Highest miles you've seen?

[JoeT4R]

297K on my 01' SR5 4WD. Original engine and transmission. I'm the third owner and definitely the last, I plan to drive it until it won't go anymore. I genuinely hope to get to 330K, 340K at least. I bought it with 191K in February 2013

 

[FordF150]

97' v6 4x4 manual. Once rebuild motor and on the 5th clutch.

What failed on the original engine and at what milage?:lock1:

 

[98 & 02 fourunner]

I have a 1998 2.7L with 347k and also have a 2002 set by with 287k..

 

[MelodyRad]

98. 340.​

 

[3rdgensnowhite]

im at 201k ive heard people going up to 450k

 

[RodrickHeffley]

i saw one recently with 408k, think i've seen one before with mid 500 but i can't be certain

mine just hit 269k the other week

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[WinterT4R]

The real question, What would be the secret to hit those epic milestones?

 

[UnderFire]

It's a local 99. Stellar Blue Pearl 3.4 5 speed. Was around 560k earlier this spring. Should be seeing it within the next few weeks. Guessing it'll be 570k or so now.

Update: Came in last week, sitting right at 570K and still in amazing condition.

 

[2021nightshade4x4]

The real question, What would be the secret to hit those epic milestones?

I’ll give you the “real” answer here. Most of these guys won’t tell you they did anything special, and they’d be telling the truth.

The #1 and overarching reason why you see so many Toyotas (and Lexus) with ungodly amounts of miles and staying on the road 20+ years is primarily that the manufacturer didn’t take any chances going long with their maintenance intervals. There’s no lifetime transmission fluids. There’s no 15,000-mile oil changes. So even if the typical consumer goes thousands of miles over their 5k oil change, it’s still not as bad as going 15,000 each and every time.

#2 Toyota kept the Germans out of their vehicles. In a time when ZF transmissions are finding their way into Italian (Alfa Romeo, FIAT), Japanese (Honda/Acura), and domestic vehicles (Ford, Chevrolet, Mopar) the warranty work on these brands’ transmissions has skyrocketed. I would trust an old Torqueflite 42RE before I’d trust a ZF 6HP.

#3 In order for a vehicle to reach 500k miles, (most of) it still has to be in one piece. Rustproofing or living in milder climates helps. I hear about northern states and snow (and salt) more frequently, but I’m curious if salt air is still a concern for rust in modern vehicles near the coast.


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[Blackwatch]

I’ll give you the “real” answer here. Most of these guys won’t tell you they did anything special, and they’d be telling the truth.

The #1 and overarching reason why you see so many Toyotas (and Lexus) with ungodly amounts of miles and staying on the road 20+ years is primarily that the manufacturer didn’t take any chances going long with their maintenance intervals. There’s no lifetime transmission fluids. There’s no 15,000-mile oil changes. So even if the typical consumer goes thousands of miles over their 5k oil change, it’s still not as bad as going 15,000 each and every time.

#2 Toyota kept the Germans out of their vehicles. In a time when ZF transmissions are finding their way into Italian (Alfa Romeo, FIAT), Japanese (Honda/Acura), and domestic vehicles (Ford, Chevrolet, Mopar) the warranty work on these brands’ transmissions has skyrocketed. I would trust an old Torqueflite 42RE before I’d trust a ZF 6HP.

#3 In order for a vehicle to reach 500k miles, (most of) it still has to be in one piece. Rustproofing or living in milder climates helps. I hear about northern states and snow (and salt) more frequently, but I’m curious if salt air is still a concern for rust in modern vehicles near the coast.


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Great advice, I think rust proofing and the same driver is also important. I think a car gets used to the same style of driving as long as it's not abuse.

I am thinking about buying a 22 4runner as a daily driver. I have about 7 years and a little less than 200,000 miles to drive for my commute before I retire, then it will see only summer use and about 12,000 miles per year. I know they aren't great on gas but buying a $10,000 commuter car with twice the mpg really is only a break even proposition once insurance is considered. An extra $200/month in gas vs driving a great reliable vehicle like the 4runner.

 

[Romeo1]

Great advice, I think rust proofing and the same driver is also important. I think a car gets used to the same style of driving as long as it's not abuse.

I am thinking about buying a 22 4runner as a daily driver. I have about 7 years and a little less than 200,000 miles to drive for my commute before I retire, then it will see only summer use and about 12,000 miles per year. I know they aren't great on gas but buying a $10,000 commuter car with twice the mpg really is only a break even proposition once insurance is considered. An extra $200/month in gas vs driving a great reliable vehicle like the 4runner.

I used to have to commute 100 to 115 miles a day from my old job. Then I drove another 300 -400 and 500 a few times while I was on shift usually. Was about 28-30k commute miles per year depending on how many extra shifts I picked up.

My reference point was a 1 ton diesel pick up that got 19 miles per gallon, and an old Subaru 2001 Forrester that got 25 to 26.

In my experience gas was always $.30-$.60 cheaper than diesel. When gas was around the three dollar mark, The per mile running cost of that Subaru was exactly half of that diesel pick up. We’re talking all the way down to the cost of tires. Literally every single penny accounted for.

That $3000 Subaru made me more money than anything ever. Best part was I sold it for 2700 several years later.

The take-home notes from my experience and others I know who commute are buying a new car to commute in is folly. You’re going to grind it into the ground. The amount of depreciation you take on it just kills anything that gets high Mileage quickly. You burn an insane amount of money to drive a body on frame vehicle as a commuter. The truck was going to cost $80 a month in tires alone. Those were for all-terrain tires that lasted 40- 50,000 miles….

I have now a company Rig and fuel card which is worth a pile of money, especially with four dollar fuel. But if I ever did have to go back to commuting, I would either get a used crosstrek, Impreza, a newer 2.0T WRX, a RAV4 hybrid, or a Prius AWD hybrid…..

I drove my truck the first six months and realized what insanity I was engaging in and bought a cheap commuter instead. Best financial move I ever made outside of not having hardly any debt and socking away money into a 401(k).

I would say destroy a beater or two The next seven years, and save the money for a new 4runner when you retire.

 

[JDS_t4r]

2000 Limited
218K miles
Still smooth as butter! I hope to keep it until 300K+. Might just put a new engine in and keep truckin!

 

[Blackwatch]

I used to have to commute 100 to 115 miles a day from my old job. Then I drove another 300 -400 and 500 a few times while I was on shift usually. Was about 28-30k commute miles per year depending on how many extra shifts I picked up.

My reference point was a 1 ton diesel pick up that got 19 miles per gallon, and an old Subaru 2001 Forrester that got 25 to 26.

In my experience gas was always $.30-$.60 cheaper than diesel. When gas was around the three dollar mark, The per mile running cost of that Subaru was exactly half of that diesel pick up. We’re talking all the way down to the cost of tires. Literally every single penny accounted for.

That $3000 Subaru made me more money than anything ever. Best part was I sold it for 2700 several years later.

The take-home notes from my experience and others I know who commute are buying a new car to commute in is folly. You’re going to grind it into the ground. The amount of depreciation you take on it just kills anything that gets high Mileage quickly. You burn an insane amount of money to drive a body on frame vehicle as a commuter. The truck was going to cost $80 a month in tires alone. Those were for all-terrain tires that lasted 40- 50,000 miles….

I have now a company Rig and fuel card which is worth a pile of money, especially with four dollar fuel. But if I ever did have to go back to commuting, I would either get a used crosstrek, Impreza, a newer 2.0T WRX, a RAV4 hybrid, or a Prius AWD hybrid…..

I drove my truck the first six months and realized what insanity I was engaging in and bought a cheap commuter instead. Best financial move I ever made outside of not having hardly any debt and socking away money into a 401(k).

I would say destroy a beater or two The next seven years, and save the money for a new 4runner when you retire.

I am buying something to drive on my days off, either a 4Runner or a 22 Tundra. So the difference is the days on the road for work which will be 10 days per month for 7 years. The extra cost in fuel between the car I drive now and a 4runner for instance is approximately $140/month more for the runner. Just to insure what I drive now to commute in is $100/month so it get close quickly except for depreciation which won't matter if I keep the runner long into retirement. The extra mileage that my commute would put on the 4Runner would be about 110,000 miles. So I enter retirement with a 7 year old 4Runner with about 160,000 miles vs 50,000 miles if I ran my commuter car to work and kept the 4Runner for days off.
Then there is the depreciation on the car I have now. It's worth about $12,000 now and will be worth about $4000 if I keep commuting in it for 7 years. If the gas mileage breaks even after insurance, lic plate and inspection over the 7 years then I compare the $8000 loss on the commuter car to what 110,000 miles depreciates a 4Runner over 7 years. I'm guessing about $10,000, so I come out about $2000 to the good over 7 years driving 2 vehicles. Now if I can find a $3500 civic or corolla that would last 110,000 miles and save half on insurance the savings are greater.
Hopefully a 4Runner wit 160,000 miles in 7 years, mainly all highway or country roads would still last another 200,000 miles through retirement.
I'm hesitant to trust the new twin turbo Tundra though for that type of use even though it gets better mpg.
I'm in Canada so that was a lot of mileage conversion lol. My commute is on a 2 lane road going about 65 mph so no Cannonball Run type interstate commute. I welcome all suggestions. But I am drawn to the 22 4Runner for it's naturally aspirated simplicity and would love to try to make one last 25-30 years.

 

[R1NCREY]

I have a 1997 4Runner 4wd and it’s at 345k and still running like an Energizer Bunny…keeps on running. We recently did a 500 mile off road trip to Death Valley and no problems off roading and traveling back to OC.

 

[bandit4runner]

My 2002 SR5 Sport
400k
original motor and transmission

 

[McLoven1t562]

I'd like to answer how many others did lol

SEEN, 385k on a 97 Limited 4x4 out here in So Cal

my 96 SR5 4x4 is currently around 321k

 

[brillo_76]

The highest i know about was user Clumsey Me that has a 1997 manual with 719,001 miles with one engine rebuild and on his 5th clutch on 6/12/19 on the highest millage thread.

 

[AnnInWonderland]

I have a 2001 4Runner with 430k miles on it (original engine). Still driving it.

 

[brillo_76]

I have a 2001 4Runner with 430k miles on it (original engine). Still driving it.

No head gasket change or leaking yet? That's great news as head gasket can sometimes go between 400k and 500k. Which is actually normal wear and tear. I forget how many revisions of head gaskets this engine has. It's due to the cast block and aluminum heads. Lots of movement there as they metals heat up at different rates.

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[JoeT4R]

I have a 2001 4Runner with 430k miles on it (original engine). Still driving it.

That's insane. I really hope to get my rig to 400K. I'm at 317K right now and daily drive it. What major maintenance repairs have you done so far?

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