Cars over 100k mi. Thoughts?

[Laurie]

I’ve had three toyota camry’s that were over 100,000 miles and they were still going strong when I sold them. The only major problems I had with my older cars were I had to replace a starter on one and a transmission in another. If they have been well maintained they usually last a long time. My dad has a chevy truck that is pushing over 200,000 miles and he hasn’t had any major problems with it. I guess buying a used car with alot of miles is always a gamble but if the previous owners took good care of the vehicle and didn’t drive it like a nascar qualifier I don’t see why they would be a bad investment.

[darjeb]

The car I had the longest was a Dodge Stealth and I loved that car. I bougt it new and had it for over 10 years and it had about 77,000 miles on it when I sold it and the only money I ever spent on it (except for maintenance) was changing the timing chain at 60,000. The car I have now I bought in 2003 – a BMW Z4 and I love it also. It has about 23,000 miles on it now and no problems. Where I live now everything is within a few miles of where I live so I don’t put the miles on a car like I did living in Atlanta.

[WolfenMachine]

lol Drag0n I hope your car wasn’t listening! I am sure it will be just fine. I like hearing everyone’s stories. I had made a long post I thought, the other day and I guess my computer ate it. 😛

[Heather]

Oh man, get me started on old cars . . . My second car was the family car, a 1975 Mercedes-Benz 300D that my dad had bought new. (My first car was a 1974 MBZ 240D; the “one-hamsterpower special.”) By the time I got the ’75 it already had well over 100,000 miles on it, and I proceeded to put another 100,000-plus on it in the twelve years I had it. Now that’s not to say that the car didn’t have problems over the years. We replaced the engine once, the transmission a couple of times, and that car went through alternators like candy corn. But I loved it, and it was a very bad day when I had to admit that I couldn’t keep up financially with its slowly expanding problem list. That car had been in the family for twenty-nine years, and it tore me up to see it go. (Word of advice: If you drive a diesel, never, ever, ever fill up at a shady-looking gas station in the middle of nowhere. If there’s water in your fuel, algae will grow–must be some freakish type of algae–and it wrecks your fuel system.)

Currently I drive a 1991 Ford Explorer when I need to haul hay or large amounts of stuff. It’s got well over 200,000 miles on it; I think we’re at about 270,000. Likewise it’s had its problems–many of which manifested in its first five years–but once Dad got all of its “growing pains” taken care of, it’s been fantastic. Snorts like a bull, corners like a brick, and has a terrible stopping distance; other than that, no complaints. 😉

My husband has a 1996 Saturn SL2. Not far from 300,000 miles on it and it’s only now finally starting to die; we’ve lost a cylinder, and the cost of revamping the system is just plain not worth it. My husband’s pretty bummed, especially since Saturn has disappeared. He really likes that car.

[Author]

Posts