DO you remember when this was a big deal? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

meltedpanda · #1 05-22-2013, 04:32 PM

I do that is certian. Back in the day getting a car to 100000 miles was an accomplishment based on a lot of oil changes and tune ups.
Now a days ...not so much. Driving my E320 today could not help but record the moment. Not really a tech topic, but maybe it is.

PARSHOOT1 · #2 05-22-2013, 05:37 PM

Just another milestone on your way to many more zeroes on that odmeter. Are you the original owner?

meltedpanda · #3 05-22-2013, 08:35 PM

Second owner I have all service records since new. All done on proper intervals. Really nice car. The newest I've ever owned. Lol

alamostation · #4 05-22-2013, 09:13 PM

Very unfortunately yes.

40 years ago my father talked me out buying a 1969 Charger convertible because it had 90,000 miles on it and instead buying a 1968 Opel Kadett from the daughter of one of his friends because it had only been driven locally and had 32,000 miles on it.

After I bought it, I found a receipt under the back seat for an engine overhaul in Yellowknife, Yukon Territory with the mileage at 95,000. The damn Opel had rolled over the odometer and really had 132,000 miles on it and was the absolute worst car I ever owned. It needed starter fluid when the temperature was under 50 degrees, under 30 degrees forget about it starting. This was in Michigan, so the car worked about 6 months out of the year. I finally got rid of it when the starter motor died. A replacement was $450, I paid $400 for the car.

If I had bought the Charger, it would probably still be mine and worth a mint. After selling the Kadett in 1977, I inherited a '63 Cutlass with 13,000 miles on it. It was looking and driving great until my ex totaled it in 1987 with 114,000 miles on it.

BTW don't believe odometers. They can be rolled back, rolled over on old cars, broken, replaced or disconnected. Guderian shows 98,000 miles on the odometer, but after checking Carfax, the real mileage is probably between 150,000 and 200,000.

meltedpanda · #5 05-22-2013, 09:33 PM

lol. I remember my first car to hit 100K , a 68 Buick Skylark IIRC. I beeped the horn , and may have had a party that night to celebrate. When I was a kid my uncles Chevy impalla , probably a 60's model hit 100,000 and my dad took me to see it . Unc swore the oil changes were the key, every 2500 miles-3000 miles...wow times have changed.
Of course cars back in the day also rusted out much more quickly , bodies often died before the engines

Oh and then there were the real engines, too much HP for cars not well designed to handle the speed. Many ended up in a guard rail or worse but the Muscle car era , was oh so much fun...

Stretch · #6 05-23-2013, 02:33 AM

I do remember the days - in fact 80,000 miles was really an achievement back then!

Skid Row Joe · #7 05-23-2013, 04:18 AM

I've rolled across 300K miles now twice on two different cars, and 250K miles on another one. 100K + miles on two others and one truck. 100K+ miles is nothing - it's the new normal minimum for me.
But then again, I've only owned (5) DDs total in 40 years.

LUVMBDiesels · #8 05-23-2013, 06:39 AM

I remember my father getting rid of cars after 60K because that is when they start to go bad...

My 1957 Nomad was parked with 67000 miles on it until I resurrected it.

My Corvair and GTO had similar miles on the clock.

New car warranties were for six months or 3000 miles back then.

Cars were designed to rust and have things go bad so you would buy a new one every three years or so.

Now we can keep cars pretty much forever with proper care.

My Jeep GC went well over 300k as did the SDL- in both cases I put most of the miles on them. My Subaru (last new car I bought) and BMW almost made 300K before rusting.

I have no problem buying high mileage cars if they are in good shape.

We are going to have a party for the Suburban when she hits 200k. She will get new rear doors and bumpers...

Skippy · #9 05-23-2013, 07:07 AM

I remember when a car that wasn't a slant six Dart was on the downhill slide to the boneyard after 100,000 miles. It wasn't that you didn't expect it to go that far, but that you didn't expect it to go much further. My first car was done at 124k. My second showed a little over 100k when I gave up changing oil pumps in it. My third was still going at 140 or 150 when I sold it, but I heard it blew the motor soon after. My Dodge Dart gave its original engine to repower a Barracuda and was swapped over to V8 by me. It may still be out there somewhere. Then I stepped into the world of EFI and picked up a Lincoln with 96k on it. The engine was still strong at 156k, but the transmission was starting to act a little funny. OTOH, when I was a little kid, my mom had a Dodge Dart with the 225 that was driven to the bone yard with over 280k.

Much later I worked in a junk yard. FWD domestics usually came to us around 160k. Honda and Toyota were usually more like 240k. Subarus, Crown Vics, and Mercedes were frequently over 300k.

meltedpanda · #10 05-23-2013, 12:11 PM

yes it is interesting all the variables, but the engineering now makes you EXPECT, with proper maintenance that a car should last over 200K and my point for the post

Ho hum I hit 100K no big deal

unheard of , except for rare cases even 30 years ago.

Of course I also remember that driving 5000 miles in a year was A LOT of miles. I sometimes do that in a month
good conversation gang - have enjoyed the look back

sloride · #11 05-23-2013, 03:16 PM

I wonder how many odometers were advanced from twelve or twenty thousand to read fifty thousand because they had turned over. It would be better to advance the odometer and show fifty thousand that way you could say that the odometer was not turned back.

sloride · #12 05-23-2013, 03:24 PM

We can all thank the German and Japanese engineering that forced the big three to improve. And as a matter of fact the Japanese built Honda and Kawasaki motorcycles probably saved Harley Davidson as they finally had to build a reliable motorcycle. With out that competition Harley would have died.

Skid Row Joe · #13 05-23-2013, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meltedpanda

yes it is interesting all the variables, but the engineering now makes you EXPECT, with proper maintenance that a car should last over 200K and my point for the post

Ho hum I hit 100K no big deal

unheard of , except for rare cases even 30 years ago.

Of course I also remember that driving 5000 miles in a year was A LOT of miles. I sometimes do that in a month
good conversation gang - have enjoyed the look back

I noticed that there are some old Mercedes-Benz for sale with over 300K miles on them that may be of great interest to some buyers. No idea why they would sell for greater prices than lower mileage examples - all things being equal. My 300SD w/300K+ miles on it sold in one weekend of marketing for full asking. I thought I was high on the pricing too!