200,000 MILES & COUNTING

I was very interested to read your Editorial on ‘Starship mileages’

(CM, October 2016) as I have just bought a 198,700-mile Porsche 911 SC. I bought the two-owner car in California and it is in wonderfully rust-free condition, with its original paintwork, service book and all invoices from day one.

I think that a 200,000-mile car is a better bet than a car with, say, only 140,000 miles as all the necessary maintenance must have been carried out to get it to this landmark. My two golden rules when buying a ‘200,000-miler’ are that there is a full history and that it still has its original paintwork, even if it’s a little scruffy.

Steve Morgan

I read your Editorial on ‘Starship mileages’ and thought you might be interested to hear about a 1986 Volvo 760 GLE I owned about 20 years ago. This was fitted with the PRV B280E engine and clocked up 265,000 miles with no cam rattle or oil loss and on its original timing chains. The AW71 ’box stopped full throttle upchange at around 175,000 miles, but it was simply a case of easing back the throttle at around 2700rpm, watching the tacho to see the next gear engage and then powering up, then it just kept running. Maintenance comprised new engine oil and oil filter every 5000 miles, a gear oil change at 24,000 miles, diff oil change at 36,000 miles, plus all the usual stuff and gentle cold starts.

Unfortunately, the car was destroyed by fire when the wiring loom insulation cracked and shorted to the body near the battery. I think I probably would have had it running for another 100,000 miles had it not been written-off.

Alex Veltze