Reasonable amount of miles? (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jun 20, 2003
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Location
Fort Langley, BC
As I hunt around for an 80 (or LX450) it's easy to forget about units that have more than 100K miles but that's where most of them sit from what I have seen.

My mechanic has warned me about passing the pollution tests here in BC as the engine wears and starts buring a bit of oil.

Anybody have any comments about what a good mileage goal would be for me to look for? 80K or 120K?

Don't tell me to look for the lowest mileage but what's a reasonable goal in this area.

Thanks

Ben ::)
 
All I know is that my 94 burns about a quart of oil every 3k miles. Also, it has ~130k on the clock.
 
Total mileage is not as critical as the ammount of care the vehicle has seen. I think I would be more afraid of one with 90,000 miles that has been ignored than say one with 140,000 miles that has been serviced regularly and PROPERLY.
Christo sees quite a few vehicles with some miles on them, maybe he could chime in here. We have one regular customer with a 93 with about 240,000 on the clock. That motor has never been apart, to include the head gasket.
 
I think Dan's spot on. You can't go by the milage without knowing the history of the truck.

I've got 91K on my '97, and I've used full snythetic oil since about 50K. When I had the unfortunate luck of having the head gasket blow out (not very common on these trucks), the dealer (master tech worked on it) had a look inside to see what else might be wrong while the head was off. He said it looked as good as new with only minimal wear and he wouldn't recommend any additional work. That was reassuring.

But the point is, that with regular maintainence on these rigs, you should get more milage than most other cars/truck. Most folks around here figure on about 300K before a rebuild for a truck that's been taken care of. I'm sure others could expand, but that regular care doesn't amount to too much more than the oil changes and the occaisional axle maintainence (for which I happen to be a bit overdue for), unless you wheel your stuff.

Tom
 
Just to give you an idea, I bought mine in Jan 03 w/175k on it, it burns about a quart/3000mi as well, however it passed Washington State Emissions with flying colors, not even close to the bad numbers.
 
I hate to agree with Cdan on anything (it's just not good for the psyche). In this case I do though. My 97 may only have 83k on it, but the 50k I've put on it has been a rough 50k vs some rich soccer mom that may take it in for dealer service every week just so she can get her bang with the parts mgr - cause you know they get all the chicks. Look for signs of neglect. You would not want to buy mine.
 
FWIW, TMS USA considers 1 quart or less per 1,000 miles to be normal.
 
Junkster,

That does not deserve a reply............. :mad:


I only did it to get another one :D
 
You will come back in your next life as Wench.

What ever did happen to Wrench? ???
 
I agree completely with Junk.  Don't buy his truck whatever you do. :D  I see no reason to pay many extra bucks for a 95,000 vs. 125,000 mile truck, but I would pay more for one in better physical condition with better maintenance records.  For a true mall cruiser the extra miles mean little actual wear and tear.  Break through the 100,000k psychological barrier and be free.

A second consideration is the major birfield maintenance.  If it's been done on your truck this is worth a few thousand miles on the motor in trade off.  

A third thing to think about is the head gasket issue.  Has this truck been run hot at any time?  Did the owner tow anything?  Get a compression test on any truck you consider.  Have a look at the rad fluid condition and check for crusties around the head.  
 

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