Do you think a Prius could go 1,000,000 miles?

lookup 2fas4u's over 440,000 miles on his 2009!!

in Pri 2 forum under 299,999+ mile club

 

As of last Saturday, Irv Gordon is 5K away from 3,000,000 miles on his P1800. (Genuine Smith's gauges) I don't think he needs to worry about any Prius driver breathing down his neck.

 

Irv is a personal friend.

I'm quite sure that Volvo will give him a new car (again). They gave him a new 780 Coupe when he hit his first million and they gave him a new C70 Cabriolet when he made the second million.

In terms of what he'll do with the car when it hits 3 million miles: Irv has already offered it tongue in cheek for sale for a dollar a mile. He's a humble guy; he recognizes the only reason for his celebrity is that he owns this car. Outside of the car; reporters aren't particularly interested to seek out a 73 year old retired science teacher from Long Island.

You raise a good point concerning modern cars. Volvo still supports all of the parts necessary to keep Irv's P1800 rolling. Modern cars rely more and more on purpose-built electronic chipsets. Is Toyota or any car-maker going to be in a position to support a car with spares 45 years down the road with purpose-built electronic chipsets? In a word: no. How many custom processors do you think are in a current Prius? It has to be a dumpster load. Technology times out and marches on. The only thing that any car manufacturer could do would be to purchase a lifetime supply of processors while they're still in production and I don't think that car manufactures would be up for that investment. They're more interested to sell new cars.

The only way to keep a new car on the road long term IMO will require a robust used parts market and Prius is probably a good candidate because of the huge production quantity; (I'd sell the Saab, Saturn and Suzuki quickly though, cause there isn't any hope for spares).

 

I definitely think a Prius could go a million miles. On the original traction battery? I don't think so. I remember hearing about a guy named Scott Ose who has a 2005 Corolla. I googled him and he is just over 900,000 miles. He just reported on FB that his engine just died. :-( Good to know that Toyota makes such reliable vehicles!


iPad ? HD

 

Irv's P1800 is a simple mechanical car that anyone could work on without special training or tools. It was built in a time when quality stood for something and products were built to last a lifetime. There are no high tech electronics and assemblies are made of durable materials that can be serviced or repaired rather than replaced.

I think few consumers would be willing to do what it would take to make a modern car go a million miles. There's precious little on modern cars that you can work on without special training or tools; meaning you're essentially consigned to overpriced dealer services. With dealer labor rates and the proliferation of unserviceable modules on modern cars, you'd need to be willing to essentially re-buy the car again every five years or so. Half of modern cars is plastic trash that isn't durable or serviceable, so you need to develop an affinity for duct tape or continually ante up for $200 pieces of plastic. As example: A buddy of mine has a three year old Audi A4, where the plastic glove box lid fractured at the plastic hinge (common failure for the A4). The piece of plastic is $700 (uninstalled).

My 2006 Prius currently has 220,000 miles. It's consumed $3,500 in replacement HID light bulbs along. God help me if I ever needed to replace one of the myriad of unserviceable modules. One major repair would exceed the value of the car. Will this car go a million miles? Maybe, but not on my budget.

In terms of what Geely does with Volvo in the short/mid-term: I don't think we need to worry about the Communist Chinese government going out of business (that's who really owns Volvo and the reason I wouldn't buy another one). Geely is building three factories in China to build Volvos and the Chinese government has committed to buy 150K/year (replacing the Audis they currently provide government employees). The question is what happens to Volvo in North America where they are failing badly. The S60 is probably the best car that nobody ever heard about.

 

Requirements for high tech electronics are driven by emissions and safety requirements that ensure we'll never see a simple new car again. Only option is to buy a classic from someone like Irv who has kept up with the car. While I share your desire for simpler times and cars, I don't think the trade-off in safety and efficiency are worth the stroll down memory lane.

The S60 is probably Volvo's best work to date, and true to Volvo form, the seats are sublime. The seats are the only part of the ownership experience that I miss of my Volvo. The S80 T6 that I traded in for the 2006 Prius probably spent about as much time in dealers hands as it did mine. I haven't missed quality time spent developing an abiding relationship with tow truck operators and service advisors and admiring roadside landscaping along the breakdown lanes on the freeway.

Reliability is the true luxury of a Prius and if any modern car could make the high mileage stretch the Prius would be a pretty good place to start IMO.

As you point out the cost to keep a Volvo on the road is high. Diminishing per-store sales per Volvo dealer in North America means that the 'back-end' needs to absorb an ever increasing proportion of the overhead. This translates into maximum fleece for every client through the service doors.

A reliable Prius minimizes time at the dealership that correlates directly with customer satisfaction.

 

Here's a Ford Truck with a million miles:
1 Million and Counting: Ford Retiree Hits Mileage Milestone Traveling Coast to Coast in His 2002 F-350 Super Duty | Ford Motor Company Newsroom

 

My 2003 Prius just died when the inverter went and took the transaxle with it at 186,000 miles I was quoted 6-8 for the repair and the battery could go next week and I was quoted 3400 for that.

 

When I look at all the modern cars that are made from cheap materials and plastics, they are not meant to age well or be collectible items like the old cars used to be. Sorry, but we live in disposable, throw away society now.

 

50 years ago a car was generally a worn out POS that had already had serious engine work at least once by 100,000 miles, the paint was shot and upholstery falling apart, and suspension worn out. I prefer our modern disposable throw away cars over the crap that passed for cars then.