How Many Miles Is A ‘Bazillion,’ Exactly? 1996 Volvo 850 vs 2001 Toyota Sequoia

Some buyers shy away from high-mileage cars. Others see it as a badge of honor, and an indication that a car has been maintained properly; if it hadn’t, it wouldn’t have attained such lofty numbers on the odometer. Opinions differ on what constitutes “high mileage,” but most people can agree that when the first digit flips to 3, you’re getting up there. Today, we’re going to look at two such long-haulers, both for the same price of $3,500.

Yesterday, we looked at a fancy Jaguar and a plain-jane Ford Escort, both for the same price. I had no idea how this one was going to go, and the vote was pretty close, but in the end, the twelve-cylinder Jag won. You all are a lot braver than I thought, or you really hate Ford Escorts.

Me, I wouldn’t touch that Jag if you gave it to me. I have had my fill of cantankerous British cars, and all I see there is a future full of cuss words and increasingly expensive online orders to Moss Motors. Soneone else is more than welcome to it. An Escort Pony isn’t exactly a dream car, but it would be fun to mess around with for a while, and is far less likely to make me want to throw a tool.

The highest-mileage car I’ve ever had was a 1991 Nissan Pathfinder, which finally succumbed to electrical problems (but still ran and drove) somewhere north of 360,000 miles. By the end, you could feel every one of those miles in the worn-out seat and suspension, and hear them in a mournful groan from the transmission in every gear except 4th. The highest-mileage car I’ve ever driven was a Chevy Astro van owned by a delivery fleet company, back when I was working at a garage. It had 670,000 miles on it, and was on its third engine and transmission, but still chugged along faithfully. They offered to sell it to me for cheap when they finally retired it. I declined, but I often wondered.

Today’s cars have both cleared 300,000 miles, and one of them is on its way to 400,000, and the sellers claim they’ll go much further. Knowing the reputations of both vehicles, I don’t doubt it – but which one would you actually want to keep racking up the miles in? That’s what we’re here to find out.

1996 Volvo 850 Wagon – $3,500

Engine/drivetrain: 2.4-liter DOHC inline 5, five-speed manual, FWD

Location: Austin, TX

Odometer reading: 391,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives “like it has 91k miles”

Volvo has a longstanding reputation for making cars that last, and for instilling the kind of brand loyalty that marketing execs can only dream about because of it. But in the mid-1990s, Volvo put its long-running line of rear-wheel-drive cars out to pasture and replaced them with an all-new front-wheel-drive platform. Would the new design be as durable as the old? Well, it has taken thirty years, but I think we can definitely answer that question “yes.”

Out went the old “red block” four-cylinder, and in came an inline five, mounted transversely. This one is a 2.4-liter, with four valves per cylinder, driving the front wheels through a five-speed stick. The seller says it runs great, and it just received a new battery, fuel pump, and fuel filter.

This car is rapidly closing in on four hundred thousand miles, but I’ll be damned if it shows in the interior. There’s a cover on the driver’s seat, which I assume is hiding some wear, but the rest of it looks just fine. Oh, and the seller says the air conditioning is nice and cold.

It’s a little faded here and there, and the trim is damaged in a couple spots, but it sure looks good for the mileage. I always preferred the sedan version of the old 240 to the wagon, but the 850 wagon is a really handsome machine. And this looks like a really good example.

2001 Toyota Sequoia SR5 – $3,500

Engine/drivetrain: 4.7-liter DOHC V8, four-speed automatic, RWD

Location: Curtice, OH

Odometer reading: 306,000 miles

Operational status: “You can hop right in and daily drive it”

Toyota trucks have been piling on the miles for decades as well, and not just the little ones. The T100 and Tundra full-size trucks have proven themselves just as durable as the little 20R/22R-powered ones. The Sequoia SUV uses the same platform as the Tundra, so at a little over 300,000 miles, this one should be just getting started.

A big truck needs a big engine, and in the case of the Sequoia, that means a 4.7-liter V8, backed by a four-speed automatic. Most Sequoias you see are four-wheel-drive, especially in snowy places, but this truck originally came from Florida, where the extra foul-weather traction isn’t required. If you don’t need 4WD, why pay for it, or deal with the extra weight and maintenance? This truck runs and drives great, according to the seller, and needs nothing to be put into regular service by a new owner.

Well, almost nothing. The front seats are pretty much trashed; you’d probably want to put some covers on them. Replacing or reupholstering them probably isn’t worth it. The rest of the interior looks all right. The seller says they replaced the latch on the tailgate, but doesn’t mention the condition of anything else. My hope would be that that means everything else works.

Since it was a Florida car, it’s nicely rust-free. The trim strip under the grille has a little surface rust, but that’s about it. There are some paint blemishes here and there, but nothing worth worrying about. It got new tires three years ago, and the windshield was recently replaced. The seller also equipped it with a trailer hitch, brake controller, and helper springs in the rear, so it’s ready to tow if you want it to.

These both probably have quite a lot of life left in them, but I bet they both feel tired. That Pathfinder we had still drove just fine, but it felt hollowed-out, threadbare, like all the niceness it might have once had was worn away, leaving nothing but brute function. I imagine these are similar. But at this price, proven durability and reliability mean a lot. So which one are you willing to take a gamble on: the Swedish brick, or the extra-value-size 4Runner?