That’s awsome. How many foreign car’s do we know of that have hit 500+k miles?….I don’t know of any.

Wow!! You don’t see many that hit the million mark.

Yeah that’s right! Oh and it’s a Chevy!

Well done in a snowbelt state.

Light duty diesels in temperate areas reach a mil quite easily. Medium and heavy duts diesels reach it all the time.

I wonder what his trade in value is.

GM should give him a new truck.

im proud to say that im from wisconsin when i read this article!

damn i wonder if Chevy will give him any type of discount. or just give him a new car/truck of his choice.

Actually, if he generates enough press, his trade in value will be much more than what he bought the truck for in the first place.

I just read about one of these a while back. It was a Saab and it was retired in Milwaukee. I’m sure the truck doesn’t look as nice as the one in the picture! lol

There was a Mercedes Taxi in Greece which racked up over two million miles but wasn’t allowed on the roads anymore because the City of Athens didn’t want any cabs older than 8 years for the Olympics in 2004..

Now it’s in the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgard and the cab driver got a brand new C-Class taxi from the company in exchange.

GM should give him a brand new vehicle of his choice, which is what Volvo does

Wow thats alot of new parts to keep that peice of junk on the road. 5 transmissions? lol that averages 1 tranny every 200k. My buddy in San Jose has a 88 Toyota pickup 4cyl 5spd manual with almost 600k on it and everything except the radiator and alternator is original. And it runs just fine, we did a road trip from California to Montreal Canada with it last summer. Any car can make it to 1 million if you keep changing the parts. Several Mercedes cars have passed 1 million and there is a Peugot in Morroco that made it up to 1.5 million. You domestic fans to get too excited about this truck lol

Sounds to me like this guy didn’t routinely flush his coolant if he needed 5 radiators and 6 water pumps. If he hauled a lot of heavy loads, I can see the tranny going out. A friend of mine toasted the tranny on a Tacoma in one small run carrying a heavy load behind him. I told him that he’d be better off breaking up the load, but nooooo – his truck was “tough” but not quite as tough as he hoped.

So this is considered an acomplishment? 5 transmissions, 6 water pumps, 3 gas tanks, and 4 radiators? Who knows how many other parts he changed on this thing. All the money spent on those parts plus labor he could have got himself a new truck lol I guess he was too stupid to realise the economic benefits of getting rid of that truck a long time ago lol

trooper: Your story seemed credible until you threw in the Peugot.
84 to 88 yota p’up are the pinnacle of well built Jap cars. The Toy mini trucks have gotten noticably less durable every gen since. Best model Toy truck ever is ‘84 4-runner, 1st year fuel injection last year solid frnt axle.

four radiators, three gas tanks, five transmissions and six water pumps

That seems like a decent amount of work. When you hear about the japanese trucks or european cars putting this many miles on, you never hear about major parts replacements.

where’s Al Bundy and his dodge?

Those are a lot of part switches to be honest. I mean..really. It’s cool it has that many miles, but it isn’t a testament to the engineering so much as the man just drove the hell out of the thing and wasn’t put off by having to replace things. I just that just shows the guy is in it for the long haul.

200,000 is about average for a transmission lifespan these days, particularly in one that would see as much abuse as a fullsize truck.

You guys who bash simply for the purpose of spreading idiocy (ie “LargePeniswhatever”) need to get away from the computer for once and go hump whatever sorry excuse for a car you drive.

Back on topic, I give the man credit for sticking with a car this long. It’s rare you see someone who squeezes the life out of a car instead of sinking into debt so they can drive the newest thing and advertise their false wealth.

Yeah LP I’m not advertising my gayness in my display name because the only people that are going to care about your “Large Penis” are you and other gay men.

Mr. Frank Chevyendo.

This guy’s got quite a ways to go if he wants to set a record. Irv Gordon’s 1966 Volvo P1800 is now past 2.6 million miles. He plans to retire it when it reaches 3 million in about 5 more years. He’s on his original tranny, but did have his engine rebuilt — 2 million miles ago. Even more amazing: his car’s never been garaged and he lives a couple of blocks from the ocean.

I absolutly love how so many people on lln say that they have a friend or a uncle or a cousin or a grand parent with a toyota/ect with that many miles and it hasnt had anything done to it. Me personaly i give credit were credit is due. Good going GM. Way to wipe that around just as sales start up for 2008.

What kind of idiots do we have posting here that think 200,000 miles hauling cargo isn’t extremely reliable for an automatic transmission?

Bui: Most thoughtful and honest comment ever posted on LLN. Dont let it go to your head.

If I were GM, I’d use this guy Frank as a spokesperson like Subway uses Jared.

Don’t let toyota know where that thing is parked.

1,000,000 miles is an accoplishment for any car. Add that it’s a work truck in a rusty state and it’s that much more impressive. Lots of Chevy’s from the mid 90’s easily roll past the 250k mark.

Wait, where are all the “domestics are only good for 60k” people?

WTF? is this news?
If Chevy gave a new vehicle to every customer that racked up 1milllion+ miles they’d have to declare bankruptcy!

And yes 200K is all I expect from a slush-box automatic. But why all the fuel tanks?

“racked up an average of 85,000 miles a year delivering seafood in three states”
That right there says it all. Ice is heavy, combined with long driving distances this truck has a hard, hard life.
On the replacement bits: on most import vehicles you go for more than 100K miles on a water pump at your own risk. I’m suprised, however, that he’s changed the radiator 4 times with no impact to the engine block. I think this is a case of good preventive maintenance instead of emergency repairs. It’s cheaper replacing these pieces (even if they’re not worn/broken) rather than buying a new vehicle.

Why replace fuel tanks?
I can understand the tranny since this is a work truck that is in a snow state but fuel tanks? Must not be E85 compliant.

I knew someone with 1 million miles on a VW Jetta – a local VW dealer bought it off him for ten grand and showcased it in the store for a while. Anyways, as someone above wrote, in warmer climates cars go way longer. It’s not uncommon to see people in Greece with cars from the 80’s and 70’s with 500,000 km on them or more, especially cabs. I knew someone who had 300,000 on a MOPED.

How about a Ford van with 1 million miles and the ORIGINAL transmission?

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080128/BUSINESS02/801280339/-1/BUSINESS

hell how many miles do you guys think the old 1950`s cars in cuba have on them?

ONLY SHOWS THAT A CHEVY TRUCK CAN TAKE SUCH A BEATING AND STILL KEEP ON GOING STRONG!!!

LIKE A ROCK!!!

Not that anyone cares, but…

I bought a brand new 1993 Mustang GT 5.0 and drove it for 12 years, hoping towards the end that the wheels would fall off so I’d have an excuse to get a new car. After getting into two accidents in a year while in college and not being able to afford to have it fixed, the car looked horrible and so, I treated it as such.

I would maybe change the oil twice a year, if it was lucky. Screw servicing the tranny, that never happened. The Jiffy Lube would be amazed every time they changed the oil and I’d forgo changing out the horribly dirty transmission fluid. Got to 170,000 miles and sold it to a guy for $2,500.

The only part I had replaced on that damn engine over 12 years was the alternator, on my grandmothers eyes I swear. Left me on the side of the road once, and that was it. She was a good car and I still miss her.

There have been reports that a few Saabs and Volvos have also reached the milestone. Either way, it’s very impressive for a rust-belt vehicle to reach anything over 200000 miles. That guy must have taken pretty good care of it.

I’d be about fifty times more impressed if anyone could show me a GM pickup/suburban with 200k miles with the original transmission. I can guarantee there isn’t one on the road.

That and impressive mile stone for the engine, GM should buy back this truck. On average his tranys gave him 200000 miles which is very good especially for a truck. On a whole though, you can keep any vehicle alive if you keep relacing parts.

Damn GM can’t even make an odometer right!

Jeez, I got 350K out of a ‘78 Chevy 1/2 ton and I thought I did good. Good job on this one.

LIKE A ****!!!

STANDING ARROW STRAIGHT!

LIKE A ****!!!

IT’S TIME TO MASTURBATE,

OOOOH LIKE A ****!

^ That’s sung to the tune of “Like a Rock” in the GM commercials.

Wow…what a bunch of biased people.

The guy lives in the rust belt. He drove 85k a year.

How many vehicles THIS NEW are even close to this mileage?

85k per year is a LOT of stress on a vehicle. Plus hauling heavy loads all the while.

My guess as to why the fuel tanks needed to be replaced comes down to rust. I’ll bet those things would get packed with salt after 85,000 yearly miles.

I’d like to see that Volvo P1800 drive 85k/year hauling heavy loads. Or a Mercedes taxicab.

Seriously…a million miles in a work truck in 12 years is a massive achievement.

For all of those who say he was not smart enough to buy a new truck, I would like to give you a math lesson

It looks like he had to replace Tranny’s about every 200k. If one were to buy a *new* truck every 200k he would have spent between $25k and $45k. If he purchased a used truck with only about 40k miles on it, every 200k miles, he would have spent $8k->$15k. He would have probably had some overhead to equip each truck with a freezer for Seafood delivery.

Now, 4L60 trannys are not that expensive, so I would gess if you had to factor in the fuel pump , gas tank, and water pump every 200k miles, you are looking at $3500 per cycle.

So, Every 200k miles, he could have spent $25K+ , $8k+, or $3500 . Since the truck obviously was in satifactory shape at each interval, and there was no new car insurance penalty, I personally would have save a lot of money and kept the original truck

On another note, I used to drive for a currior company. I drove a 1987 Chevy Turbo Sprint, made by suzuki. I put over 400k on this car, and the engine was in good shape. I watched Ford Vans, Toyota Trucks, and other vehicles hit 500k miles regularly. If this guy had a standard tranny, he would have only had to replace three clutches, tops.

I also saw the 4 cyl from GM in a 1993 Buick Skylark hit 300k miles with no issues ( no new tranny’s etc ) .

Soooo… for all of those that are cutting this guy down, you need to get off the computer, and into your cars and drive. I would suggest a few trips up and down either the Lincoln highway, or Route 66.

Max.

That’s awesome. How many foreign car’s do we know of that have hit 500+k miles?….I don’t know of any.
Comment by Gary

When a Big 3 vehicle hits 1,000,000 miles its big news. You dont hear about the foreign cars hitting big miles because it commonplace.

It has been so common for Mercedes they’ve been giving out badges to attach to the grill to show off the milestones for 45 years. Currently Mercedes offers badges for the verifiable milestones of 250,000, 500,000, 750,000, 1,000,000-kilometer and 1,000,000-mile marks.

A Greek taxi driver holds record of more than 2.8 million miles in a Benz.

I’m sure Chevy will milk this milestone for everything they can since it wont happen again for a long time. No doubt they will make a commercial about it since its so rare.

ANY DUMB ASS CAN DRIVE A TAXI CAR AROUND CARRYING ONLY PEOPLE AROUND FOR 20 YEARS OR MORE. LETS SEE IF THAT TAXI THAT MIGHT ONLY HAVE TO CARRY MAYBE A TOTAL OF 300KILOS IN A FULL CAR LOAD. TRY CARRYING OR TOWING OVER TRIPLE THAT FOR THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME AND SEE HOW LONG IT WILL LAST.

You donkeys that say this wont happen again, get your head out your ass. This has already happened twice!

This really isnt news, and not impresive with the amount of things he had to change.

here: http://www.knfilters.com/news/news.aspx?ID=157

and another chevy that hit over 1 million that guy delivered flyers throughout 3 states. He DID recieve a new truck from GM when they heard about it.

Oh and my 93 Grand prix hit 293 000 KM before needing a new tranny.

Yes, to all you people who think this isn’t an achievement I’ll add to “LargERPenisZR1’s” comment by saying they should also drive their cars in the SNOW. Of course the guy is gonna need multiple fuel tanks. Those things were probably starting to leak from all the rust every time he had them replaced and, don’t even get me started on the transmissions. His bed is full of ice probably 85% of the time which is NOT friendly to those things.

56oval, just wait a few more years, my 2000 Sierra is well on it’s way with 150K miles on it. I’ve only replaced the shock absorbers once along with a right-front hub assembly. It might need axle seals soon but, that’s it. It still has the original differential fluid but I plan to change it within the next few weeks and the trans has been serviced once at 100K.

I saw a guy (and his P1800) at Volvo picnic. After 1,000,000 miles Volvo GAVE him brand new 780. However, he bought his brand new. He even had replacement battery from Volvo. The original P1800 was in immaculate condition. It also did NOT smell of fish.

Fat Fingers again: He bought his original P1800 brand new.

Im not surprised. It will take a while for the closed-minded old-fashioned import lovers to recognize all the signs that indicate there has been a huge shift in the way the major auto companies view product quality. Toyota, putting on their best game, is tripping over themselves trying to inch past GM who is damn-near at their worst (but turning around). GM was at the bottom of their game and realized they had to focus on superior quality to remain #1. Toyota is a fat bloated pig now and is only concerned with volume and deceiving people that their product is as good and reliable as it used to be.

Way to go Frank. Way to go Chevrolet. This is a real accomplishment.

I wonder what brand of oil and oil filter this guy used?? Anybody know??

Wow! What an incredible accomplishment! I agree with all of you that stated that GM should give him a free brand new vehicle of his choice. What a great publicity coup for GM, especially in the middle of their turnaround effort! They definitely owe him something!

=========>>GOOD POINT CTS DRIVER, “hell how many miles do you guys think the old 1950`s cars in cuba have on them?”

My main criticism of this whole story is that he’s basically announcing his car has reached 998,800 miles. Does no one else find that strange? Why didn’t he just hold off a bit longer and then make the announcement when his truck actually reached one million miles?

If he’s doing 85000 miles a year the end result is that he would have made his million mile announcement next Friday instead of making this bizarre announcement today.

My camry is approaching 300,000 and it still has all it’s original parts and running very strong !!!

Excellent. That shows that regular maintenance, in general, helps vehicles last almost indefinitely. I have a 1991 Dodge Spirit with 314,000 (highway) miles and I’ve done regular maintenance; belts, hoses, oil, fluids, brakes, etc., all done by myself, and it still literally runs like new. The biggest thing that’s gone wrong is a fuel pump for $300, that’s it. But, being a Minnesota car, it’s starting to rust underneath ($#$^@!$ road salt) and that’ll be the end of it, but the drivetrain works like new.

nice!

I know this is a major milestone for any make of vehicle but doesn’t this become news only AFTER the mileage mark is met?
What if, God forbid, something happened and the truck never made the million mark?
Like counting your chicks before they’re hatched?

I feel sorry for cars that spend their life in Quebec, Deanster: freezing winters, ****ty roads, enough road salt to rust most of them from the inside out.

I left an Aerostar parked outside for a winter here a few years back. Didn’t pay any attention to it for about 6 months. When I finally opened the door sometime in April there was so much mold over everything you could have started your own penicillin farm.

I’ll take a more temperate climate any day.

murdereout: the more turbo and supercharger work more powerful in the winter, the more abuse there is to the engine. and yes Tj is right.

Hi!

There is an Mercedes-Benz 240 D in thessaloniki (greece) that has 4.6 million km ~ 2.86 million miles on it’s clock!

Hah, my Primera had only done 148k miles when someone hit the car from behind.

I think it was good for a lot more (I only did 8k myself!)

Impressive achievement for sure, but I’m not surprised – the GMT-800 trucks are extremely durable and reliable. I know, I have one (’99 Suburban). 170k on it, and its just getting broken in. There are MANY of these trucks with 400k-500k on them now still in service. I actually highly doubt this is the first GM truck to hit a million miles.

Much of the long life of these high mileage vehicles is a matter of luck and willingness to replace worn out parts. No matter how good the vehicle, parts will wear out.

Anyone saying they’ve put 200k miles or more and claiming they did nothing but change the oil is full of ****. Pure and simple.

All these high mileage Mercedes, Toyotas, Chevys, Volvos, whatever, all had parts break and wear out and need replacement. Nobody makes a machine impervious to wear.

Anyway, I wonder if the engine in this truck is a gas or diesel? The old 6.2L GM/Detroit mechanical injected diesels are known to go 600k+ with ease.