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?
Wagon for sure. I don’t blame the Toyota for it’s condition after all those miles but the Volvo is oddly clean
What costs more to own and keep on the road? Big V8 gas mileage, or expensive/scary Euro maintenance?
The Volvo wagon has a third seat but not those cute lil headlight wipers.
The Toyota it too rusty for Florida. I’d have to take a look underneath, which is possible since the truck is so high.
I had to vote for the Volvo this time.
Bazillion is the number of dollars spent on maintenance and repairs to get that Volvo to 390k.
The only Volvos I’ve ever owned were 240s, but they were super easy to work on and parts were a lot cheaper than for the German makes.
Exactly how many miles is a bazillion? One order of magnitude greater than a bajillion, and one order of magnitude less than a gazillion. Or, to convert to Imperial measurement, approximately 4.3 shit tons.
Someone had to work pretty hard to make the toyota interior look like a GM interior of the same era, but by God they did just that.
Japanese leather doesn’t seem to hold up as well as German leather. Most Japanese cars I see in the junkyard have trashed seats, while many German cars have perfectly fine leather seats.
Pretty much every Toyota truck of this era with this kind of mileage on it has thrashed leather seats, including my own ’04 Sequoia. I don’t think they used a great grade of leather.
Our 2003 GMC Envoy SLT leather seats are still in fantastic condition after 22 years and 175K miles.
Probably the Volvo today. I do love a good Toyota truck, but RWD is a real drawback here in Canada, and V8 fuel economy doesn’t sound ideal either
The Sequoia for me. I’ve had the pleasure of owning a 4.7L Toyota before, and the only thing I changed the entire time I owned it was the timing belt kit. I have customers at the shop with 200k, 300k, and more that can say the same thing.
Why did the Astro have the 3RD ENGINE? Maybe it ran low out of oil- consumption?
Or perhaps sometimes people replace engines preventatively, even if they do not show signs of excess wear (I mean, if they show little wear, or to be on the safe side).
Yeah, the Swede is long in the tooth, but I’ve always liked the 850 and its five banger. But let’s scroll a little more…
Ow, my eyes! Gross.
I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
‘Til the landslide brought me down
Volvo is gonna murder
Condition wins this one. Also, I trust an Austin car to be rust free, not a FL car by way of Ohio with known frame rot issues.
No question, it’s the Volvo. A wagon with a stick and 390K on it? I’d start driving the thing back and forth from Norcal to Seattle over and over just to get a photo of it rolling over to 500K!
The drivetrain in the Sequoia is a 2UZ, one of the stoutest engines ever built. 300k miles is nothing and I disagree on it feeling tired. But 2001 is before they introduced VVT. You’re going to get 14mpg. On the highway you might get 18.
And that Volvo is impeccable. Someone clearly loved that car, it’s a manual station wagon, and it’s just too good to pass up.
01-04 Sequoias are rated at 12 city / 16 hwy, whereas 05+ (with VVT and an extra gear in the trans) are rated at 13/16. Not a big difference. I’m happy to not have VVT on my 2004.
Thank you for the correction! I misremembered and am now surprised by how small the difference actually was.
I only know this because I was originally shopping for an ’05+ model thinking the VVT and 5 speed would make a big difference, but the consensus from the Toyota crowd is that they don’t.
Ended up with an ’04 which some people consider the sweet spot because it has the upgrade brakes and ball joints that came on ’05+ models but the lack of VVT makes it easier to work on, the 4-speed trans still has a dipstick, and the transfer case still had a manual shifter instead of a high/low button.
I went Volvo, as I love wagons, but I also love the 2UZ V8 and could go for the Sequoia if it weren’t so trashed. Granted, it has a ton of miles, but I consistently see Sequoias with that mileage and price range in better shape, so the wagon wins the day for me.
Volvo seems to have been better taken care of over it’s lifetime. Likely doesn’t need any work right away. The sequoia worries me – it seems like there is a lot of deferred maintenance or repair work needed. I don’t have a problem with high-mileage vehicles as long as it’s clear that they have been maintained properly. I am not confident that the Sequoia has been properly taken care of.
the wagon that looks relatively solid and clean or a sequoia with a biohazard sticker…tough choice indeed
I’ll take both.
Tough call, but since I already have a 2WD Tundra, I’ll go for the Volvo.
No Brainer today.
A wagon with a 5-speed? Yes, please.
The only bad thing about those Volvo wagons was their crappy automatic transmissions and this one has that problem solved!
The Volvo seller is either a dealer or has an Autopian-level cheap car addiction. They also have a Subaru GL 4×4 for under $1500!
Clearly a a person of taste and culture.
I voted for the Sequoia because I made this choice in real life. As I’ve posted here a few times, 2 years ago I bought a 2004 Sequoia 4WD with 250K miles for $4500 and it’s been one of my best automotive purchases ever. That said, this one isn’t quite as appealing given it’s RWD. Most are RWD here in CA too.
By year two you could have two of the Volvo’s for the gas money you saved by not buying the Sequoia.
And, you’d have two Volvo estates. Win-win!
At this price point, you could do a lot worse than either. The Volvo is definitely the better option now, but I’d be concerned about parts availability and cost down the road. This is where the Sequoia has the advantage. The necessary replacement parts are going to be much easier to source than the Volvo, likely at a much lower cost (at this price point you’re usually going cheap and functional, not OEM). The potential to keep being cheap, reliable transportation made me give the nod to the Toyota, particularly if you need and occasional stuff-hauler where fuel mileage isn’t much of a concern.
Both are fine and if maintained and fixed as needed, should be fine for a bunch more miles. I would not want the Toyota simply because of the RWD. the Volvo would be my choice today. the Toyota should go to DT though. he does not need 4wd in Cali, but it would be fine for dragging jeep parts around in.
He owned a Series 100 LC, I think the trashed Sequoia would be a downgrade
I really wanted and looked at an 850 wagon 5 speed when the twins came along but the rear facing car seats were too tight in the back seat and my 2 year old son would somehow have to wiggle his way to the center car seat. Couldn’t find one with the 3rd row seats. They’ve all but disappeared from New England roads. Ended up with a new Mazda5 5 speed, which we loved, but just took off the road due to rust 🙁
So I voted Volvo, but I believe this: the Volvo will keep going if you keep on the maintenance, the Sequoia will probably keep going regardless.