Thread: Mileage is it really an issue ?

Mileage isn't so much of an issue but the interior of a car with 200,000 KM will be significantly more worn that one with 30K, if that is a consideration.

Regards,
Tote

Originally Posted by Bails

Amazing how people consider mileage on a vehicle when buying ? Engine life for a diesel should be around 20,000 hrs before requiring a rebuild. To put this into perspective , at an average speed of 70 kph 1,400,000 klms is engine life expectancy.

The issue is how well maintained , and other non engine components. If we look at the large heavy industrial world we see long hours for gearbox, hydraulics and wear components.

So buying should be about the quality of components and maintenance.

There's no way any modern car diesel will come close to those figures. Low speed industrial diesels can do 20,000 hours, and constant speed engines like gensets can do that easily and then some, but not a modern car diesel - they aren't built the same. Pre EGR truck engines can do 1,000,000KM plus between rebuilds, then EGR came along and life to rebuild dropped around 15% and now with Adblue that's knocked another 10 odd % off too so my mates truck engine shop is often seeing rebuilds now at 750 to 800KKM as a regular thing. He loves it and the complexity of the engines make him more money on parts too. Pre EGR full out of chassis rebuild runs around $35 to $40K. A modern Adblue equivalent is around $45 to $48K - just on all the extra crap that is hanging off them now.

Even with the best maintenance a modern engine will be toast at half of this at best - most well before that. Their components aren't built to last like industrial engines - where Engineers overbuild components and upgrade to stronger parts as the engine develops over the years whereas car engines are far more complex and have their strength cut to the bone to save a few cents on production. I've seen first hand how items are tested - then have material removed and retested - until they break. They then add a small margin back and put it into production.

With normal maintenance (which I don't rate as being very good but what most people do) - then 250,000 is about it. We have scrapped plenty of cars at work around this engine milage - my Hilux is at 200KKM now and has a good awful rattle that would concern me a lot if it was my car, but the dealers don't seem worried (because it's out of warranty) so I'll drive it until it requires a tilt tray.

So, in a nutshell yes, mileage makes a huge difference with on road vehicles you buy these days.

Went down to Duttons in Brizzy today to look at a Carpathian Grey one with just 18K on the odo,, was sold when I got there...

Bugger, it seems you need to jump on them as soon as you see them. I paid a $1K deposit on one in Brisbane after the sales droid told me it had meridian sound as stated in the ad. He sent me pics and surprise, povo pack sound. I got my deposit back but it was sold within a day or so so they must have had another buyer waiting.

Regards,
Tote

Originally Posted by Homestar

There's no way any modern car diesel will come close to those figures. Low speed industrial diesels can do 20,000 hours, and constant speed engines like gensets can do that easily and then some, but not a modern car diesel - they aren't built the same. Pre EGR truck engines can do 1,000,000KM plus between rebuilds, then EGR came along and life to rebuild dropped around 15% and now with Adblue that's knocked another 10 odd % off too so my mates truck engine shop is often seeing rebuilds now at 750 to 800KKM as a regular thing. He loves it and the complexity of the engines make him more money on parts too. Pre EGR full out of chassis rebuild runs around $35 to $40K. A modern Adblue equivalent is around $45 to $48K - just on all the extra crap that is hanging off them now.

Even with the best maintenance a modern engine will be toast at half of this at best - most well before that. Their components aren't built to last like industrial engines - where Engineers overbuild components and upgrade to stronger parts as the engine develops over the years whereas car engines are far more complex and have their strength cut to the bone to save a few cents on production. I've seen first hand how items are tested - then have material removed and retested - until they break. They then add a small margin back and put it into production.

With normal maintenance (which I don't rate as being very good but what most people do) - then 250,000 is about it. We have scrapped plenty of cars at work around this engine milage - my Hilux is at 200KKM now and has a good awful rattle that would concern me a lot if it was my car, but the dealers don't seem worried (because it's out of warranty) so I'll drive it until it requires a tilt tray.

So, in a nutshell yes, mileage makes a huge difference with on road vehicles you buy these days.

Actually stationary diesels can see up to 70,000 hours. Trucks get well over 1 million k's these days , Heavy equipment over 20,000 hours. My R50 touareg was designed to go 1 million Miles before rebuild. I got well over 500,000 k's on Landcruiser, sold and may be still going. Yes this is dependant on many factors including maintenance , but it won't be engine that is the first failure in most cases.

Took my wife's Jazz to the local Honda dealer in Gosford for service yesterday.
They had 2 new vehicles in stock and almost no used cars also.
They had imported a couple of Toyotas from their other dealership to make it look like they had some stock.
Regards PhilipA

Originally Posted by Bails

Actually stationary diesels can see up to 70,000 hours. Trucks get well over 1 million k's these days , Heavy equipment over 20,000 hours. My R50 touareg was designed to go 1 million Miles before rebuild. I got well over 500,000 k's on Landcruiser, sold and may be still going. Yes this is dependant on many factors including maintenance , but it won't be engine that is the first failure in most cases.

BS - I've been working in the industry for nearly 3 decades with stationary diesels (from piddly little ones to 60 plus litres - never seen one get close to 70,000 hours without a rebuild - Also regarding truck engines - I also work a second job at my mates truck engine shop - as I said before, EGR and government juice engines have bought time to rebuilds down to an average well under 1,000,000 now. Some light single trailer applications will get there but most don't. Truck engines are a VERY different beast to a car or 4WD engines as well - they are designed for longevity and rebuildability, small car/4WD engines are build to the lowest price and are designed to get through the warranty period and that's about it. Yes, there are plenty of older mechanical diesels in 4WD's that have done 500,000KM but none of the modern stuff will still be alive close to this. If you want to buy a modern diesel with over 200,000KM on it, be my guest, I wouldn't touch one with a 10' barge pole. I wouldn't even buy a modern car/4WD diesel with my own money these days. You don't have to try and convince me because I'm not in the market - just giving you my experience from a lifetime of actually working with them.

Worked for a very brief time at Westrac in Perth. down time in that sector was scheduled to hours

I think it was a little to a lot less than 5000 hours usually to a rebuild/overhaul. The 300,000 engine replacement in my current Disco was a bit of a surprise as the 2005 was very close to 500,000 and is still driving around now with the hail damage which took it away from me.