Thanks to HotCars for this:
This list will cover 15 cars with some of the highest mileage ever recorded – all of them with no less than 1 million miles!
# 15
2006 Honda Civic – 1 Million Miles
This mid-2000s Civic is a surprising contender for the million-mile club. Hondas are generally known for their reliability, but Honda build quality suffered during the mid-2000s due to some serious cost-cutting at the time. But the mechanicals on this one were strong enough to make it to a million on the original engine and gearbox with the only serious maintenance item being a new head gasket at 500,000 miles!
# 14
2007 Toyota Tundra – 1 Million Miles
This truck was bought new by its one and only owner in 2007, who then proceeded to rack up north of 125,000 miles every year, driving it around most of the American South. The owner kept it dealer-maintained, and despite the obvious damage to the front quarter panel seen in the photo, the truck was in generally good condition when it reached its seven-digit milestone. Toyota was so proud of this truck’s achievement that it allowed the dealership that serviced the truck to give the owner a brand new Tundra in exchange.
# 13
1989 Saab 900 SPG – 1 Million Miles
This high mile Saab is probably better known for its exclusivity than its mileage count. Only 7,500 900 SPGs ever made it to America, so it’s no wonder the owner of this one wanted to hang onto his for a long time. But despite its rarity, the owner kept driving it and racking up the miles, until he donated it to the Wisconsin Auto Museum in 2006, with the odometer reading 1,001,385 miles.
# 12
1996 Lexus LS 400 “Million Mile Lexus” – 1 Million Miles
Yes, this is Matt Farah’s million-mile Lexus. The California-based automotive journalist bought the car in Florida when it was nearing the 900,000-mile mark, with the intent of taking it to a million miles. This then launched one of the coolest projects in modern internet car journalism: Farah lent the car to other journos specifically to drive it around and rack up miles for him.
# 11
1991 Honda Accord EX – 1.16 Million Miles
This bulletproof Honda was passed down through two generations within the original owner’s family, ending up at 1.16 million miles. The original owner kept the car until his death, and in his will, he passed it down to his son, who kept driving it until it got to that critical seven-digit mark. Not much is known about what happened to the car since, but we can only hope that it’s still out there, keeping its odometer rolling.
# 10
2006 Ford F-250 – 1.2 Million Miles
Ford’s 7.3l PowerStroke turbodiesel V8 is one of the most dependable and long-lasting engines ever created. Co-developed by Ford and International, the same engine was used in all sorts of commercial machinery including buses and delivery trucks – two types of vehicles that are expected to last for hundreds of thousands of miles. It’s only appropriate, then, that this 2006 F250 with that same engine could make it to 1.2 million miles without any major issues. Its owner used it for towing trailers all over the USA to deliver to clients.
# 9
2006 Chevy Silverado 3500 Heavy Duty – 1.22 Million Miles
This 6.6l Duramax diesel-powered Silverado is another high-mileage hauler. Its owners bought it for long-distance hauling, using it mostly for hauling supplies to help with recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina. The owners say that their secret to longevity was to change the oil religiously every 5,000 miles and to wash the truck after every long haul, particularly after dealing with snowy and salty roads to prevent rust. No major maintenance was required but it’s not known if the owners still have it or drive it.
# 8
1966 Mercedes-Benz 250SE – 1.28 Million Miles
A modern Mercedes wouldn’t be a very safe bet for high-mileage ownership. They’re too complex and fragile and rely on far too many electronic components to be easy or affordable to maintain. However decades ago, Mercedes’s build quality was a different story. Cars like this 1966 250SE were built extraordinarily well, using nothing but the best quality materials and relatively simple mechanical components that could easily be kept running.
# 7
1991 Chevy C1500 – 1.29 Million Miles
These early-90s GM trucks were some of the last of the era of truly honest pickups. They were dead simple, functional, tough, and crucially reliable (as long as you kept the frame from getting too rusty, as corrosion would cause it to fracture and bend). This one’s owner used it to deliver seafood from Wisconsin to Illinois every day, and the apparent secret to the truck’s longevity was regular rust-proofing of the undercarriage and careful care and maintenance.
# 6
1983 Lincoln Town Car – 1.3 Million Miles
If you’re going to travel 1.3 million miles in a car, best to do it in something with a pair of bench seats modeled after your grandmother’s most comfortable couch. Its owner drove it cross-country on many occasions and was even able to squeeze 22 miles per gallon out of its massive V8 engine. He maintained it at a Lincoln dealership for its entire life and claims that the car never broke down once in the entire time he owned it.
# 5
1963 Volkswagen Beetle – 1.61 Million Miles
Mechanically speaking, classic Beetles are known for brutal simplicity and ease of repair, but not necessarily reliability. Yet, this one was able to cover an astonishing 1.61 million miles. It wasn’t easy though, the owner reportedly went through seven engines on the way to 1.61 million, which he reached in 1987 after buying the car new in 1963.
# 4
1963 Plymouth Fury – 1.62 Million Miles
Sometimes, the reason for a car never making it to a high mileage number is completely out of the owner’s hands and can often be blamed on pure bad luck. Such is the case with this 1963 Plymouth Fury.
It was used as a taxi in Montreal, where its owner kept good care of it all the time he had it. In that time, he estimates that he carried some 800,000 passengers across the city. He came within a few miles of claiming the Guinness World Record for high mileage in 1999, but his car was hit by a truck. The driver was unhurt, but the Fury was totaled.
# 3
1979 Volvo 245 GL – 1.63 Million Miles
In the apocalypse, the only traces of humanity left behind will be Twinkies, Nokia 3310s and Volvo 240s. It was sold from 1979 to 1993 largely unchanged, save for some upgrades to the fuel system, and new safety features. 240s are desirable now, and with enough care and maintenance, they can last for hundreds of thousands of miles without issue. This first-year model made it to 1.63 million miles, used by a Finnish logistics firm as a company car.
# 2
1976 Mercedes-Benz 240D – 2.85 Million Miles
This is the first car on this list to travel over 2 million miles, doubling the mileage count of some of the cars at the top of the list. It was owned by a Greek taxi driver, who reached an astonishing 2.85 million miles sometime in 2004. Mercedes-Benz recognized the car as the longest-running vehicle in the company’s history, and gave its owner a brand new C-Class for taxi duty, in exchange for putting his 240D in Mercedes’ own museum.
# 1
1966 Volvo P1800s– 3.04 Million Miles
Fitting that the Guinness World Record for the highest mileage would be held by a Volvo. Although, the 1966 Volvo P1800s was hardly any Volvo. It was a beautiful and comfortable sports tourer, and its owner, Irvin “Irv” Gordon” used it for its true intended purpose: long-distance drives across the United States. He achieved his astounding mileage count in 2014 and claimed that his secret to longevity was regular oil changes, closely following the manufacturer’s maintenance guidelines and keeping the car clean.
Irv drives his car on a daily basis and covers an estimated 85,000–100,000 miles per year, thanks in part to being driven to numerous car shows and events in the USA and occasionally overseas. The farthest he has driven in one go is from New York to Vancouver, although in total, he’s driven the equivalent of nearly 120 complete circumnavigations of the planet.
