To the longest running beater car goes the prize

[nedwin]

I can add a few here.  The first is a 1979 Volvo 242 DL.  My parents bought sometime in the early 80s.  They drove it until I got my license, then passed it to me.  The odometer read 316,000 miles exactly and no longer clicked over, so it had many more miles than that.  The speedometer also broke and its dial would sometimes spin while driving.  I drove it for 6 months or so before the element in the catalytic converter broke and clogged the exhaust, then the timing belt broke.  My parents kept it around for awhile as a spare car but its drivability got progressively worse.  In the end reverse did not work and the transmission wouldn't hold the car from rolling forward, but would hold from rolling back.  I used it one summer to deliver pizzas, which was interesting give the state of the transmission.

My second car was a 91 Honda Accord 2 door.  It went through a hail storm that left six inches of golf ball size hail on the ground and had the dents to show it.  Around 235,000 miles I rear-ended a cop with it.  No one was hurt, except for my pride.  It was a small town and I knew the cop.

My current car is a 07 Honda Accord with 185000 miles.  I think it has repaired hail damage as the clear coat has significantly failed.  It was also flooded past the hubs a few weeks ago.  I was able to dry it out but now the AC compressor makes an awful noise.  Ill drive it another year or two, at least.

[jim555]

I had a Tercel from 1991 to 2007, 16 years.  I'm still on the new car from 2007.

[Morning Glory]

I sold the crown Victoria the other day and the guy who bought it sent a message today complimenting us on how well maintained it was. He said it's the first car he's ever bought that didn't need work right away.

[yachi]

I just learned a hazard of having an older car and not driving much: dry rotted tires that still have lots of tread. To be fair, it is a 2003 and 2 of the tires were from 2012 and the other two were from 2015, so I have no reason to be upset that I bought 4 new tires today. I guess the inspector last year must have just looked at the tread depth and decided they were fine, because the dry rot was really bad and I'm relieved that one when flat when I was taking my dog to the vet today instead of in a couple of days when I am driving to another state.

For awhile a decade ago I lived in a home construction area and used to pick up a lot of nails, so I'd replace pairs as that happened.  I don't think I've had 4 brand new tires at once on this vehicle since I bought it! Should get me through at least a few years at the rate I am not driving. :-)

FWIW, if you get a puncture in the tread, it's a very straightforward DIY-able repair.  You can get a repair kit at your local auto parts store for not much more than $10.

I learned about such kits several years ago, when we were 1,400 miles from home, in a smallish town on a Saturday night, when all the local tire shops were closed for the weekend, and we found ourselves with a flat tire.  In desperation, we asked for suggestions at the local Autozone, and they sold me a kit.  Since then, I've used it three or four more times.  It's way less hassle than taking a tire in to the shop.

Make sure to always spend the extra buck for a kit with the T-shaped tool, God I hate the screw driver shaped tool.

[Bateaux]

Trying to keep my 2008 Honda Accord with 236K miles on the Road.  Alternator went out for the third time.  Original in 2015, changed to O'REILLY'S alternator with lifetime warranty.  In 2018, that one went out, exchanged free, last week went out again.  Yesterday exchanged free.  But, I broke a bolt off in the aluminum head that mounts the alternator.  Going to try and remove the broken bolt myself.  Very tight space.  May sell or donate the car if unsuccessful with the broken bolt.  Air-conditioning is already dead.  Struts are dead.  Four bald tires.  Brakes soon need rotors and pads.  Slight oil leak and starting to burn more oil.  Hate to give up but all that due maintenance is more than it's worth.  That's with me doing it.  I have another vehicle in good shape.  But I don't use it as much since I have the old beater.

[Bateaux]

Well my old Honda Accord is running again.  I was able to return the burned out alternator.  Kudosnto O'Reilly's for the exchange.  I was able to get another bolt screwed in place of the broken bolt.  Not perfect but it should last a while.  The main bolt on the bottom is rock solid and holds well on its own.  The top bolt is mainly just for tension.  The air-conditioning doesn't work but morning driving is predaylight hours for me.  I have a F250 with air-conditioning but the fuel mileage is about half the Accord and it rides like a log truck. Much rather drive the old car when possible.  Success for now.

[Bateaux]

Well my old Honda Accord is running again.  I was able to return the burned out alternator.  Kudos to O'Reilly's for the exchange.  I was able to get another bolt screwed in place of the broken bolt.  Not perfect but it should last a while.  The main bolt on the bottom is rock solid and holds well on its own.  The top bolt is mainly just for tension.  The air-conditioning doesn't work but morning driving is predaylight hours for me.  I have a F250 with air-conditioning but the fuel mileage is about half the Accord and it rides like a log truck. Much rather drive the old car when possible.  Success for now.

[zolotiyeruki]

Well my old Honda Accord is running again.  I was able to return the burned out alternator.  Kudosnto O'Reilly's for the exchange.  I was able to get another bolt screwed in place of the broken bolt.  Not perfect but it should last a while.  The main bolt on the bottom is rock solid and holds well on its own.  The top bolt is mainly just for tension.  The air-conditioning doesn't work but morning driving is predaylight hours for me.  I have a F250 with air-conditioning but the fuel mileage is about half the Accord and it rides like a log truck. Much rather drive the old car when possible.  Success for now.

Let me guess, you have the V6?  We had to replace the alternator on our Odyssey last year (same V6 as the Accord), and I had the exact same thing happen with one of the bolts.  I ended up taking it to a mechanic (gasp!) to extract the bolt.  He ended up removing the right headlight in order to get a good angle on it, and it ended up costing me $180.  Considering I do almost all my own car work, I didn't feel too bad about this very occasional expense.  Our A/C also recently went out, but all it needed was a recharge.

[bmjohnson35]

We have a 2006 Ford Ranger with 244k miles.  I was told that previous owner installed a used engine in it, but I get the impression the information I received was questionable at best.  It's a simple truck with manual tranny and manual windows, but the A/C blows ice cold.  I had to troubleshoot a miss recently, but it only cost me $150 in parts before I found the root cause.  Great vehicle to carry my paddle board, kayak and weekly trips to the beach. 

[Bateaux]

Well my old Honda Accord is running again.  I was able to return the burned out alternator.  Kudosnto O'Reilly's for the exchange.  I was able to get another bolt screwed in place of the broken bolt.  Not perfect but it should last a while.  The main bolt on the bottom is rock solid and holds well on its own.  The top bolt is mainly just for tension.  The air-conditioning doesn't work but morning driving is predaylight hours for me.  I have a F250 with air-conditioning but the fuel mileage is about half the Accord and it rides like a log truck. Much rather drive the old car when possible.  Success for now.

Let me guess, you have the V6?  We had to replace the alternator on our Odyssey last year (same V6 as the Accord), and I had the exact same thing happen with one of the bolts.  I ended up taking it to a mechanic (gasp!) to extract the bolt.  He ended up removing the right headlight in order to get a good angle on it, and it ended up costing me $180.  Considering I do almost all my own car work, I didn't feel too bad about this very occasional expense.  Our A/C also recently went out, but all it needed was a recharge.

It's the V-6 and for now running good.  I was confident enough to put a full tank of gas in it yesterday.  I had been only at 1/4 tank just in case I donated it to charity.

[iluvzbeach]

We recently drove our 2005 Honda Pilot with 204K miles halfway across the U.S. and back and she ran like a champ. We even pulled a UHaul trailer full of stuff on the drive back. She rolled over to 209K miles when we got home. Best car ever. We bought the car new back in 2005 and still love it. I hope she’ll run for many years to come, but if she died tomorrow I’d still feel like we got our money’s worth.

[Just Joe]

2004 Honda CRV, 190K miles. Has a dent on the side where a deer hit it (the deer hit the car, not the other way around). AC no longer works, but I'm too cheap to fix it.

I was actually considering selling this car and upgrading to an EV, but reading this thread...sounds like its got a ton of life left in it.

Maybe I'll fix the AC, but we were quoted over $2,000 to fix the compressor.

if you are handy you could do a partial DIY. Is there Freon in the system? If not, replace the compressor and dryer. Return to the a/c shop and have them charge it. Buy the best compressor you can afford. I bought the middle of the road compressor from AutoZone for our Chevy. It lasted just over a year before it failed in exactly the same way as the original 15+ year old compressor lasted. I was really pissed. I'd buy something quality from NAPA. I'm tired of discount auto parts that only seem good enough to put on cars you are trying to sell soon.

[Just Joe]

Am completing a very slow DIY timing belt on our Acura MDX. Timing belt, spar plugs, serpentine belt, water pump, antifreeze, added trans cooler, AWD dual pump fluid, PTO oil, trans fluid x3 to solve a surging transmission (TSB procedure). Taking my time b/c we have two other old cars to drive in the meantime. Just about done with everything.

Our 22 year old Chevy ate it's waterpump. ~190K miles. I replaced it with a new one from a discount auto parts store. Replacement immediately leaked. Took it back for a refund. Bought one at NAPA. Installed it in no time. Great car. Pleasant to drive. Diddly resale value but that's part of its charm.

Our 22 year old CRV is back on the road. ~300K miles. Several years ago the oil pump broke. I think DW switched it off quickly enough to prevent engine damage but I didn't want to put a ~$250 oil pump into a high mileage engine. Bought a JDM replacement engine with ~36K miles on it for $650-$750 (?). Installed it but never completed the task so never started it.

Before I took the Acura apart, I completed the CRV project. Lots of cleaning inside and out. Mold/mildew/? Smelled like an old sneaker. Cleaned upholstery and carpets. Smells good now. Interior is still in excellent condition. Was excited to discover that the air conditioner still blows cold. I have never serviced the air conditioner in this car despite using it quite a bit here in the humid south. I did put about 1/2 a can of Freon into it about a decade ago. Spent a few hundred bucks on new headlights, new (used A+) sunvisors, wipers, etc. Not using the car on the highway so I think the tires will be okay. Lots of tread but age. The car has original struts and axles all the way round. Front struts were nearly rigid so I eased it through a ditch at my house to twist the suspension several times. Front end has loosened up and rides nicely now. Had the Takata airbag replaced under warranty.

Told DW how much I love driving this car. She agreed. It is really nice to drive on country roads tooling along with the windows down, tunes on the radio, etc. Also reinforcing that is its resale value approaches 'nil. We've owned it since new. It has been easy and affordable to DIY all its repairs all these years.

Next car will be electric but at the pace we're putting miles on our cars I don't know when that will be. 

[MoneyTree]

2004 Honda CRV, 190K miles. Has a dent on the side where a deer hit it (the deer hit the car, not the other way around). AC no longer works, but I'm too cheap to fix it.

I was actually considering selling this car and upgrading to an EV, but reading this thread...sounds like its got a ton of life left in it.

Maybe I'll fix the AC, but we were quoted over $2,000 to fix the compressor.

if you are handy you could do a partial DIY. Is there Freon in the system? If not, replace the compressor and dryer. Return to the a/c shop and have them charge it. Buy the best compressor you can afford. I bought the middle of the road compressor from AutoZone for our Chevy. It lasted just over a year before it failed in exactly the same way as the original 15+ year old compressor lasted. I was really pissed. I'd buy something quality from NAPA. I'm tired of discount auto parts that only seem good enough to put on cars you are trying to sell soon.

Thanks! I actually ended up getting the entire A/C system replaced. So it blows cold now, but now I've been hearing a weird croaking sound sometimes when I am on the freeway and the A/C is on. It only happens when the A/C is on. I took it back to the shop and they have no idea what it might be.

Starter also failed on the car, stranding DW at the grocery store a few times. So I got that replaced too. Lots of things coming up now, but given that I've had to do very little except routine maintenance on the car for over 15 years, I figure a lot of this stuff is coming due.

[Just Joe]

You can always check RockAuto and see what parts cost and then look for a YouTube video that details the replacement process if that interests you. I'm saving ~$1500 doing that this past week in my spare time.

[iluvzbeach]

I’ve officially been kicked out of the club, or running for the prize. We bit the bullet and replaced the Pilot with a new Passport. Pilot was still running great but we knew we’d need to start putting some money into it soon and decided the new car was the way to go. Not mustachian for sure!

[stealthwealth]

My 2003 Corolla is still going at 220k miles.  I spend a few hours this weekend replacing the drivers side CV joint.  Seems like it can go quite a while longer.  Owned it new since August '02.

[zolotiyeruki]

My 2003 Corolla is still going at 220k miles.  I spend a few hours this weekend replacing the drivers side CV joint.  Seems like it can go quite a while longer.  Owned it new since August '02.

Keep it maintained, and it'll last until rust takes it.  I daily drive a '95 Corolla with 243k miles, and it just keeps on going.  Oddly enough, I also need to replace the driver's CV axle, although it's not the original.

[Cassie]

I am the third little old lady that has owned this Toyota Corolla. It’s a 2013 with 62k/miles on it. I only drive 4K miles a year since retirement. It’s only needed tires, brakes and oil changes.

[talltexan]

I put about $900 into my 2009 Camry recently because I thought my wife would need it for an out of state trip (trip got cancelled). I think that's roughly $1 per mile I've driven in the past year.

I am not proud. But this mechanic is pretty good about installing parts when I show up with ones I bought online, so I want to keep them happy.