| 1989 Saab 900 SPG retires with 1,001,385 miles. - Click HERE for Original Thread |
| njjoe |
Peter Gilbert, a traveling salesman from Wisconsin, has racked up an unbelievable 1,001,385 miles on his 1989 Saab 900 SPG. He recently decided to buy a new car and donated the Saab to the Wisconsin Automotive Museum.
The 17 year old Saab was not without mechanical problems. The tranny was replaced at 200,000 miles and the "new" unit was still working fine after 800,000+ miles. The engine head gasket was replaced three times which is not bad considering the number of heating/cooling cycles it had to endure over 17 years. The radiator had to be replaced once, but that was due to it being damaged by a collision with a deer. The hood was also replaced during one of the eight separate collisions with deer. All things considered, that engine was a trouble-free gem!
The frame of the Swedish-built 900 did not survive the miles as well as the engine. Apparently the rural roads and winter road salt took it's toll on them. The frame had weakened to the point that it was considered unsafe if the car were to be in a collision.
All of the articles that I read said that Peter Gilbert was "meticulous" about the maintenance of the Saab. According to Gilbert he only used Mobil-1 oil. Over 600 quarts during the 17 years. He also went through 22 sets of tires and over 35,000 gallons of gasoline. He also once got the 900 up to 135 mph at the Road America race track in Wisconsin, so the car was no slouch.
I believe the longevity of this particular car is owed to both luck and skill. I say luck because this engine was assembled with the perfect set of components that just happened to be the lot that had zero hidden defects and/or inherent weaknesses. The skill part had to do with the meticulous maintenance performed by the owner. It was skill and luck that enabled this particular engine to go 1,001,385 relatively trouble-free miles. We all should be half as lucky as Peter Gilbert. Twenty-five percent as lucky? Fifteen?
-njjoe |
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| Kris |
Interesting...
I have seen many Ford Falcons (taxis in Australia) go well beyond 500,000 kilometers trouble free. But not 1M miles! Proof that good maintenance goes long way.... |
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| Stoker |
| Life of mechanical equipment has always depended on maintenance cycles. If you do not do maintenance as you believe it is an expense, it is the old math formula of PMN2, Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later and get your name in the paper. A the choices in life |
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| Eric L. |
Woohoo! Mobil One!
I agree with joe - it took perfect circumstances to get to a million miles, but wow what an achievement. |
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| GripperDon |
| making it throught the 1,000,000 miles also. :) |
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| hfelknor |
Thought it might be a Guiness world record.........so I checked.
Not even close. :eek:
Turns out that a guy named Irv Gordon out on long island has done 2.5 Million miles in his car AND IS STILL GOING.
Other articles indicate that he is a Castrol user.
I sure wish Irv's car had a Jatco CVT............
Homer
2.5 Million Mile Volvo 40th Anniversary
Text & Photo courtesy Volvo Automobiles AB
06-20-2006
Irv Gordon's Volvo P1800 Marks 40 Year Anniversary of Purchase
Forty years ago this June 30, the Beatles were completing their "Revolver" album. Mike Tyson was born in Brooklyn. Los Angeles Dodger Sandy Koufax was halfway through pitching his final and finest season.
And Irv Gordon was in a neighborhood Volvo dealership purchasing a cherry red Volvo P1800 for $4,150, replacing a new car he had recently purchased from another manufacturer that broke down on his drive home from the dealership.
"It was far and away the best $4,150 I've ever spent," said Gordon, a Long Island native and resident who has since driven the car almost 2.5 million miles, a world record.
Gordon, who today is a 64-year-old retired science teacher, began racking up the miles almost immediately. He drove the car for the same reasons most people do: to drive back and forth to work (a 125-mile daily round-trip to his job), for fun and for everyday activities. His long commute and his passion for driving caused him to log his first 250,000 miles in less than five years.
The engine never failed and the car never required extensive repairs. Gordon lived two blocks from the ocean and drove through salt and snow each winter, but the body never rusted.
So he kept driving his car.
Gordon hit 500,000 miles in the late '70s.
He celebrated his one-millionth mile in 1987, driving a loop around the Tavern on the Green in New York's Central Park. He retired nine years later and took a part-time job for five years as a quality control technician and service writer at a Volvo dealership.
With more time on his hands, he made driving his pastime.
In the mid '90s, The Guinness Book of World Records certified his Volvo for most miles driven by a single owner in a non-commercial vehicle. In March 2002 at a star-studded celebration fitting for New York, he turned his 2 millionth mile driving through Times Square.
Gordon would drive to Cincinnati for coffee, to Denver for lunch, or to Montreal for dinner. He'd drive to Volvo dealerships and car clubs to meet other Volvo lovers. He drove to Mexico. He put his car on a barge and sent it to Europe. He drove to Holland. He drove to Germany. While in Sweden, he drove to Volvo's headquarters to see where his P1800 was born.
He drove through big cities at night and spent afternoons in small town coffee shops. He made friends throughout the nation. He became an icon for resiliency and passion for the road. He met Matt Lauer. He hung out with Jon Stewart. He talked cars with Jay Leno.
And, 40 years after Gordon took the keys, the car has the same engine, same radio, same axles, same transmission and of course, the same driver. He is the only person who has ever driven his P1800.
"If you would have told me 40 years ago I'd still be driving this beautiful car, and that I would have driven these many miles, I would have told you 'good,'" Gordon said. "For one thing, the car just felt right from the beginning. And, what a beautiful country this is; I'm so glad I've had the time and opportunity to take so much of it in."
Gordon plans to mark his car's 40th birthday doing pretty much what he's done with the car every day the past 40 years.
"I'm going to drive down to my favorite coffee shop, have a decaf and chat with my neighbors," he said. "Who knows? Maybe I'll drive up to Montauk that day. Maybe not."
Gordon's odometer currently reads about 2.45 million miles. When he hits 2.48 million around August, he'll be at 4 million kilometers. Then, some time in September or October, likely on some blue highway in the heartland, he'll turn 2.5 million. And, as for what he'll do next?
"I'll keep on driving," Gordon said, "but whether I drive three million miles is more up to me than it is the car. The car's parts may be able to take it, but I'm not so sure about my own." |
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| Kris |
Eh, they do not make them that way anymore....:(
Homer,
good find! |
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| njjoe |
Forty years and 2.5 million miles! Wow. I would love to know if he had any components replaced or rebuilt during that time.
Hmmm.... A Saab and a Volvo. Do you think there are any million-mile Ford, Chevy, or Chrysler cars out there? It wasn't that long ago that 100,000 miles on an American-made car was unheard of.
With the advances in metallurgy, quality control, and manufacturing practices that have occurred in the past ten years it is now common place for cars to run 100,000 miles without a major overhaul. I wonder what the average life expectancy is? 100K? 125K?? 150k???
-njjoe |
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| hfelknor |
How about a million miles.
On a Chevy.
On ONE air Filter.
From the K&N site
Carl Judice with his Million Mile Chevy Pickup.
Carl's Truck Odometer in November 2005 just before Hitting the Million Mile Mark.
One million miles, one vehicle and one K&N air filter all add up to one remarkable milestone in the life of Carl Judice, 66, of New Iberia, Louisiana. His snow white hair and southern accent go together to make him a southern gentleman who owns what some would call an extraordinary pick-up truck.
A vehicle is only as good as the mechanics and the servicing provided by its owner, and Carl knows how much difference a K&N filter made in his one million mile engine. “I have a ¾ ton Chevy 1998 pick-up truck with over one million miles,” said Carl Judice, a truck driver. “I’ve had 400 oil changes but only one K&N air filter.”
There are service records at the General Motors Dealership, Musson Patout Automotive, in New Iberia from the first day of Carl’s new purchase. The paperwork trail proves the one million mile accomplishment with one K&N air filter.
“Really and truly the K&N air filter kept the engine going,” he said. “It keeps the dirt out of the engine.” Carl said his one and only K&N air filter reduced maintenance on his Chevrolet C2500 HD pick-up. He told K&N he never had to go into the engine.
Famous K&N Million MIle Air Filter in Carl's Chevy Pick-up Truck.
Carl knows engines. He grew up on a farm and maintained his own equipment until he became a truck driver 10 years ago. Dwayne Judice e-mailed K&N Engineering about his father, he wrote, “When he changed careers, from sugar cane farmer to oilfield transportation his vast mechanical knowledge became an asset.” Dwayne also told K&N his dad’s visits to GM Goodwench Technicians have been few and far between.
According to Carl, he changed three starters, three alternators and brakes, plus all the regular maintenance on his one million mile pick-up. “Whenever I open the cover and change my oil I look at the air filter,” he said. “If it’s dirty, I take it out and clean it.”
Carl told K&N Engineering he cleaned his air filter 10 to 12 times during his one million mile odyssey. “I don’t have a specific length of time between cleaning,” Carl said. “Sometimes I drive on dusty roads and I have to change it more often,”
“The factory recommends change every 15,000 miles on an OEM filter,” said Bojack Walker, Service Manager at Musson Patout Automotive. “We put the numbers together and at a million miles plus Mr. Carl Judice would have had to change it 66 times at a cost of about $30.00 each. Carl saved around $1800.00 by using a K&N filter.”
“I would never put a paper filter on any of my vehicles as long as K&N makes these air filters,” said Carl. “When I’m passing somebody, I press on the gas I go, I still have the power.” Carl is still putting miles on his truck today with the same K&N air filter installed.
See the K&N website for information about K&N products for your vehicle. Go to KNFilters.com/Million to read more about Carl and to watch the Million Mile Truck video. |
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