Car longevity
Encyclopedia
Car longevity is of interest to many car owners and concerns several things: maximum service life
in either miles or time (duration), relationship of components to this lifespan, identification of factors that might afford control in extending the lifespan. Barring an accidental end to the lifespan, a car would have a life constrained by the earliest part to fail. Some have argued that rust and other factors related to the body of a car are the prime limits to extended longevity.
.
The motivation for pursuing longevity can vary, the fact is that the economic trade-off of purchase versus repair will be part of the equation; though, many factors, such as whether the car is classic, outweigh pure economics. The desire to extend the life of an auto that is paid off, by fighting "Planned obsolescence
", is often important for drivers.
The life of the auto, as the collection, follows, according to a very common model
, a bathtub-like
pattern. After an initial phase where failure may be likely (hence the offering of the warranties by the dealer), there may be a long period of unlikely failure, as the probabilities will be low.
Many cars have exceeded 100,000 miles and even 300,000 miles; some have approached a million miles. For many of these, the efforts at maintenance have not been excessively costly.
Given that the auto has been around for a little over 100 years, what cars become, and remain, classic and the maximal lifespan for any car are open-ended questions. Perhaps, interest in longevity beyond that related to purchasing used vehicles will improve the science of predicting car life, with such things as a life table
for cars.
Sikorsky (columnist, and author of "Drive it Forever") sponsors a "High Mileage" club with over 4,000 members. Several forums allow discussion of techniques and experiences with trying to extend longevity.
Many non-commercial vehicles (both auto and truck) have exceeded one million miles. For instance, in 2011, Irv Gordon had accumulated 2.9 million miles in his 1966 Volvo P1800.
In 2006, a 1995 Dodge Ram was reported to Chrysler as having gone 1 million miles.
A very long running car is a 1976 Mercedes-Benz 240D in Greece of Gregorios Sachinidis that has reached 2,858,307 miles before retiring to a Mercedes-Benz museum in Germany.
Another was the 1963 Volkswagen Beetle
belonging to Albert Klein of Pasadena, California
that had racked up to 1,442,044 miles on 25 Jan 1993.
AARP Magazine featured several long-running cars (over 200K miles) in its July 2009 Issue.
High Gear reports the first 3 million mile car. Well, a Volvo with over 2.9 million miles.
In a public economics sense, Kasmer argues that retrofitting autos with a newer transmission would extend the lifespan while at the same time increase fuel efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and prevent the sudden influx of discarded vehicles into the waste bin
as cars are junked to be replaced by a modern vehicle.
Service life
A product's service life is its expected lifetime, or the acceptable period of use in service. It is the time that any manufactured item can be expected to be 'serviceable' or supported by its manufacturer....
in either miles or time (duration), relationship of components to this lifespan, identification of factors that might afford control in extending the lifespan. Barring an accidental end to the lifespan, a car would have a life constrained by the earliest part to fail. Some have argued that rust and other factors related to the body of a car are the prime limits to extended longevity.
Background
An automobile is a highly engineered collection of complex components, each of which has its own lifespan and longevity characteristics. The MTBF of some components is expected to be small, as the easy replacement of these is considered part of maintenance. Other components, many of which have high replacement costs, are expected to have a longer life; however, a large longevity may very well require replacement of several of these, raising issues of economicsEconomics of automobile ownership
Compared to other popular modes of passenger transportation, especially buses, the automobile has a relatively high cost per person-kilometre traveled.Nevertheless demand for automobiles remains high and inelastic in rich nations...
.
The motivation for pursuing longevity can vary, the fact is that the economic trade-off of purchase versus repair will be part of the equation; though, many factors, such as whether the car is classic, outweigh pure economics. The desire to extend the life of an auto that is paid off, by fighting "Planned obsolescence
Planned obsolescence
Planned obsolescence or built-in obsolescence in industrial design is a policy of deliberately planning or designing a product with a limited useful life, so it will become obsolete or nonfunctional after a certain period of time...
", is often important for drivers.
The life of the auto, as the collection, follows, according to a very common model
Service life
A product's service life is its expected lifetime, or the acceptable period of use in service. It is the time that any manufactured item can be expected to be 'serviceable' or supported by its manufacturer....
, a bathtub-like
Bathtub curve
The bathtub curve is widely used in reliability engineering. It describes a particular form of the hazard function which comprises three parts:*The first part is a decreasing failure rate, known as early failures....
pattern. After an initial phase where failure may be likely (hence the offering of the warranties by the dealer), there may be a long period of unlikely failure, as the probabilities will be low.
Many cars have exceeded 100,000 miles and even 300,000 miles; some have approached a million miles. For many of these, the efforts at maintenance have not been excessively costly.
Given that the auto has been around for a little over 100 years, what cars become, and remain, classic and the maximal lifespan for any car are open-ended questions. Perhaps, interest in longevity beyond that related to purchasing used vehicles will improve the science of predicting car life, with such things as a life table
Life table
In actuarial science, a life table is a table which shows, for each age, what the probability is that a person of that age will die before his or her next birthday...
for cars.
High mileage
Many car manufacturers support a "High Mileage" club. Volvo and Honda are among the automakers who sponsor official high mileage clubs for drivers with over 100000 miles (160,934 km) registered.Sikorsky (columnist, and author of "Drive it Forever") sponsors a "High Mileage" club with over 4,000 members. Several forums allow discussion of techniques and experiences with trying to extend longevity.
Many non-commercial vehicles (both auto and truck) have exceeded one million miles. For instance, in 2011, Irv Gordon had accumulated 2.9 million miles in his 1966 Volvo P1800.
In 2006, a 1995 Dodge Ram was reported to Chrysler as having gone 1 million miles.
A very long running car is a 1976 Mercedes-Benz 240D in Greece of Gregorios Sachinidis that has reached 2,858,307 miles before retiring to a Mercedes-Benz museum in Germany.
Another was the 1963 Volkswagen Beetle
Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Type 1, widely known as the Volkswagen Beetle or Volkswagen Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003...
belonging to Albert Klein of Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
that had racked up to 1,442,044 miles on 25 Jan 1993.
AARP Magazine featured several long-running cars (over 200K miles) in its July 2009 Issue.
High Gear reports the first 3 million mile car. Well, a Volvo with over 2.9 million miles.
Factors related to longevity
Sikorsky, and others, have developed lists that itemize steps that a car owner can take, or identified operating and maintenance rules, to ensure maximal longevity. Yonger provides the following list, "10 secrets" for long car life.- 1. Regular oil changes
- 2. Monitor the key fluids
- 3. Maintain the transmission
- 4. Change the plugs as needed
- 5. Watch and care for the timing belt
- 6. Do not forget the radiator
- 7. Remember the filters
- 8. Fight rust
- 9. Know and use your maintenance manual
- 10. Drive with habits that don't take years off the car
In a public economics sense, Kasmer argues that retrofitting autos with a newer transmission would extend the lifespan while at the same time increase fuel efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and prevent the sudden influx of discarded vehicles into the waste bin
Wrecking yard
A scrapyard or junkyard is the location of a dismantling business where wrecked or decommissioned vehicles are brought, their usable parts are sold for use in operating vehicles, while the unusable metal parts, known as scrap metal parts, are sold to metal-recycling companies...
as cars are junked to be replaced by a modern vehicle.
See also
- Reliability engineeringReliability engineeringReliability engineering is an engineering field, that deals with the study, evaluation, and life-cycle management of reliability: the ability of a system or component to perform its required functions under stated conditions for a specified period of time. It is often measured as a probability of...
- Economics of automobile ownershipEconomics of automobile ownershipCompared to other popular modes of passenger transportation, especially buses, the automobile has a relatively high cost per person-kilometre traveled.Nevertheless demand for automobiles remains high and inelastic in rich nations...
- Scrappage programScrappage programA scrappage program is a government budget program to promote the replacement of old vehicles with modern vehicles. Scrappage programs generally have the dual aim of stimulating the automobile industry and removing inefficient, high emissions vehicles from the road...