I usually read the many car threads and various recommendations; but on one of the current ones is someone recommending a car because they’ve done 45k in it with no problems.

So, of all the cars you’ve owned (or driven if company) what is the one that has done the most miles in the least years?

For me it was a 1996 Xantia SX TD. Over 160k in 4 years and pretty much only servicing (the local Citroen dealership knew me well) and consumables.

And been a hydro-suspension Citroen, very comfy and a real mile-eater. For example, when the kids were young I was doing a job north of Newcastle while living south of Leeds – 270 miles per day, and a full ‘shift’ too.

Not my own but a customer of mine (personal and fleet) has a 2010 Octavia with over 100K on it already. He’s some sort of consultant and drives to France and Germany every week.

I worked for a courier company and we had a Mercedes 310 van that was bought new and killed in a shade over 4 years.

It had done 640k miles when it died.

It’s run was between York and Gatwick, six days a week, deliveries on the way there, fill up and straight back.

Poor thing had a very hard life !

I did about 40k in a year in a bluemotion golf, it was about as uninspiring an experience as you’d imagine. Only time it was in the garage was when an ambulance crashed in to it.

About 20k in 6 months in an SRI Astra, that pulled like a train and was a good giggle.

Other than that, my trusty w reg 2.0 petrol avensis estate (2 bikes + daughter + holiday stuff for a week, easy)has had nothing other than tyres, oil changes (at home) + a snapped cam belt (£240). I’ve had it since 2008 and done about 50k (130k total) in it, my step dad had it pretty much from new before me. It’s thirsty but total cost/mile must be miniscule, especially as i didn’t pay anything for it 😀

Speaking of ambulances – you should see some of the old 04 renaults that Manchester were retiring about a year ago, serious miles put on those bad boys, and even back at the station they were never switched off to keep the electrics charged!

My BMW 118d is now 50 months old and is just about to tick-over 100k miles.
Its due for replacement in March, so will be going off to a new owner with approx. 106k.
No issues with it whatsoever.

My 2011 plate Golf GTI is nearing 100,000 and will be on 110k when handed back to the lease compnay. It had a new engine at 75k due to a cam chain tensioner failing…thank god it was a lease car.

My previous Golf GTI did the same mileage in the same time and didn’t skip a beat.

My father lives in west Wales, and works in London, with a weekly commute. Car sits unused from Sunday night to Friday night. His 2yo Inzzzzzzignia has over 80k on it.

I’m a bit more sedate, with only c20k pa on my car (Mazda 3 – so far, so good, but the 2.0 petrol engine is thirsty – diesel for me next time)

My 03 Ibiza TDi is almost on 226k miles.
It was 10 years old in July and I’ve owned it for just over 7 years. By the time i’d driven it home, it had just ticked over to 24k miles, so I’ve put on almost 202k miles in 7 years.

Problems have been pretty few and apart from a new air-con compressor have been nice and cheap.
Service interval is 10k miles, but since about 120k miles, I’ve only been getting it done every 15k miles and it doesn’t seem to have suffered for it.

It’s still on original exhaust, clutch & DMF, turbo etc…
It’s only on it’s second set of front discs and pads (!)

I had a nearside front wheel bearing go at 38k miles, but the other three are all original.
Broke a spring last year, but only the flat section at the bottom
Popped a turbo pipe off a few years ago, which was apparently down to the wrong clip being fitted originally
New air-con compressor at around 150k miles
Front wiper mechanism needed a clean & re-grease last winter

Got it in for a service tomorrow and I think it needs a new radiator thermostat, which seems to be stuck open as the temp gauge doesn’t read as high as normal (started happening a fortnight ago). And I want them to check the battery voltage, as it’s the original battery and for the last two winters I’ve been thinking it’s a bit sluggish to start on cold mornings…..10 year from a battery seems quite good to me.

Would love a spangly new car (my wife has recently bought a 12 reg Ibiza FR – 2.0 TDi), but I want to see how far this one will go. 300k shouldn’t be too much bother I don’t think, but will probably realistically only keep it for a couple more years before getting rid (so another 50k or so).

My dad has a space ship and he covered 225,622 miles to the moon one way and then he came back so that’s a whopping 451,244 miles in about 10 days or so…

stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

oh and my man hood is bigger than yours…

250k in a bmw 535 in 5 years. It got expensive in the last year.

I’ve never had an unreliable car but the Cagiva Elefant I had would manage about 100 miles between electrical failures (Ducati motor and electrics). I’m very handy with a multimeter and portable soldering iron now.

Honda Firestorm on the other hand… 20k in 6 months. No problems at all. Needed new tyres and a service every month. It would have been cheaper to use a taxi.

unfitgeezer – Member
My dad has a space ship and he covered 225,622 miles to the moon one way and then he came back so that’s a whopping 451,244 miles in about 10 days or so…

stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

Pretty slow for a spaceship! I bet he never made the Kessel run in under 12 parsnips?

Great thread. Shows progress in car technology. I remember the ads about Mercedes which had done 200k, that was legendary. Now any decent car is capable of that.

Honda Firestorm on the other hand… 20k in 6 months. No problems at all. Needed new tyres and a service every month. It would have been cheaper to use a taxi.

Plus the 30mpg and stupidly small tank.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/pictures/million-mile-club-the-worlds-longest-lived-cars#slide-1

aye they dont make em like they did in 66.

My 18 month old company car has 62,000 miles on it – too much driving, I know!

Just to go the opposite way – my 52 plate has only just breached 100k. I put 40k of that on over 2 years though….

I had an old VW T4 which I got up to 310,000 before it died.
(Only 100,000 were mine).

I started a new job on 2nd sept this year – new company Passat did 11,000 miles in 7 weeks and the replacement Mondeo has done 9000 since the swap. The Passat felt like it would run forever and the Mondeo feels like it has already been run forever.

56plate 1.6 petrol c-max.

I thought I was doing well at 36k in three years, although the bulk of it was in the first year and almost nadda in the 2nd two, totals 70k now.

Petrol, DIY servicing and a power steering hose replaced under warranty.

131k just passed in my 1.25 Fiesta. Engine runs better than when it was new, economy is still in the high 40’s and still revs like madman!! Done in 7 years. Only major fail was the alternator at 110k while driving down to Chatel two years ago.

Most miles in a short time though was in my Ka, bought new (pre-reg stupidly cheap deal) and put 54k on it in 2 years. Took me all round Ireland and bits of mainland Europe, plus a few laps of the Nurburgring!! Traded it in for £1k less than I paid for it!!

Mind you we have a van at work that spends it’s life 24/7 doing motorway miles. 18 months old and done 439k last time I used it. That’s roughly an average of 30mph since we took delivery of it!!!

210k in a Cavalier. Great car. Never went wrong.

At the moment I drive a 1990 Merc V8. Every luxury I could want, nice big V8 but still pretty simple and reliable. Now done 230k miles but I can leave it at the airport for two weeks without it flatening the battery, it just fires up and goes.

I spent a lot of my younger years in Africa and the only cars we used where Mercedes, Toyota and Peugeout as they would go on and on through all conditions. Highest mileages have been a Merc 250D 430,000 when sold and a Land Cruiser at just over 600,000.
Me and my family still stick with these (old ones)
The new ones are not the same and these common rail diesels cost a fortune to repair.

A chap I worked with many moons ago did 55k in 9 months in a new Merc!

we had a D plate austin metro six months with 3k chopped in 5 years later with 147k. no dramas, big end when at 125k so we put another engine for £75.

My mate dunc had a spanking new transit in march (very nice) its just had its 30k service.

35,000 miles in 12 months in my new M3 a few years ago. Towards the end of that period I did a spreadsheet to calculate my total cost of ownership for that period … 8O. … hence why I sold it immediately!