How many miles will my car last?

[Frangible]

I have a 1994 Chrysler Town and Country minivan. It's been maintained pretty well, always get it oil changes, etc and is running well AFAIK.

It has 158,000 miles on it. Can anyone venture a guess as to how many more it'll be good for without replacing the engine or anything?

 

[rycen]

What are the specs on the tranny and motor?

 

[Lurker]

I think with a Chrystler minivan (not known for reliability) that is ten years old and over 150,000 miles, you are at the point where it could go at any time. But every vehicle is individual and it also might get to 200,000 without too much going wrong. Past that you will definitely be on borrowed time.

 

[MeridianTactical]

I hate to say it, but I stay away from american cars after years of getting burned and having friends get burned...

Seems most american cars hit 120K and thats when the it gets expensive to fix. Motors, Tranny's etc.

Just had a freind blow the motor on a saturn at 80K, andother had an Ford Explorer's tranny (with 110K highway mi) go to the tune of $2500 And this was a common issue said the dealer...

I'm not trying to bash american cars, but my Ex's Firebird would require resetting the computer if you went through a puddle. And my older (as in 1988 GT with 15K mi at the time) Mustang would fail to start every 10-15 tries. nessesitating popping the clutch to get it going. I could go on....

So its realy a crap shoot... You could hit 200K or your on borrowed time. I'd say start saving up for your next car and ride that puppy into the ground!

I would not recomend a new engine or tranny if it goes...

 

[LitFuse]

I've got a '95, and it seems like the motor is the only thing that still works on it. I've had touble with:

Transmission

CV joints

AC- front and rear evaporators. Replaced the rear, then the front one went out 6 months later. Didn't repair it because it's an expensive PITA and not worth it.

Heat- Both heater cores rotted out.

Fan motor replaced.

Brake trouble.

Lots of misc. BS hassles.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the paint. Peeling off in big chunks on all vertical surfaces. This was a factory defect that Chrysler did their best to avoid responsibility for. If you hassled long enough, you could get them to paint your car for little or nothing, but I didn't have the time to invest.

IMHO the Chrysler minivans are crap. Repair data submitted to Consumer Reports by owners substantiates this. I will never own another Chrysler product as long as I live.

Peter

 

[rycen]

Chris,
You have had some bad luck.

I owned a 1992 Plymouth Voyager with the 3 liter mitsu motor and 3spd auto tran and with the most minimal amount of mantaince done it lasted 140,000 of hard miles and is still on the road.

 

[MeridianTactical]

Rycen, yup... but I learn quick. My friends have have it worse...

But I did notice you siad you had the "3 liter mitsu(bishi) motor". My point remains valid (I had to get hat one in) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[rycen]

I figured I would say that it was a mitsu before someone pointed that out.It was a good motor but it did burn oil.

 

[raggie33]

aal 3 liter mistbishi mothers will smoke

 

[raggie33]

rofl make that motors

 

[Frangible]

Ok, thanks guys. Guess I'll start saving for that Toyota I've been lookin at :P

(I have no idea of the specs on the tranny/motor btw)

 

[PhotonBoy]

I've got a 1996 Plymouth Voyager with 183,000 km (114,000 mi.) on it. I'll never buy another Chrysler product. Had the transmission redone, about 3 or 4 recalls for really stupid stuff, starting problems that my mechanic brother was fortunately able to track down, A/C is now disconnected permanently, failed about 2 years ago.

Next car I get will be a Toyota product, probably a 2 year old Corolla.

 

[MeridianTactical]

Oh I forgot, in my poor attempt at getting a "family car" and ditching a well working Nissan with 136K, I bought an off lease Ford Taurus that had the metal AC lines rot out at 40K Mi and were going to cost $800 to fix.

Also the first week I had that car I bled the brakes everynight as there was so much brake fade I was scared... Turned out it was "normal".

I wish we could add some more quality to the American cars, I like the looks of the new Dodge stuff... but I'm too afraid... I for a moment thought of the new 300 as a possible car...

I had a 99 Nissan Maxima with 150K HARD miles on it, ran great and I spent only $300 for a coil pack. And it ran with a bad coil pack just fine until you gave it full throttle, then it would hiccup...

Sold the Max cheap for $5500 a few months back...

 

[Draco_Americanus]

while listing to car talk I would say that some non american cars are just as bad, that allways make fun of VW's burning oil. I have also heard of toyota's 2.7 lt inline 4 engine blowing at 70kmiles due to flawed oil passages clogging up. My friends honda was a nightmare to work on and the parts where soo expensive not to mention it being rusted out, so IMHO All of the car makers have some crap models/ motors,/ bad days.

My personal experance had been as follows,
1988 chevy s-10, body is heavy rusted and I have owned it for 11 years at 124kmiles when I got it, nothing magor and it has 181kmiles, orginal 2.8 guttless motor and orginal transmition. (My dad owned it and it was unreliable when new, a workmanship defect was found and fixed)
1998 jeep grand cherokee, rebuilt front axle at 90kmiles, cracked exhust manifold at 150kmiles and currently has 164kmiles. I bought it 4 years ago it had 52kmiles. I dive off road and into deep water at times so both failers where probly my fault.
2001 buick regal gs 22kmiles , just got it, so no info.

So if your minivan was taken care of and it's not beat on you may make it, just carry a cell phone just in case. No one thought my S-10 would last as long as it has, I figure I was on borrowed time 11 years ago.
My dad just got a dodge magnum with the hemi so We will see if Chysler cleaned up some of there act.

 

[Draco_Americanus]

leave it to ford to have that problem happen, they also had problems with the oil pans rusting out. A tarus is one ford I would never own. My mom had an Escort that ran great, she sold it at 92 kmiles to get an F-150, the trim quality whent down hill for ford during the late 1990's

 

[raggie33]

im lucky with cars my family is to but we maintain em 3000k oil changes etc etc. but are cars last long usaly around 250.000 and still running . i dont drive now but if i did id get a used mazda 626 around 90 model and hopefulky get it for like 500 bucks .there great cars but dont get the auto they stink

 

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

It really is hard to say.

We used to go Airshow seeing in an Approx. '84 Chrysler mini van. Only thing it ever did wrong to us was grenade a CV joint (right in front of a Sears!).

However, in 1995 I fell head over heels for a Dodge Intrepid. Then I got on Edmonds and read about them.

Now I figure on getting a Pontiac Gran Prix. I feel like GM has their S&%T together a little bit better than Ford (when talking cars!) and a LOT better than Mopar.

On V-8 powered trucks, and cars for that matter... 300K isn't unreachable. My (Sisters) '95 Town Car has almost 160K and does nothing wrong. My F-350 (Beast) has at least 200K+ and probably 300K (it only reads to 99,999).

Like someone else said, start saving up and CARRY A CELLPHONE! A tripleA account might not hurt. I have the cell phone number to a wrecker driver myself!

 

[greenLED]

I have a 96 mazda with 224000 miles on it. Running like new! I had an 87 Toyota Camry with 160000+ miles on it, running good. Sold it when I moved cross-country. My experience with American cars is that they consume more gas and are harder and more expensive to maintain than Japanese ones. They tend to have more *extras* and may be more "comfy", though.

 

[Frangible]

[ QUOTE ]
On V-8 powered trucks, and cars for that matter... 300K isn't unreachable. My (Sisters) '95 Town Car has almost 160K and does nothing wrong. My F-350 (Beast) has at least 200K+ and probably 300K (it only reads to 99,999).

[/ QUOTE ]

Why would V8's last longer? I'm sort of car-ignorant.

 

[chmsam]

I have had the oil pump in my S-10 (Vortek V6) replaced twice in 160,000 miles. There was virtually no wear on the bottom end of the engine noticed during the repairs. I change my oil every 3,000 - 4,000 miles. Need a better reason to do so? Only other semi-major repair was a fuel injector rail replacement. Add to that a minor recall or two, and you can see why I'm fairly pleased. Here in upstate NY body rust and rot will kill the vehicle more often than anything except poor maintenance.

Pay attention to the gauges. Also, I must say that preventive maintenance has been very, very good to me.

Engine problems are bad enough, but a wise person checks the suspension, steering, and brakes often on any vehicle. Repairs there are cheaper by far when done early, and actually can save your life.

I see no reason not to be able to get 200,000 miles out of almost any decent vehicle. Now, dealerships and car companies are another whole matter -- personally, I'll never buy another Daimler-Chrysler vehicle, no matter what.