[Closed] Million mile Mondeo - have we done this yet?

Those engines are excellent but even still must have had a lot of tlc

my vans only a third of the way there.

Now that he's taken it round the clock back to zero he just needs to put another 10k or so on it then sell it to Hora

there are hundreds of 80s/90s volvos & saab's knocking about which are over the million mile mark.

In late 70s volvo got a 3rd party to assess their new (tarted up) 240 model to get a gauge on its likely lifespan. Answer was something like 21/22 years (one typical generation) before major components (bottom end, gearbox, diff etc) would be worn beyond economical repair. And so 'Volvo for life' was born (the safety element of that was born late).

In the mid 80s when the 740 came out, same test was done, it only came up as 18/19years and someone high up in the Volvo design/engineering office resigned in disgrace or so the storey says.

Anyway, point is nowadays car's depreciate SO HARD, and value of scrap metal is so much higher, that car's are now designed around a typical 5, yes FIVE year lifespan. After that they really don't give a toss.

Those engines are [s]excellent[/s][b]very under stressed[/b] but even still must have had a lot of tlc

They're typical of how diesels used to be designed... An engine to go on and on and on. Now people want more power from their diesels than a petrol, and more economy year on year, the result is significantly shorter usable life span and more common (expensive) failures.

Diesels do particularly benefit from being driven regularly though. A 1 million mile Mondeo that's driven pretty much every day and warmed thoroughly will probably be in better shape than one that does 5k miles per year, and only ever does journeys under 10 miles.

Anyway... My Mondeo (though slightly newer on a Y2K) plate is at the other end of the scale to that! Reckon mine has to be the lowest milage for its year Mondeo in the UK possibly... Just ticked past 44,500 miles for a 12 year old car! Only had 38,500 on it when I bought it 6 months ago mind.

That's One million,thirty eight thousand,five hundred miles with lots and lots of tlc. ;O)

^ exactly. People (esp girls) always put low milage ahead of everything else.

Wrong.

I got a late 90s polo wagon which was 10years old, had only done 42k, but more importantly, had been serviced every 12months (which was about 3,500miles, about a third of the recommendatory mileage intervals) by a decent garage and the old oil flushed out properly. Since then I've put mega miles on it, but swapped out the oil about every 5k/6months as it does do a lot of short journeys.

Those 8-10k (or 20k in my other newer polo with 'VW long life oil' or whatever BS they call it) long service intervals are for cars that are doing decent regular runs and being treated well, they do not cater for short trips to the shops/kids/school/work most days and only time it does more than 10miles in one go is the annual pilgrimage to Cornwall, THAT type of driving needs to be serviced much more frequently.

Also another good point on performance. Diesels used to max out at about 3500-4000rpm. Modern 16v CR diesels are routinely topping out at 5k and they are actually still useful at those rev's. Means there is a lot less material in the engine etc, and all the more important to look after thoroughly.

Old diesels were agricultural, could be ignored and would even run off their own breather fumes (for a short period before impending implosion) and go forever.

I have an Uncle who bought his wife a "wee car" to run about in, but then they drove everywhere in his. After a few months they thought let's take the wee car for a change and it broke down, they got rescued etc under warranty; this pattern was repeated until the dealer pointed out to them they need to actually use the thing regularily and not leave it sitting around. I tried to explain the same to them but they kept insisting that the low milage should be good for it and they had never heard such rubbish in their life...

Old diesels were agricultural, could be ignored and would even run off their own breather fumes (for a short period before impending implosion) and go forever.

Or their own sump oil! 🙄

Or Veg oil... 😀

Or pretty much anything that will burn and has a calorific value.

On the "using it often" thing... My mate has a Renault Scenic on an X plate, so 12 years old. It's the 1.9DCi engine. So widely known as NOT the most reliable thing, certainly judging by the amount of threads about these engines. Anyway... His has just ticked over 166k miles, and we cleaned the EGR out yesterday too, and it's running as strong as ever! He does do about 18-20k miles a year in it (bought it low milage 5 years ago) and though its tatty, its mechanically good.

BIG belches of soot out the exhaust after we cleaned the EGR yesterday too, was funny!

If I had to spend a million miles in a car I'm pretty sure I'd not want it to be that old pile of scrap.

In his defense though there is no sign of gaffa tape on his bumpers which I thought came as standard with that period mondeo.

No-one else thinks it's funny the guy's name is Brian but his taxi service is called "Bernie's Airport Service"? And that if you google "Bernie's Airport Service" -mondeo you get no relevant hits?

Anyway, point is nowadays car's depreciate SO HARD, and value of scrap metal is so much higher, that car's are now designed around a typical 5, yes FIVE year lifespan. After that they really don't give a toss.

Seeing as cars with manufacturers 5, 7 and 10 year 100,000mile warrentys are available do you think that statement might not be correct? I actualy noticed yesterday that no one on mywhole street has a car under 5 years old (and I'm actualy in a minority having a 'new' AB12 CDE style reg number!).

I've still got the original sale bill for the midget, that came with a 3 month warrenty (6 against rust!), it's a bit like triggers broom though, I think the crank and axle cases might be original, but thats about it.

gaffa tape on his bumpers which I thought came as standard with that period mondeo.

It's the MK2 that has the gaffa as factory fit, cos of the bulbous fragile bumpers.

IA - ex-mk2 owner

Anyway, point is nowadays car's depreciate SO HARD, and value of scrap metal is so much higher, that car's are now designed around a typical 5, yes FIVE year lifespan. After that they really don't give a toss.

Where on earth did you get this nonsense from?

Where on earth did you get this nonsense from?

There was an industry quote somewhere that said design-wise vans like transits had a 7yr working life. Carwise, even honestjohn admitted that 7yrs is the design-aim for a car. Components over this are considered in worn/consumables etc etc.

Any car would last mega-mileage. Its down to the owner and where they'd draw the line at throwing consumables and the odd major repair at it.

There was an industry quote somewhere that said design-wise vans like transits had a 7yr working life.

Yes, but:

a) have you ever seen a considderate white van driver
B) they do 30k/year arround town centers inbetween occasional motorway trips at full throttle whilst loaded to the max.

I'd say 7 years is probably the point at which I'd stop blaming the manufacturer if something major failed, but I'd still expect a car to do 150,000+ miles with just normal use. Just look at scrap yards, most cars get written off in accidents long before they die of old age. And when was the last "my big ends worn, is it worth getting it re-ground?", the worst you get from most cars is a stuck EGR or duff MAF sensor.

There was an industry quote somewhere that said design-wise vans like transits had a 7yr working life

Ahh,thanks for that. I have been looking for a van the past few days and transit connects along with the next smallest transits or thereabouts were on my shortlist. Having scoped 2005-2007 models on the way to work earlier I was amazed at how thrashed they looked,which is fine being a workvan, but the rust on these Fords is a joke,and its not through knocks and scrapes. It's coming through everywhere. It seems I need to steer clear of most 2003 or older models (the age that seemed to be around the pricepoint/mileage I was aiming for)

Some folk are advertising some nice looking older connects that have been with them from new but obviously well over my budget.

Interesting to see at least 2 of them with higher miles. One with 250k and another with 260k on it.

There was an industry quote somewhere that said design-wise vans like transits had a 7yr working life

Yeah I know what you mean, it seems even though the current 'new' transit is actually a very well built van in just about every respect, it seems they forgot to rust proof them?

I guess its a ploy so that when your van turns into a pile ferrous oxide (starts after about 4yrs) you have to buy a newer one.
Merc commericals are also poorly/non existant on the rust protection. Weaksauce eh!

Oh I agree and I also laugh when I see vans for sale with car-average mileage.

pfft!

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/10/26/man-with-2-6-million-mile-volvo-p1800-aims-for-3-million/

Merc commericals are also poorly/non existant on the rust protection

Merc dabbled with water based paint for a while, which seems pretty rust prone, i think the more current models are better though - that said the rust seems to only be where you can see it - where it matters structurally - sills and chassis they're fine, this is my third veteran/ high mile merc that I've owned (had use of others with 300k - 400k on the clock too) and never had rust cause issues at MOT time. Current one is 11 years / 310,000 miles.

Have to say though with vans of all flavours the biggest cause of rust is other bloody people, the general public seem to bash/bump/scrape vans in ways that they wouldn't with someones cars. I've had what appear to be other wise perfectly considerate and friendly people stack concrete paving slabs against the side of mine while they load their car.

[i]"I'm very surprised it's got to a million. Hopefully he will retire now and I won't have to look after it anymore."

[/i]

Love the quote from the Garage that services it - shows what a fastidious owner can achieve, even if he probably does 10 times the mileage of most.

Most cars/vans are screwed far younger/lower mileage because people basically do not look after them.