I want to run my civic to 1,000,000 miles - please help!

[Crandall009.5]

I want to run my civic to 1,000,000 miles - please help!

I have a 94 honda civic dx 4 door sedan with a manual transmission and 156k miles on it. I want to see how many miles i can get out of it before it is more cost effective to simply buy a new car.

So far I run high mileage vavoline synthetic (their 75,000+ stuff) I am going to park it for about 2 weeks so I can repair the rust spots creeping up the fenders and repaint it.

Some questions:
What oil is the best to use?
How many miles should I change the oil?
What sort of things should I replace before they go bad?
etc...

Thanks!

 

[Crandall009.5]

I should mention why I want to do this:
I drive about 200 miles a day 5 days a week (plus or minus) so that would equate to about 1000 miles a week, 52,000 miles a year.

 

[SoCalMike]

I want to run my civic to 1,000,000 miles - please help!

I have a 94 honda civic dx 4 door sedan with a manual transmission and 156k miles on it. I want to see how many miles i can get out of it before it is more cost effective to simply buy a new car.

until its crashed or rusted through so badly that its unsafe, its almost ALWAYS cheaper to fix what you have. even if you have a junkyard tranny/engine tossed in every year for $1000 a pop by pedros auto salvage... thats only 4 payments on a hyundai.

So far I run high mileage vavoline synthetic (their 75,000+ stuff) I am going to park it for about 2 weeks so I can repair the rust spots creeping up the fenders and repaint it.

Some questions:
What oil is the best to use?

does it burn any oil? if not, i might go with a walmart synthetic, or even rotellaT 5w40synth and keep it in for 7500 miles. thats about 3 months, the way you drive

otherwise, just a regular dino oil every 5k should suffice. your pick. its kinda crazy to spring for $24 worth of oil every 3 months if youre on a budget.

How many miles should I change the oil?

for regular oil, pick a mileage... 3k? 5k? for synthetic, if i was going to spend the bucks, id leave it in as long as possible

What sort of things should I replace before they go bad?

timing belts/waterpumps and suspension bushings/balljoints are the 2 that come to mind.

 

[Elmo P. Shagnasty]

What oil is the best to use?

Oil that meets or exceeds the specs as outlined by Honda, changed frequently enough by either time or mileage, whichever comes first.

Oil changes are hands down the cheapest form of insurance. Use decent dino oil and change it frequently--don't worry about synthetic in a car like this.

3K miles/3 months, whichever comes first, is very cheap insurance.

Rubber rots--timing belt is always good to keep ahead of. And have someone go over the front suspension, and be prepared to replace things there.

 

[Elle (2)]

To toss in one more point to the fray: Do you have an
owner's manual or Chilton's manual for your car?

One can often buy a Chilton's specific to one's car from Ebay pretty cheaply.

Use the maintenance schedule in these manuals and follow it precisely.

Or print out a maintenance schedule from the autozone.com site.

There is some debate on synthetic oil vs. conventional oil in older cars. Last time I read up on it (earlier this year), it seemed the chances of there being a problem with the synthetic oil were slim, but it was still a gamble. Typically the chemistry of the synthetic oil causes old seals (impregnated with the older oil) to fail.

 

[Misterbeets]

What sort of things should I replace before they go bad?

Things that can leave you stranded: batteries, hoses and belts.

 

[SoCalMike]

3K miles/3 months, whichever comes first, is very cheap insurance.

hes gonna get REALLY good at it, cuz thats 3 WEEKS worth of driving to him

 

[Elmo P. Shagnasty]

hes gonna get REALLY good at it, cuz thats 3 WEEKS worth of driving to him

hey, there're quick oil change places everywhere.

 

[Rob B]

hey, there're quick oil change places everywhere.

then the OP will get about three oil changes out the car

i now loath those crap quickie oil change places

two different places over-tightened the oil drain plug on two different cars of mine, used crap fram oil filters, i had to buy oversized drain plug for one car and re-tap other to fit with oversized drain-plug that had practically been stripped (stripped = upon tightening to normal torque the plug would slip to no torque before half torque reached) then file the face of the drain hole flat due to lip created from warpage causing bad seat and oil dripping

but YMMV

 

[ass]

"What sort of things should I replace before they go bad? "

like muffler camshaft.

 

[weedram58]

I should mention why I want to do this:
I drive about 200 miles a day 5 days a week (plus or minus) so that would equate to about 1000 miles a week, 52,000 miles a year.

You do realize that you'll need to drive this car until 2020 or2021 to reach a million miles. An ambitious goal thats theoretically possible, but I predict you'll get sick of this car long before this goal is reached. And be prepared to replace just about every mechanical component on the car. Perfectly acceptable if you love working on your own vehicle, but prohibitably expensive if you get it done professionally. Personally, if I had to drive 200 miles a day, I would want something more luxurious. Don't forget, you are aging too, not just the car. Trust me, the older you get, the more ammenities you want. And I'm not slamming Hondas. I've driven nothing but Hondas for the last 15 years.

 

[Elmo P. Shagnasty]

Personally, if I had to drive 200 miles a day, I would
want something more luxurious.

Not to mention, the luxury cars are better built.

This weekend I had a chance at a 99 Lexus LS400 with 44K miles, for only $21K or so. THAT baby would last until 2021, no doubt.

 

[SoCalMike]

Not to mention, the luxury cars are better built.

This weekend I had a chance at a 99 Lexus LS400 with 44K miles, for only $21K or so. THAT baby would last until 2021, no doubt.

ive got a co-worker that bought a 91 LS400 with 200k miles on it for $9,000. hes got over 300k on it now, and it still runs strong.