How far has your car gone?

[markjazzbassist]

My car is closing in on 300,000 miles on it.  It will be the second car in our family that has reached that milestone.  No one in my family is mechanically inclined when it comes to cars, we just do the scheduled maintenance and oil changes and are able to get good life out of our vehicles.

 

What's the most mileage your cars have racked up?  Anyone else a cheapskate who buys used cars and drives them until they die like me 

[pete0]

I don't drive, but I'd be surprised if anyone on here from the UK has more than half that. The whole country is only about 900 miles long. Rare for a daily commute to be more than 100 miles round trip. 

Land's End to John o' Groats is the traversal of the whole length of the island of Great Britain between two extremities; in the southwest and northeast. The traditional distance by road is 874 miles (1,407 km) and takes most cyclists ten to fourteen days; the record for running the route is nine days.

[Matt]

We had a Renault Espace that did 240k before we traded it in. I do 4 year leasing here as it's financially more sensible. If I do more than 50k miles in those 4 years I'll be impressed

[MikeO]

18 minutes ago, markjazzbassist said:

Anyone else a cheapskate who buys used cars and drives them until they die like me

Always used to be my tactic, keep running until repair bill/MOT test cost outstripped the value of the car and then sold on Ebay for spares (one of my cast-offs actually got shipped to Cameroon where I suspect the MOT is a bit less rigorous). Never got close to 300k though, half that about max.

Had my first "expensive low mileage" job since April now though and it still gives me a buzz; wife keeps on about changing it for something more "sensible" which I will do at some stage. Just not yet, I'll stick with a bit more midlife crisis for a while.

[markjazzbassist]

yeah i guess we drive more over here, my commute is about 45 minutes each way, trust me i'd rather be on a train where i could read a book or do something productive (but the train would take 90 minutes each way, since it's a couple connections and they are slow here) but it beats the commute i had in LA (15 miles, took anywhere from 30 minutes to 90 minutes depending on traffic).

So what is the prevailing factor for car buying in the UK if you don't need longevity?  gas mileage?  

[Sibdane]

My last car hit 180K before I bought something new. Now I'm at about 125K and plan on driving it until it dies! My commute is about 25 minutes.

[Cornish Steve]

We keep our vehicles until they've done at least 200K miles and often close to 250K. Right now, we have a Scion xB that has a little over 249K miles on it and runs like a dream. Mind you, we tend to buy only cars with strong reliability ratings (mostly Toyota) and are diligent about oil changes and servicing in general. It pays off.

Our best car right now is a Toyota Camry Hybrid XLE. It replaced another Camry of the same type that was totaled by a drunk driver. They get excellent mileage, and we've yet to face a single problem needing repair.

Incidentally, for years now we've done at least 24K miles/year in at least one car (we have four).

[markjazzbassist]

5 minutes ago, Cornish Steve said:

We keep our vehicles until they've done at least 200K miles and often close to 250K. Right now, we have a Scion xB that has a little over 249K miles on it and runs like a dream. Mind you, we tend to buy only cars with strong reliability ratings (mostly Toyota) and are diligent about oil changes and servicing in general. It pays off.

Our best car right now is a Toyota Camry Hybrid XLE. It replaced another Camry of the same type that was totaled by a drunk driver. They get excellent mileage, and we've yet to face a single problem needing repair.

my current car is a toyota camry.  strange thing is the other car that got over 300k was my dad's, a Chevrolet Lumina!!!!  Mechanics used to be in awe that an american car (usually fall apart after 100k) lasted that long.  It was like the holy grail of american cars lol

[MikeO]

1 hour ago, markjazzbassist said:

So what is the prevailing factor for car buying in the UK if you don't need longevity?  gas mileage? 

It's all a bit up in the air at the moment due to the debate on diesels, they were hailed as great and got lower license fee (my change swapped £20 a month to £30 a year) but are now looking like they're going to be penalised somehow.

I'll always balance cost v enjoyment because I love to drive but I also love a wedge in my wallet. I had a Citroen C4 in Spain recently which would've gone to the moon and and back on a teaspoon of fuel, but it was no fun so I'd never buy one.

[johnh]

When I worked, I always had a company car and used to average over 30k mileage per year. Used to change cars every 3 years.  Now I'm retired, I only do about 3.5k per year, so I haven't got enough years left to do 300k!  My current car is a Nissan Qashqai ,  8 years old with 35k miles on the clock, which I bought second-hand (3 years old) with 21k miles on the clock.

I used to be invited by the major motor manufacturers to test drive new models.  When the Mondeo was launched in about 1990, I was invited by Ford to test drive the car from Nice to St.Tropez and return, but not until after a couple of nights in St.Tropez!   When Citroen launched their replacement to the Pallas (can't remember what they called it but it was a dog of a car),  I got an invite to test drive it in Monaco.  Somehow, I felt obliged to give it a better score than it deserved!

[Bailey]

I think I did about 8000 miles last year! I live only 12 miles from work but it still takes me half hour on a good day! There is no way that I will make it to 300k!

[Cornish Steve]

We own #1 and #2.

http://www3.forbes.com/business/10-cars-that-can-run-for-over-250000-miles/

[Cornish Steve]

1 hour ago, Bailey said:

I think I did about 8000 miles last year! I live only 12 miles from work but it still takes me half hour on a good day! There is no way that I will make it to 300k!

Then you should really consider a hybrid. They really save on fuel when you're stuck in bad traffic.

[Sibdane]

I've done around 40K in the last year. [emoji50]

[rubecula]

last year when I was working I managed about 6500 miles but I worked about 2 miles from where I live.   (I used to walk it before I took ill)

[Chach]

10 hours ago, markjazzbassist said:

 the other car that got over 300k was my dad's, a Chevrolet Lumina!!!!  Mechanics used to be in awe that an american car (usually fall apart after 100k) lasted that long.  It was like the holy grail of american cars lol

Maybe it was built here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NUMMI

Fascinating story that plant, what could have been.

 

[Palfy]

I change my car every 2-3 years normally they've got between 16 - 20000 on the clock, since the late eighties always had BMWs until I bought a Range Rover Sport 5 months ago, to be honest I miss the X5 far better handling, comfort and build quality so in a couple of years I'm going back to the X5, that's if we let German cars into the country well you never know what could happen if we get a hard Brexit.

[markjazzbassist]

18 minutes ago, Palfy said:

I change my car every 2-3 years normally they've got between 16 - 20000 on the clock, since the late eighties always had BMWs until I bought a Range Rover Sport 5 months ago, to be honest I miss the X5 far better handling, comfort and build quality so in a couple of years I'm going back to the X5, that's if we let German cars into the country well you never know what could happen if we get a hard Brexit.

Must have a nice job palfy   BMW, Range Rover, I’m working with a 14 year old car over here 

[Matt]

8 hours ago, Palfy said:

I change my car every 2-3 years normally they've got between 16 - 20000 on the clock, since the late eighties always had BMWs until I bought a Range Rover Sport 5 months ago, to be honest I miss the X5 far better handling, comfort and build quality so in a couple of years I'm going back to the X5, that's if we let German cars into the country well you never know what could happen if we get a hard Brexit.

At 20k, those engines are only just broken in!

[rubecula]

9 hours ago, Palfy said:

I change my car every 2-3 years normally they've got between 16 - 20000 on the clock, since the late eighties always had BMWs until I bought a Range Rover Sport 5 months ago, to be honest I miss the X5 far better handling, comfort and build quality so in a couple of years I'm going back to the X5, that's if we let German cars into the country well you never know what could happen if we get a hard Brexit.

You live in the middle of  nowhere mate?

[Palfy]

58 minutes ago, rubecula said:

You live in the middle of  nowhere mate?

About 5 miles outside the metropolis that is Swindon which is where my office is, my longest journey is usually about once a month to Bristol airport and sometimes we take the wife's motor.

[rubecula]

35 minutes ago, Palfy said:

About 5 miles outside the metropolis that is Swindon which is where my office is, my longest journey is usually about once a month to Bristol airport and sometimes we take the wife's motor.

I see you bought the Beckham school run Chelsea Tractor then,  to be fair not a bd car and a hell of a lot better than  a BMW off the road.  That gave me the clue when you said the X5 was better.  good motorway cruiser the Beemer the 7 series would be better for you though.  Maybe the Audi A8, big comfy with 4 wheel drive and bloody impressive.

 

[holystove]

7 hours ago, rubecula said:

I see you bought the Beckham school run Chelsea Tractor then,  to be fair not a bd car and a hell of a lot better than  a BMW off the road.  That gave me the clue when you said the X5 was better.  good motorway cruiser the Beemer the 7 series would be better for you though.  Maybe the Audi A8, big comfy with 4 wheel drive and bloody impressive.

 

I'd say an Audi Q7 is more in line with an X5, no?  If I had the money I'd own one.. awesome car.

[MikeO]

15 minutes ago, holystove said:

I'd say an Audi Q7 is more in line with an X5, no?  If I had the money I'd own one.. awesome car.

I don't need anything that size but when (if) my mid/late life crisis with the A3 cabrio wears off I'm thinking I'll get a Q3, like them a lot.

[holystove]

3 hours ago, MikeO said:

I don't need anything that size but when (if) my mid/late life crisis with the A3 cabrio wears off I'm thinking I'll get a Q3, like them a lot.

I like the Q3 but it looks very feminine to me. I'd go for the Q5.

[MikeO]

1 minute ago, holystove said:

I like the Q3 but it looks very feminine to me. I'd go for the Q5.

I'm in touch with my female side.

[rubecula]

5 hours ago, holystove said:

I'd say an Audi Q7 is more in line with an X5, no?  If I had the money I'd own one.. awesome car.

Possibly but most folks do not need an off road 4 x 4  four wheel drive in a road car leaves two real real choices to me   Audi or something else.  I would always go for the German option.

5 hours ago, MikeO said:

I don't need anything that size but when (if) my mid/late life crisis with the A3 cabrio wears off I'm thinking I'll get a Q3, like them a lot.

Very good choice Mike.

2 hours ago, holystove said:

I like the Q3 but it looks very feminine to me. I'd go for the Q5.

I would possibly go for the Jenson FF if they still made them to be honest 

[Palfy]

7 minutes ago, rubecula said:

Possibly but most folks do not need an off road 4 x 4  four wheel drive in a road car leaves two real real choices to me   Audi or something else.  I would always go for the German option.

Very good choice Mike.

I would possibly go for the Jenson FF if they still made them to be honest 

6 minutes ago, rubecula said:

Possibly but most folks do not need an off road 4 x 4  four wheel drive in a road car leaves two real real choices to me   Audi or something else.  I would always go for the German option.

Very good choice Mike.

I would possibly go for the Jenson FF if they still made them to be honest 

Rubes I reckon your a bit of a petrol head never heard of a Jensen FF the only one I've heard of is the Interceptor, but to be fair I've never really had a passion for car's so don't look at options.

[rubecula]

Just now, Palfy said:

Rubes I reckon your a bit of a petrol head never heard of a Jensen FF the only one I've heard of is the Interceptor, but to be fair I've never really had a passion for car's so don't look at options.

Jenson FF is almost identical to look at as theInterceptor but has 4 wheel drive and a massive engine (about 7.5 litres)  it was the first ever production road car with 4x4 drive.  

 

The FF

 And the Intercepter:

 

 

[markjazzbassist]

Wow those are some nice looking cars.  60s or 70s vintage?