I have been contemplating buying an auto for a while now but I also have on my life list an ambition to complete 200K miles in a car (a bit sad I know - oh if you want to know about life lists google John Goddard life list - quite interesting if you are that way inclined).
If I did it in my current 2.4 6 speed Accord then I will need the odd clutch replacement (maybe - but knowing Honda it will probably last - only joking)
But if I decided to purchase an auto box would it last 200K without replacement or typically what parts would need replacing ?
s
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IMO, provided it was a good box (i.e. not Ford or Renault) with regular ATF changes it should do 200k easily. Generally speaking with an auto, if any aspect of the box dies, you put a recon box in. Taking autoboxes to bits isn't something your average backstreet garage will be able to do.
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Ford have changed supplier - they now use the Aisin-Warner for their diesel autoboxes, I'm not sure about their petrols.
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I realised Ford gave up because they couldn't make a decent box. AFAIK the petrol Mondeo has a ZF box, and the Focus has a Jatco box. Not sure if Renault are still making their own rubbish or if they've seen sense since their merger with Nissan, of whom Jatco is a subsidiary.
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That's a huge mileage that you are proposing. I have never kept a car that long, however I have owned automatic cars for some 25 years, mostly Mercedes Benz and have never had one iota of or suggestion of trouble during that time and can only comment that in todays traffic I would never consider a manual car.
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Your absolutely right umi - it is a huge mileage and I may have set the bar a bit high - although that is why I will do it in a Honda or Scooby - I think they will stand the test better than most.
I heard on Radio 2 that the average mileage over a lifetime was 435K miles (excluding reps and lorry drivers of course before anyone comes back) so I may never reach it.
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I have a mate in US with a 1996 Chevy Pickup Auto with 475k on clock - he services it on the dot to book recommendation and it is still running strong.
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>I have a mate in US with a 1996 Chevy Pickup Auto with 475k on clock..
A '96 Chevy pickup will have the 4L60E transmission or 4L80E if it's 4WD. I have the 4L60E in my Z28.
It is really an electronically controlled adaptation of the 700R4 and will do Startrek mileage if it is serviced according to the book. The most common failures are the 3-4 clutches and reverse input drum which are usually a result of using a HO engine without the (easy) upgrades.
Treated properly, a TH400/4L60E will still be working when the vehicle falls apart .
Kevin...
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I sold my Merc 190E 1.8 with >200k miles and a BMW 318i touring with 185k, both manual, both still had original clutch and gearbox. I'm not sure that an auto would last so well but then I've never owned one. I think with regular maintenance most modern cars with manual boxes could rack up 150k+ without transmission work, but perhaps more like 100k with auto judging by HJ's responese in the DT.
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My 1974 Ro80 has done 150k in its lifetime and is on its original box and torque converter. However, it's "semi" auto, i.e. you select the gear yourself, don't know how much of an impact this has on things.
My understanding of cars with torque converters is that this to some extent "shields" the transmission from the engine, therefore one would assume they could have a very long life.
However, i do have a spare torque converter and gearbox which I expect to need at some point!
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"My 1974 Ro80"
Great car. I always wanted one, but by the time I could afford it, very few were left without revolting V4 conversions...
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I once drove a 1991 Lexus LS400, obviously auto, with 325k on the clock. Cover up the mileage and you would have guessed at 30k to drive it - changed gear as good as the day it rolled out the factory.
There are a fair few cars that can take the mileage, its purely about buying the right car pref from new, then treating it with a degree of respect and servicing it faithfully. Do this and you are more than likely to get to 200k without much of a hitch.
Check this out: www.volvoclub.org.uk/miles - puts 200k in perspective! A good place to go and ask for advice on running cars to this mileage too.
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My old 1990 Pug 505 auto had over 200k on it when I traded it in. I had it from 113k miles and didn't change the ATF once. Performed faultlessly.
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My MB E320 CDI has 185,000 on the clock. The auto gearbox had to be overhauled last year at around 155,000 miles.
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Look on the Volvo Owners Club forum and High Mileage listing. 200,000 miles is a commonplace not worth boasting about. At that mileage you get one that is nicely run in - then you can start using it.
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As ever, regular maintenance is the key to longevity, and the core of that is ATF changes. The most recent report I saw of problems with an MB box was accompanied by this pathetic statement: "The fault was attributable to my lack of maintenance since I have never changed the fluid or filters in the time that I have owned the car". Towing is not helpful either.
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Pendlebury. When I was writing about it before I thought I was told every 60,000 miles auto gearbox oil to be changed. In Mercedes apparently main dealers wouldn't be keen to do it, so you bring it to a specialist place ( apparently no problem).
I have always used manual. My present Toledo has done 147,000 miles on the one clutch ( no sign of wear). I have never had a new clutch put in or had gearbox maintenance on any of my cars. I keep them a long time!!
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After watching last night's Fifth gear, why would anyone want a car [for regular use, I mean] that's more than 10 years old? Technology moves so fast that even 5 year old cars now can be technically dated. The whole pollution thing means surely that manufacturers will be swamping us with hybrids/electric cars and so on.
By the time I've done another 200,000 miles, there won't be internal combustion I'd guess. There may not even be legal private transport.
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All my cars are more than 10 years old and I use them regularly. The MBs pre-date the dive in quality suffered by MB from the mid-1990s onwards and also the advent of complications and computer-based systems that make maintenance ever more costly through being trapped by MB main dealers (at £125 an hour). I am simply not interested in most of the recently introduced gadgets and neither do I like the looks of recent models. I enjoy the robust relative simplicity of these cars and, from my point of view, the supposed advances exhibited by their successors are of very little value. The MBs are completely reliable. As for my 1984 Capri 2.8i, it's fun, as every passenger confirms, and is also reliable. Regular competent servicing (not at main dealers) is part of this picture.
On "the whole pollution thing", how often is the enormous environmental impact of the manufacturing of a new car taken fully into account?
If I win the lottery, I'll add an early 1960s Ferrari, not a new MB.
I know, I'm in a tiny minority as usual, but I do have my reasons.
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200,000 miles, thats peanuts! for your own amusement have a look at the Volvo high mileage club web site. Posting a 200,000 miler is common on there and many times this figure has been achieved. I did 245k in a 940 and could have saved that with a recon turbo but was tempted by another car.
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The secret is sensible maintenance, not what the car manufacturer states!
For example, Vauxhall state, for all their Aisin-Warner fwd autoboxes that no fluid change is necessary in normal use (ever) and that the cooler built-in to the coolant radiator is adequate (at 90 degrees C?) when towing within the vehicles towing limit.
Add an oil-to-air transmission cooler if towing, check fluid level and colour whenever checking engine oil level, and drain & replace transmission oil every 20-30,000 miles (only changes about half the contents) - that'll extend an automatic transmission's life considerably.
The torque converter does give the gearbox an easier time - it also gives the engine an easier time by avoiding the shock loading on down changes and avoiding very low or very high revs.
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