HokieSeas's Journal: Another Milestone...

You probably cannot see it very well, but this picture is reading "00,000.2" on the odometer of my 1992 Ford Exploder..er..Explorer. That's right. This evening while out I rolled it over 200,000 miles. So, in about the 7 years I have had it (I bought it used in the spring of 1999), I've put about 102,000 miles on it.

Wow...

[TechnoLust]

You must take good car of it, I didn't think American cars could last that long.

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[ak3ldama]

They do. My brother has a '90 Buick Park Avenue Electra with over 200K, my '91 Oldsmobile 88 is just barely over 100K but I plan on keeping it till it croaks.
(in high school i drove an '86 Olds that my mom still drives to work and it's over 180K -- that car has less problems per year than her newer vehicles.)

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[TechnoLust]

My parents had a couple Ford and Chevy trucks in their day, but most of them only lasted 150k or so. (They were used for work, not just riding around.) Then Mom bought a Nissan truck in 1990. I bought it from her a couple years ago. It's still running great. I only use it to pull my boat, but it has over 200k on it. My first truck was a used `86 Nissan and the engine blew up on the guy I sold it to, but it had over 300k on it when it died.

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[ak3ldama]

I think any modern vehicle that is properly cared for has a good chance of making it beyond 200k miles without an engine overhaul. The transmission made need some work but even that may last (given it's something reliable without massive power sent it's way), without much work on it. The Pontiac site says that the Gran Prix (base model, 3.8L series iii engine) has a transmission that under normal use won't need an overhaul; they don't make that statement with the supercharged version, or the v8 option. t

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[TechnoLust]

I drive a FWD 6-speed manual (`06 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT, fully loaded). 263hp V6. I drive the hell out of it, just like I did my `95 Eclipse GS-Turbo. Mitsubishi seems to make a very durable vehicle, as I've never had problems with either.

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[HokieSeas]

I have not done anything special with it. It is definitely a well used worn vehicle. Paint wearing thin on a few points on the body, driver's side door needs some work to consistenly shut properly, but everything else has been pretty much just general maintenance issues.

Over the years I have replaced brakes, radiator, starter, belts, tires, misc suspension parts, AC unit, radio....really just general things that get old and break, but luckily nothing major mechanically.

Right now my plan is for it to get

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[TechnoLust]

Radiators, starters, suspension, AC units, and radios get old and break? Don't tell Mitsubishi, they aren't aware of this. (sorry, I guess I'm an Eclipse fan-boi, but having to change the Oxygen sensor was the biggest mechanical failure I had on my `95 in the 10 years that I had it.)