has north of 250,000 miles (400,000+ km) on the clock. We also have a GMC truck with 350,000 miles on it but that is a truck so it probably doesn't count.

[NSXType-R]

Originally Posted by csl177

Please explain... hydrolocking is instantly fatal to engines, so do you mean a rebuilt flood victim?
Not only that, but in traffic most assume it's uninsured and steer clear. I've owned a coupla tetanus-mobiles that went like stink but were never messed with. Cheap is goooood. Northern friends garage the good cars in October, drag out the beater until the salt is gone. Rust belt examples have the best presence... 1980-'90s Tauruses, Crown Vics or Impalas especially.

Yeah, he rebuilt it and decided to run it into the ground.

I know, it's awesome. Parking in a parking lot, especially a tight one, is awesome. You park it as close to the front as you can, as no one is willing to park it next to you.

The hood was all rusted out, the paint peeled all over, bird shit stains were everywhere. It was the scariest car ever. And the pop up headlights were always up because he never bothered to fix the motors.

And, it still holds significance to me because I sat in the passenger seat up front and shifted for my dad.

Great times were had in that car.

If it had held up, I would have learned how to drive stick in that car. But the chassis was way too far gone even when I was around 14.

[Aloser]

I consider my "appliance", a 2004 VW Jetta TDI wagon, to be barely broken in at 154,000 miles.

My predecessor to the Jetta was a 1986 Volvo 240 wagon which I drove for 18 years and nearly 300,000 miles. The precise mileage is unknown due to two or three odometer replacements. I make no claims for exceptional longevity for this car either.

Irv Gordon, from New York, is closing in on 3 million miles in his 1966 Volvo 1800S coupe. He holds the distinction in the Guiness Book of the most miles driven in a privately owned passenger car.

Now, to meet the stipulation of the original poster, the engine was rebuilt for the first time at approximately 800,000 miles. Mr. Gordon later decided that had been premature. The second engine rebuild did not occur until approximately 2.6 million miles - or 1.8 million miles later.

Mr. Gordon as put nearly another 400,000 miles on his car since the most recent engine rebuild. This is more miles than I put on my 1986 Volvo in the 18 years before I junked it with a rusted out floor pan and funny noises coming from the rear axle bearings.

I drove my 1972 Volvo 1800E coupe 20,000 miles in the first two years after it was restored. I plan to drive it until I'm too feeble to drive. I hope to put at least 250,000 miles on it before passing it down to my daughter.

[jcp123]

Right now it's the beater Toyota Echo - coming up on 211k miles.

[Aloser]

Mr. Peter Gilbert, of Wisconsin, donated his 1989 Saab 900 to the Hartford, Wisconsin Auto Museum in December 2006 with 1,001,385 miles on it.

An AP article reported that at 600,000 miles the car still burned no oil.

The same article reports that the transmission was rebuilt at 200,000 miles and that the hood and other front body parts were replaced after 8 deer kills but is otherwise original.

The AP article also reports that Mr. Gilbert decided the time had come to retire the car when inspection showed the undercarriage was rusted due to the harsh winters in Wisconsin.

It appears this car is probably the record holder for the most miles on the original engine without a rebuild.

For the record, a 1989 Saab is pre-GM ownership.