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Whats worse, years or mileage


EsCo

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I have a '94 stock lumina with 74,000 miles on it. I read that alot of the cars have 100,000 plus miles on them and still going stong. I was wondering if my car has enough life justify putting money into it(appearance and performance) or just keep keep the money for a future car. Thanks.

 

-§teve

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That depends on how hard you drive your car. If you drive the piss out of it, then you may barely get past 100,000 miles. If you treat it well, it should last a long time. Just remember that each year your car depreciates, so don't throw too much money into unless you'll willing to keep it forever.

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when I got my car, it was 9 years old just like yours, and I had 83k...I have 170k now on the original trans and engine. I dont beat on it all the time, but I always drive above average in acceleration and speed. Now if you want everything to perform properly and last a long time, RIGHT NOW change the tranny fluid, drain out the old coolant and flush the radiator with clean water, flush the engine out with clean water (remove the thermostat and lower radiator hose and keep pouring water down the T stat hose until only clean water comes out the water pump outlet) (change the T-stat now) then refill with pure coolant- the 100% water in the engine will make a pretty close mix.

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My cousin had a 1990 4cyl escort for three years with at least 200,000 miles I it. He drove the crap out of it and never changed the oil so most of the time it didn't have more then a quart in it. That thing was unbelivable the motor still runs but it had alot of bad sensors so he traded it for a beat up bonneville.

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74,000 miles its a baby. Could have been a hard 74 though I dont know. If its got a clean interior and body and runs and drives well its worth maintaining and even toying with. The 91 Regal Limited I just bought was a original owner well maintained w/223,000 miles. Its still an awsome car. I was surprised it drove and ran as it does but it was highway miles - to work transportation by a professional woman so it had a pampered life. Our 86 LeSabre had 70,000 miles on it way back when we bought that, it was driven 4 years and 80,000 miles with only maintenence repairs. Then I reglorified it and it is now in semi-retirement. So to prove if taken care of they last a long time. Good luck

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I need to do the same things to my car too.. for a 94 with only 40k miles, I know it wasn't driven all too much.

The coolant needs flushed and changed badly ( I want a lower temp stat too)

Just changed the oil on friday with Mobil 1 synthetic

Should probably have the tranny fluid flushed and changed

Brakes will need work soon as well as some new tires..

But that takes money, and that's not something that's freely available right now.. :?

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It is neither miles nor years, but build quality and how well it's cared for.

My friends have brand new cars that go in for warranty service far more often than I need to work on my 14-year old Cutlass with 197k miles on it.

 

That said, the initial build quality of my '94 is much worse than the '89, and I've already had to replace things in the '94 that are still original in the '89. The '94 only has 118k miles on it.

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I hear that...my 94 convertible needed all kinds of parts that shouldn't even need to be touched for a 94. Wheel bearings, lock solenoids, window switch, etc, blah...it seemed like everything needed to be fixed. And the car only had 63k miles!

 

Jason

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Like shawn said, it has a lot to do with build quality, and if the car was taken care of as well as not beat on. My car has both AGE, and MILEAGE. My car is a 1988 with 312,000 miles on it (over 500,000 Km). My car has missed oil changes, but it has never been re-built, and has the original engine, and tranny. All that has been done to the motor is regualr routine maintenance, and I have put a better cam in (the original one was over 50% worn).

 

Take care of it, and it is a good, relativly low-maintenance car.

 

Taylor

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cause the base cluster's 1st "digit" can only display a "1". The denso clusters have 6 characters that can display 1-9, the base cluster (up to a certain year) had 7 characters but the first one just displays a "1" (remember that the base cluster also displays 1/10 mile, whereas the denso cluster and the newer base cluster doesnt)

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Yeah. forgot about that. The cluster conversion was one of the first things that I did to my Cutlass, so I have not had that cluster in a long time. I also put the Km because I have had people say that I must mean the I have 312,000 KM, not Miles, but it is NILES, not Km.

 

Taylor

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geeze people. when you type 90-120 word per minute, you are bound to make at least one mistake. J&P. Leave it to you crazies to notice the big one.

 

Taylor

 

90-120? geeze what r u some kinda little schoolgirl on the phone? lol :joke:

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newer the car the cheaper the parts! yes the newer engines and chasis are made lighter and more efficient but the whole thing these days is to safe $$$$ so cars these days are POS! I have a 99 with with 42K and had to replace the tranny pan gasket, rotors, calipers, pads 2 times in 7 mos, power window switches etc..... My 13 year old TGP has almost all stock parts from 1990!

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I agree with that. I had more Problems with my 1999 Alero in the 6 months that I owned it thatn I have EVER had with my 1988 Cutlass. I think that the onle car that I had that was worse than the Alero was my 1982 Dodge Mirada, but that is because I did not know how to work on the V8, and had to rely on my father and grandfater (who are the people that messed it up to begin with).

 

Taylor

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