150,000 Miles and Still Going Strong

On June 12^th of this year, my beloved 2007 Toyota Yaris hit 150,000 miles!  When I purchased the car brand new in August 2006, I told Todd that I wanted to drive the car until she hit 150,000 miles!  Two years ago, when Bianca (yes, I name my cars) hit 100,000 miles with not a single mechanical problem, I revised my goal to 250,000 miles!

I have never owned a vehicle with this many miles on it.  At just 6 years of age, Bianca has taken me 45 miles each way to and from work, to the Smoky Mountains, Appalachian Mountains and several road trips in between!  She has been nothing less than reliable and a complete thrill to drive.

In just 6 years, this vehicle has only been in the shop once due to a check engine light while under warranty.  When I started the car, one of the cylinders misfired which caused the check engine light to appear.  Since then, we (meaning Todd) have done nothing more than routine and preventative maintenance on this vehicle. Instead of waiting for the belt to break, we replaced it at 145,000 miles.  Instead of waiting for the spark plugs to rust out, they were replaced at 100,000 miles. Though Bianca didn’t need a new battery, we replaced the battery at 145,000 miles (Toyota has a 7 year 150,000 mile battery life!). 

We found out early-on that it is best to buy genuine Toyota parts for Bianca even though it costs a bit more.  We learned this quickly when we replaced a headlight with an off-brand equivalent.  Within a year, the $9 headlight burnt out.  Toyota’s headlights last over 4 years.  So, we decided to pay $25/headlight versus $9/headlight to make the part last longer and actually save us money in the long-run!

When Bianca hits 250,000 miles (approximately 4 more years), we have plans of purchasing a new vehicle for my commute to work.  Assuming Bianca is still running like a champ, Todd will drive her to and from work (70 miles round trip).

We started looking at vehicles to replace Bianca in case anything catastrophic happens in the upcoming years.  When we went to a dealership on Memorial Day Weekend, the salesman understood that we were doing our research to make an informed decision….in 4 years!  The guy was amused that we plan on seeing our car hit 250,000 miles and more!

There is no new car fever in our home!  We both love the vehicles we drive, and look forward to growing old with them!!!

I would love to hear about your vehicle(s)!

What year/make/model?  How many miles?  How many miles do you want to see the car hit before it’s time to even begin to look for another?