Cars with the Biggest Mileage

March 28th, 2022

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Irving Gordon in his 1966 Volvo 1800S.

There is such a thing as the “Million-Mile Club”, a club for owners of cars which have travelled the 1–million milestone.  It is a very distinguished club that boasts a special list of cars and some special owners who have clicked over the huge distances.  The details of the car plus its owner can be proudly enlisted for the world to see and admire.  What cars feature most in the highest of highest mileage cub?  Maybe not so surprising to some people, but a few of the older vehicles made by Volvo and Mercedes have made it onto this rather prestigious list.  There certainly was a time where Mercedes Benz and Volvo made some of the most bulletproof cars on the planet.

Maybe some of these big mileage cars should be regarded as being sustainably green.  How many times would other people have bought a new car in that time?

Now I have a sneaky suspicion that there could be an old Ford Falcon or a Commie that could make its way onto the big milage hall of fame.  I did see on a Ford Forum page that of the AU-BF Falcon models, there was an AU Falcon Taxi with 930,000 km, and 04 BA Falcon XT wagon Egas with 906,600 km, an AU Forte Duel Fuel with 850,000 km and a BA Falcon Egas with 566,000 km on it.  These are big numbers, but not quite 1 million miles!  Sorry Holden fans, I can’t find any with much over 300,000 km!

Here’s a quick list of some of the furthest travelled cars on the planet – highest first:

1. Over 3,000,000 miles (Over 4,800,000 km) – the highest recorded thus far by Irving Gordon in his 1966 Volvo 1800S. He changed the oil every 3,000 – 3,500 miles and changed the transmission fluid every 25,000 miles. Sadly, Irving has recently passed away.

Irving Gordon in his 1966 Volvo 1800S.

2) Gregorios Sachinidis with his 1976 Mercedes 240D clocked 2,850,000 miles.  The car, predominantly a taxi, is now on display in Mercedes-Benz’s personal museum as the longest running vehicle in the brand’s history.

A Mercedes Benz 240D a bit like his.

3) 1979 Volvo 245 GL, a well maintained Finnish company vehicle covered 1,630,000 miles.

The Volvo 245 GL Estate

4) A 1963 Plymouth Fury takes out fourth place having reached 1,620,000 miles by 1999.  It was owned and driven by Joseph Vaillancourt, however it was totalled by another road user in a truck running a red light.  Thankfully Joseph was unhurt!

A Plymouth Fury

5) A 1983 Lincoln Town Car that was owned by Chet Belisle covered 1.3 million miles.  He drove because he loved driving it.

A Lincoln Town Car

6) A 1991 Chevrolet Silverado owned by Frank Oresnik put over 1.25 million miles on the odometer.

A 1991 Chevrolet Silverado

7) A 1993 Toyota Corolla in New Zealand has just recently clocked a huge 1.25 million miles (2,000,000 km) since new. The Whanganui Chronicle’s local newspaper delivery contractor, Graeme Hebley, bought the Corolla wagon from Japan in 2000 with 80,000 km on the odometer.  Since then, he has since driven approximately 5000 km every week between Wellington and New Plymouth for work.  The engine, transmission, bodywork, and drivetrain are entirely original, all thanks to a maintenance routine where the vehicle is serviced every second week.  It has had its cambelt changed close to 20 times in its life.

Graeme Hebley and his Toyota Corolla

8) A 2006 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 Diesel owned by Hugh & Tammy Pennington has done well over the 1 million mile mark with no major maintenance.  Routine servicing was the key.

A 2006 Chevrolet Silverado