Are Highway Kilometers Really Better? (1 Viewer)

[Mark Frank]

Chris - I was going to post the same thing, LOL.

 

[Gordon Moore]

Thanks Ted...good info. I've been to edmunds and the reviews are useful such as J.D. Power but unfortunately the Zip Code thing only works for a U.S. zip :frowning:

hopefully you're not in a hurry

Nope...never in that much of a hurry to part with more than 15K.

I think I may switch over to the GM camp because the Venture is more in my price point and I have more choice with lower K. Montana has WAY TOO MUCH body cladding for my tastes and it's pricer than the Chev for the same thing. Obviously brand loyalty means very little to me. Have to admit I've never liked Ford that much (that's me personally...all you Ford lovers, don't get your panties in a knot)...so the Windstar is not high on my list.

 

[Mike__D]

Getting back on subject, highway mileage does have less wear and tear. Look at any owners manual maintenance schedule, and they usually have "normal duty" and "severe duty". Severe consists of short trips, stop and go traffic, dusty conditions, etc... and requires more frequent maintenance. For my Subaru WRX, the serve duty requires oil changes every 3,500 miles, while normal is every 7,500 miles.

Brakes also wear better from highway usage, while tires can be a toss up. I'd imagine suspension would benefit from highway mileage as well. Less acceleration, stopping, and turning.

With that said, I would never trust any salesman. Sounds like it's a typical sales pitch, even if it's true. Although I never bought a used vehicle before, if I did, I'd do so from a private party. I'd want them to have receipts from any maintenance & repairs that were made. Sure, thats asking for a lot, but if I'm forking over that kind of money, I want to know what type of life the vehicle had. I'd also run the VIN number through CARFAX to see if it was ever in an accident, and it's owner history.

Mike D.

 

[Walt N]

You could use the old car salesman's trick to help determine if they're highway miles or city miles.

If a high mileage car's shows excessive signs of wear on the rubber of the brake pedal, they were probably city miles. If the brake pedal has light or normal wear for a car of that year, it was probably highway miles. If the brake pedal has brand new rubber on it, it was probably worn out so you can assume city miles there too.

Highway miles are definitely better to have on a car than the same number of city miles. (Unless it was the Alaskan Highway!)

 

[DaveGTP]

Moms '92 Chev Lumina mini-van purchased 4 or 5 years old with approx 250,000km on it

Your Mom's Chevy dustbuster...errr, I mean Lumina van probably had the 3.8L V6 (or maybe the 3.1L). GM's most reliable and long-lasting V6 engines (especially the 3800). I drove a Chevy dustbuster (3.8L) that had over 280,000 miles on it for the auto auction I used to work for. The van ran great!

Anyone that has ever owned a GM 3.8 for a long time will probably tell you how long lasting they are. However, most other van engines are not quite in the same league (and many vans have transmission problems at higher miles).

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Have to admit I've never liked Ford that much (that's me personally...all you Ford lovers, don't get your panties in a knot)...so the Windstar is not high on my list.
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I work in the service dept. of a largish Toyota dealership. We run all the used cars, both trade-ins and those bought at auction thru the shop before their put on sale.

If there's one worst vehicle among these it is the Ford Windstar. These are so bad our auction buyer was instructed by the General Manager not to buy any more of them.

Of the Domestics, I'd rate GM tops especially if it has the 3.1, 3.4 (based on the 3.1) or 3.8 V6. Their trannys are also about the best among the non-import makes.

 

[MarkHastings]

Highway miles are definitely better to have on a car than the same number of city miles.

Yeah, I think the original reason for this statement was when people would hear about a car with 80,000, they'd immediately think of an OLD beat-up car, but when we say "it was all highway mileage", we then think of a nice/new car. It's definitely a bit psychological.

The "Highway Mileage" routine may also give you a better idea of how much the engine has been used...

Example: (Sorry Canadians, but I can't use metric)

Let's take 2 cars that are both year 2000 models (exactly the same make and model) and they both have 60,000 miles on them (approx. 20,000/year):

If you average 60 mph for highway driving, that's 1 mile per hour. This means the car has been on the road for 60,000 hours whereas the car that has city mileage (let's average 30mph) would have to have been on the road for 120,000 hours.

Does this mean much? Who knows...But there has to be some merit in the fact that the engine in one car ran for 120,000 hours where the other has only run for 60,000. Considering most engines are built to handle highway driving, I think it's fair to assume that the car with the highway mileage is probably in better condition.

But these statistics never account for how well the owner took care of the car, so you're kinda back to square one. :frowning:

 

[DaveGTP]

If you average 60 mph for highway driving, that's 1 mile per hour. This means the car has been on the road for 60,000 hours whereas the car that has city mileage (let's average 30mph) would have to have been on the road for 120,000 hours.

Mark, I had never thought of it that way. I know highway miles are better, but I never really thought of why too much (besides less steering/brakes/suspension wear). I am going to remember that!

 

[Walt N]

Not only that, but highway miles will mean fewer duty cycles on the engine and less time running while warming up. A disproportionately large amount of the wear takes place as the engine is warming from a cold state.

 

[Cary_H]

I don't know much about Caravans despite my brother having bought three in a row. I suspect it came down to price since all of them came in around the $20K CDN mark.
I would worry less about the mileage and place more emphasis on who owned it. If it was well looked after, that is, had frequent oil changes and service at the hands of a competent mechanic and driven respectfully this mileage matters squat.
If it were me, I'd pass on it. Not because of the vehicle itself but because I would want NOTHING to do with domestic auto dealerships. I have accompanied a friend of mine a number of times when he has had his wife's 80ish Caravan in the shop. Horrifying experiences were the norm. A service department waiting room full of pissed off customers trading stories. In any number of Acura and Honda dealers I've never experienced, nor witnessed events of the same rudeness and disrespect.

 

[mark alan]

Mark, sorry but I couldn't resist.

60,000 miles at 60 mph is 1,000 hours. 60,000 hours is almost 7 years, so you would have been driving 24 hours/day for twice as long as the car has been in existence.

Once again sorry, but I couldn't resist

 

[MarkHastings]

If you average 60 mph for highway driving, that's 1 mile per hour.

It's actually 1 mile per minute (my mistake). That's where I goofed in my math.

But hopefully the point about the engine running (on the highway mileage car) is half that of the city mileage car was made clear (even if my numbers were off)

So, 2 cars with 60,000 miles on them:
City mileage (averaging 30mph) = 2,000 hours engine running time
Highway Mileage (averaging 60mph) = 1,000 hours engine running time

 

[Brian Perry]

Consensus:

1. Highway miles are definitely easier on a car than city miles.
2. There's no reliable way to verify it, unless you know the prior owner.