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Get your car to 200,000 miles
When Laura White of Oxford, Mass., bought a Toyota Corolla in 1997, her son was just 3 years old. Fifteen years later, he drove that Corolla to college.
By the time the car landed on the junk heap—victim of a car-totaling accident—it had more than 300,000 miles on it. That sort of durability isn’t far-fetched if you take proper care of your car, because today’s vehicles are more reliable than ever. A few easy tricks can help you nudge the odometer well into six figures.
“We changed the oil every 3,000 miles and the timing belts regularly,” Laura says. “I never dreamed I would give the kids the car to drive when I bought it years ago.”
You might not end up sending your toddler to college in a car you buy today. But improvements in rust prevention, engine technology, safety features, and electronics mean that 200K cars are pretty common now. Especially if, like Laura, you start with a safe, reliable model and maintain it properly.
When new, the 1997 Corolla was a Consumer Reports Recommended model in part because of excellent reliability, good crash-test results, and impressive performance in our battery of more than 50 tests. Today, the Corolla is on our list of the top 10 models that are still on the road after 200,000 miles. That’s according to our most recent Annual Auto Survey, which gathered data on 1.1 million vehicles owned by our subscribers.
Life Extenders
To improve your odds, start by choosing not just a safe and reliable model but also one with all of the features you want. If you’ll be driving it for the long haul, it might as well be a car that you enjoy as the miles and years roll by.
Read the owner’s manual. It’s amazing how many people keep it tucked away in the glove box. Simply familiarizing yourself with the maintenance schedule can add years of trouble-free driving. The manual spells out how often your car needs basic services like oil changes and tire rotations, as well as bigger jobs like timing-belt replacements.
Change the oil. Missing even one oil change can contribute to premature engine wear. Forget about your timing belt and your engine can suffer severe damage.
When we asked our online readers how they got to 200,000 miles, an overwhelming number mentioned that regular oil changes and proper maintenance were important.
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