Anyone with a 200k+ miles petrol car

[V6todayEVmanana]

Having a chat with a mechanic and he mentioned that if my petrol engine made it to 200K miles that would be exceptional and I am very lucky.

He expected the big end or piston seals to fail on a petrol car by then.

So was curious if anyone has reached this milestone and if so what major engine work was required.

I know in other threads there are mega mile diesel hence the focus on petrol.

[V6todayEVmanana]

Thanks for the replies, interesting reading and nice work on looking after your engines.

It's cool how the internet can help us look after our cars, not just for fixes but also busting myths that would otherwise proliferate.

[V6todayEVmanana]

Aiminghigh123 said:

Please stop going to him.

My dad used to be a cab driver started in 1991.

Mostly petrol.

3 x Sierra 2.0l 300k miles, 350k miles, 180k miles

Mondeo 2.0l 380k miles

Mondeo 1.8 Diesel 230k miles

My Saab 9-3 2.0T took it from 120-170k miles
Got rid of it because shocks needed doing and the chain. Car ran fine, used a bit of oil 1 litre over 8k miles. Would have got to 200k I reckon no worries.

Coincidentally he did mention that caveat, cabs

Some mighty impressive millages and with little expenditure of on this thread

[V6todayEVmanana]

Faust66 said:

Unless the mechanic in the OP was only talking about the latest highly stressed small capacity turbo engines, I reckon he talking rubbish.

My missus has a 1999 V70 2.5 5 pot (non turbo).

It’s on about 230K miles and is still going strong. I change the oil & filter for her every 6k miles or so (decent oil – Castol or similar - and genuine Volvo filter). I see no reason why it won’t rack up another 200k miles with no major issues.

Older engines will go on for a long time IF you take the time to look after them.

Of course, in todays the-ashtray-is-full-so-throw-it-way society not everyone wants to/can be bothered to look after a car.

The B20 lump in my 1969/70 Volvo Amazon has over 200k miles on it… and I’m not worried about that giving up the ghost anytime soon. Damn thing will probably out live me!

The chat was based on my 3.0 V6, previously he's mentioned this distain for small 3 cylinder engines. He's a good guy and fixed a numbers of issues for me. There are a few specialists I use depending on the problem.

Good to hear everyone thoughts and experiences, better than just a single person's experience even although I do like to hear from people in the industry.

Alfa101 said:

Coming up to 210k on my Alfa Romeo Spider.

This is the benefit of buying something with a reputation for solid build quality, reliability and corrosion resistance. Built to last.

Disappointingly it broke a couple of years ago and needed a Flatbed to bring it home. Just the once though.

Wow and that's the early 1960's spider right? Good work.

[V6todayEVmanana]

Royal Jelly said:

As mentioned, it isn’t the engine that’s going to stop a car in its tracks these days.. it’s the rust/electrics/sensors. Sadly the climate in the U.K. isn’t the best if you use your cars year-round.

Friends in the SW USA have cars going quite happily at 300k+. They do longer distances than brits as a general rule, but the dry climate also keeps rust at bay and perishables in better nick.

Indeed the dry climate is great to keep the body and electronics happy although wonder if it has a worse effect on the rubbers, rubber seals are an issue I'm finding on a older car (20years).

lufbramatt said:

I know several people that have had turbo diesel cars be pretty much written off with turbo failures, injector or fuel pump issues etc. then surely a much simpler n/a petrol with a lower compression ratio has got a better chance of doing 200K? The basic engine is pretty much the same underneath. Why are diesel engines expected to last longer?

Good point, a couple of colleagues have said good by to their newer diesels with less miles than my 3.0 petrol. Guess it's some of the old TDI and Mercedes taxis that give diesels a good impression of reliability.
I guess the more powerful with small capacity and more filters are not going to fair to well.

spreadsheet monkey said:

No doubt 99% of 1.0 Ecoboosts are fine. It won International Engine Of The Year when it was launched.

...

Edited by spreadsheet monkey on Friday 6th November 09:39

I wouldn't put too much emphasis on these awards for reliability. Usually the engine is awarded before it's been in the hands of any customers, mostly based on clever tech. I've got a 1.4turbo that won a European engine of the year award but the first few years it was filling the forums with woe and tears, I experienced trouble too. (They fixed it few years later and replacement engine is peachy)

[V6todayTurboManana]

Not my car but same model/engine and surpassed 200K, had a upper engine rebuild, does it still count?



https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202106284...