Hope the admin won't mind me not putting a car in the title ! This is a general (although technical) question which could apply to any car ....
Have a 3.5 year old old shape Corolla, now at 125K, and have just spent £1K on a gearbox rebuild ..... so I'm going to amortise my investment and run the thing for a while longer !
What else, apart from the normal service items (oil, filters, tyres, etc) should I specifically pay attention to on a high mileage car ?
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My experience is the following tend to start to go:
all steering joints/bushes etc. Check for play.
Wheel bearings.(noise)
Shock absorbers - check for leaks/the bounce test.
Cambelt/tensioner/timing chain, engine hoses especially around exhaust manifold.
Exhausts.
Rear brake cylinders tend to leak with older cars.
Engine and gearbox mountings can perish.. sagging engine, difficult gearchange. (you should be ok if checked with gearbox)
Pedal rubbers: replace if worn: dangerous with wet feet.
Wiper blades perish.(possible screen damage)
Check washers are not blocking with mold/dirt.
Wiper baldes and rubbers on pedals are simple and must dos if worn imo.
madf
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125,000 is not a high mileage. "High" starts at 200,000, but modern cars will do much more than that.
Madf has covered a lot of useful points, but they are frankly the sort of things that can go on a car of virtually any mileage.
My recipe for extracting a high mileage from a car (296,000 so far) is:
1) Change the oil regularly and more frequently than it says in the book. Say every 5,000 max.
2) Don't do a lot of short journeys, or if you have to, try and interspirce them with longer runs.
3) Keep the engine in tip top tune. Pay attention to plugs, leads,running temperatute, all the usual ignition and fuel things.
4) Change the coolant inhibitor every 2 years, flush the system. Use a good brand.
5) Drive gently, don't do violent things to the brakes or steering. Don't bump up kerbs.
6) Watch the brake pads. Never let them get too worn.
7) Investigate every unusual tick, knock, rattle, wobble, and sort it out before it develops into anything more serious.
8) Pressure wash the underneath regularly, and attend to any incipient rust. Use Waxoyl or Dinitrol in the box sections.
9) Don't worry about the smaller consumable components, especially if you are a DIY type. They are meant to wear out. Keep the big things in A1 condition - chassis/bodywork, engine, transmission, cooling system.
Good luck!
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... 296K !!!
The pads are definately a valid point - I let mine go far too long, now I have to replace discs as well !
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Not relevant to it being a "high" or not mileage car, but I would have the gearbox oil in your rebuilt gearbox changed after about 10k miles, once the new bits have rounded off a little.
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