What car could do a million miles?

The late 70s - mid 80s Mercedes 240d & 300d were considered capable of that type of longevity, given regular maintenance (plus they were fairly easy to work on).

 

Cars are like hammers, they will last forever if you replace the head or the handle occasionally. I imagine a car that goes a million miles will have had a few new handles and maybe even a new head or two.

 

My 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon is still on the road although it only has 230,000 miles on it.

I see no reason my Prius should not last as long. Old computers do not scare me, I still have an Apple II (not plus, not c, not e, not gs) that is approaching 35 years old.

 

Like many things in this world if you make hundreds or thousands or more of the same thing, a few will last a long time. How do you get the one that does? Lots of luck!

I see no reason the electronics in a Prius should be it's "Achilles heel". The batteries are the most likely part that will cause the car to be recycled. Eventually a $2500 battery will be more than half the value of the car.

 

Keeping a vintage car running requires the willingness to replace parts and part availability. The HV battery in a Prius is not a long term problem as the modules can be replaced with the latest ones and the set rebalanced to like-new performance for about $1000 by a capable DIYer. The engine is easily good for 300-500k miles with attention to maintenance and replacements are available. The one other expensive item is the tranny which can also go a long time with regular ATF refreshes.

As long as there is an active salvaged part market for our Prii, you can cost effectively keep one running. My 2004 is at 240k miles and counting.

JeffD

 

How is this different from your previous thread? Do you think a Prius could go 1,000,000 miles? | PriusChat

 

He is not getting the response he wants: "No way, it is a disposable car!" We can expect him to keep asking until he gets it.

 

IIRC, either that Volvo or a Mercedes has done the million miles with the original engine. I don't recall if the transmissions were original.
It will be interesting to see how long computer-controlled cars will have enough support available to keep going.

 

When I was a kid, my dad was happy with 50,000 miles. The "long haul" then was 100,000 miles.
For me, it is now a light-second, approx. 186,300 miles.
I know that for some, it is the distance to the moon, approx. 220-254,000 miles, depending on whether you count perihelion or apohelion (sp????).
Then there are those who are unhappy unless the car could take them the distance to the moon and back.
Others measure length of service by multiples of the world's circumference, so a to-the-moon-and-back car would be about 18- to 20+ trips around the world.
I'm probably the only person sick enough to mention all these methods in one post.

 

I share your interest, as do many in this forum.

Have you noticed our member 2Fas4u ? He drove over 500k miles on his G2 Prius before trading it in (for $5k USD !) for a Prius vagon that is now approaching 200k miles. He drives some 600 miles a week and posts updates in one of the Prius longevity threads that USBSeawolf started.

Taxis are also a valued source of longevity data. One of the best indirect views into their world is gained by reading the blog of Carolyn, the owner of a hybrid garage in San Francisco that services a high fraction of the hybrid taxis in that city.

Finally, a personal observation: The Toyota Prius is a spectacular piece of engineering in terms of reliability. Electronics in general last a long time, but few people can fix them when they break and they evolve rapidly. The only practical path for long-term ownership (say, longer than 15 - 20 years) is through a healthy secondary used parts market. Thankfully, Prius has that in spades.

 

Luscious Garage | Blog | LG on KGO’s 7 On Your Side

Taxi Repair at LG

When you have 15 minutes, I recommend reading Carolyn's mini-biography. She is an extraordinary person.

Have fun

addendum: This might interest you -- an email from Carolyn regarding remanufactured batteries. I've bolded her comment that implies her opinion that Prius is good for 500k miles with rational repair. Permission was given at the time to post on PriusChat

 

If you get a PIP you can drive lots of miles without using the engine at all. Thus increasing the odds the engine will last 100's of thousands of miles. Of course, in order to put on lots of miles you need to drive lots of miles per day...and you can, realistically only charge the car 2-3 times per day, which will give you 30-40 miles total per day, or about 10-15K miles per year.

Mike

 

I don't worry about the ICE. In a conventional Toyota the engine runs well over 200k miles, so the Prius can be expected to run well over 300k miles. At that point repair might be needed, but I presume the common problem will be valves.