Reply To: So, what have YOU been up to lately? (A Cruise-free zone, please)
Well, the hours vs. miles thing is a bit tricky, but when I was in the automobile engineering business, we’d use hours or number of cycles for bench testing, based on a projected lifespan at some average speed — it’s been a while, but 40 mph sticks in my head. 300k miles at 40 mph works out to 7500 hours, which sounds about right as we’d typically go 5000 hours for 200k simulation.
Depending upon the vehicle, its primary location, and its duty cycle, you could be done at 120-150k, you could be good out past 500k. There are a huge number of variables that play into longevity. At some point, yes, @mtgordon, you have to weigh the repair expense (opposed to standard maintenance expense) versus the cost of a new(er) vehicle, maybe even one with a warranty. I happen to be on the “keep” side of that — even if I incur a major expense such as an engine replacement, I’m still looking at maybe a $10k bill (installed) versus a new equivalent truck at $55k or more.
And I’d rather not spend either amount as I’m trying to arrange my finances for a 2013 GT500. Because 662 horsepower. 🙂