One Million Mile Mark !!!

We need to find a TDi to brake this record !

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16070928/

Great story- I know that some of the older Mercedes 240D models hit the 1 million mile mark without too much trouble. It would be great to have a few club members who could make this claim. Is anyone even close to 500K miles on their TDI yet???

How many years ago did the first TDI come out? How many miles per year would a person have to put on that car in order for it to reach 1,000,000 by now?

How about expanding the search to "VW Diesel powered cars"?

Give me a few more years i am almost a 1/3 way there.

His new saab sure won't get there with the crap GM components they have now...

whitedog said:

How many years ago did the first TDI come out? How many miles per year would a person have to put on that car in order for it to reach 1,000,000 by now?

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The highest-mileage TDI I've seen was this '96 Passat with 425k miles:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270034334668

Damn, 425k. & to think I was getting a little worried since I just turned 250k.

I have seen a few small block chevy's in pickups break that million mile mark.

my customer had a mkii Golf diesel 1.6 NA with well over 800,000KM he used it to deliver mail from 1992-2006

When I was at the dealer we had a 2000 Golf that was 9 months from its in-service date with 260k miles on it already. It was a company that escorted wide load trucks. They also had a pair of '98 Jetta TDIs that each had over 500k on them.

Wait... mine has 269.000 miles!

Maybe by the year 2015 I should get close to 1/2 of a million .

I'll bet that's the real Trollhattan SAAB, not GM OPEL platform, hah!

Everytime I read about Saabs I think back to their older 93 and 94 series cars made in the 60s and 70s. Truly great cars. Lovely simple little cars. Why can't they make things like that simple again. My neighbor had several and found them to be extra safe as he crashed one of them. The safety must have worked as the neighbor died at age 93. Another friend of mine drove his to 400000 miles.

What's interesting is GM is using an aircraft to imply that the car itself has shared technology? What ailerons? Rudders? ooh I know, the HUD?

Misleading ads can only get you so far IMHO. People will continue to by VW's, Audi's because they were really engineered safe. Trust me, I got into a head on with a Bimmer about 60 MPH, and not a single scratch on me.

GM is also using ads about Aveo which is built by Daewoo in South Korea, interesting...

The Saab company got its start building jet fighters, and I believe continues to do so to this day in limited numbers. Cars came later, perhaps because they got bored?

However, the last REAL Saab automobile was the 1993 900. That body was based on the old 99 from the '70s and soldiered on in limited numbers until the '94 replacement. Everything else, starting with the 9000s in the late '80s, has been Euro-GM. Which is essentially Opel (Germany) and Vauxhall (UK), with some leftovers going to Holden (Australia) here and there.

The previous generation Catera and the current GTO are both defunct Opel Omegas, the latter is of course a 2 door version. They were also sold down under as the Holden Menaro, which is where the GTO hails from.

Oh, and the GTO got leftover F-body drivetrains, too, since they axed that plant in Ontario. Ah, GM beancounterism at its finest!

One might argue that the last real Saab was the last of the two-stroke 93 or 95s (I forget which number it was). I had a few friends who loved these cars. A friend in high school had a monte carlo 850 two stroke. The freewheeling was a bit odd on the highway, as was the four speed column shifter. But fun.

TDIs have been around for 12 or more years. We should have some that are getting close to 1 million miles, but I rarely hear about cars having more than the low 300s.

Except the 2-stroker smokers had a German engine in them. Cannot remember who made them, DKW maybe? They also used Euro Ford V4s for a while too.

My neighor growing up had a 2-stroke Saab. Noisy smokey little thing, but it was unique. Sounded like an angry chainsaw. Smelled like one, too, except sometimes he would use the scented oil (he was big into Vespas, too). Then it smelled like pine needles. And oil. On fire.

Auto Union. DKW. You're right. Predecessor company to Audi, ironically. My dad used to say "If the headlights are close together and you can't hear it coming at you it's a Saab. If you can hear it it's a Land Rover."

oilhammer said:

However, the last REAL Saab automobile was the 1993 900. That body was based on the old 99 from the '70s and soldiered on in limited numbers until the '94 replacement.

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Like the current 9³, the 1994-1998 SAAB 900 was based on the Opel Vectra platform, which has always been one of the better cars from GM of Europe. Still, this was not befitting of SAAB's "upper middle class" image -- today, GM is selling rebadged Opels here under the Saturn brand.

BTW: for the European market, production of the SAAB 99 continued long after the larger 900 was introduced, including a 1984-1987 version called the SAAB 90, which was a 99 from the B-pillar forward and had the rear half of the 900. Meanwhile, even the oddball SAAB 96 continued in European production until January 1980!

Everything else, starting with the 9000s in the late '80s, has been Euro-GM. Which is essentially Opel (Germany) and Vauxhall (UK), with some leftovers going to Holden (Australia) here and there.

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The SAAB 9000 was based on the so-called "Type Four" chassis, shared with the FIAT Croma, Lancia Thema, and Alfa Romeo 164 -- no GM involvement there. The original styling was by Giorgetto Giugiaro, and was shared most closely with the Croma and Thema. The 164 used updated styling by Pininfarina and only shared the platform with the rest of the "Type Four" cars. The SAAB 9000 was in production from 1985 to 1998, and it used a wide array of 4-cylinder and V6 engines, ranging from 130 to 225 HP.

Interesting. I recall lots of GM parts and badging under some early 9000s. Maybe it was something else I am thinking of.

All I know is that the 9000 has as much in common with the 900 as an Oldsmobile.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

TDIs have been around for 12 or more years. We should have some that are getting close to 1 million miles, but I rarely hear about cars having more than the low 300s.

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The first TDI engine was a 2.5L inline five-cylinder introduced in the European Audi 100 in 1989, while I believe the common 1.9L 4-cylinder version was introduced in Europe in 1994. However, the TDI was not introduced in North America until the 1996 model year, and in Canada and Europe the TDI overlapped with production of older-design IDI diesel and turbo-diesel engines until at least 1997.

1994 is what I'd been told, too. So that's 12 or 13 years. Surely enough to put a million miles on a car.

Around 75,000 miles a year since new is what it would take.

and that escort company I mentioned was running nearly 1000 miles a day

oilhammer said:

and that escort company I mentioned was running nearly 1000 miles a day

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Here in NJ there's a guy who has a 1985 gasser Golf and worked for a messenger service. By 1996 his Golf had 690,000 miles on it -- original engine, with one rebuild at around 600k due to a blown piston (?). Original paint, too!

When I last saw it a few years ago it had around 810,000 miles on it. I haven't seen him or the Golf since then, but according to his web site, last updated in July this year, he still has it.

Yep, the inline VAG watercooled gas engines are pretty stout. Should easily last as long as the diesels if properly cared for.

TDI mileage

touaregv10tdi said:

We need to find a TDi to brake this record !

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16070928/

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I have a 96 Passat TDI I bought new. Only had 3 breakdowns. Last week I turned 657,000 miles. Still runs great and still great mileage per gallon. Should be good for 1,000,000+ miles

A 1966 Volvo P-1800S owned by Irvin Gordon of East Patchogue, New York, USA, had covered in excess of 4,586,630 km (2,850,000 miles) by December 2010. The car is still driven on a daily basis and covers over 160,000 km (100,000 miles) per year, thanks in part to being driven to numerous car shows and events in Europe and the USA.

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Apparently that is the recognized hi miler.

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/1/highest-vehicle-mileage

touaregv10tdi said:

We need to find a TDi to brake this record !

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I need 14 more years.

oilhammer said:

and that escort company I mentioned was running nearly 1000 miles a day

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That's sick....I'd need a 33 hour day and no sleep for that....(and yes I know I'm quoting you from over 1/2 of a decade ago!)

n0egjesb said:

I have a 96 Passat TDI I bought new. Only had 3 breakdowns. Last week I turned 657,000 miles. Still runs great and still great mileage per gallon. Should be good for 1,000,000+ miles

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Nice! Go man go!

spesh said:

Apparently that is the recognized hi miler.

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/1/highest-vehicle-mileage

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correct me if I am wrong but I believe this is a Volvo promotion now and not a guy with real miles on a real original engine and trans....Volvo keeping this car alive at all costs and keeping Irv in a salary to keep driving the car to nutty mileages....I suppose you can keep anything on the road forver if the budget has NO limits.....But...you gotta hand it to him for spending that much time in that old tin can....I doubt my wifes new S60 will go that long! lol....back on topic it will be fun when we see an actual site member cross 1000,000 miles.....wont be me....