Anyone ever follow the "million mile van?"

[CJ]

Dude, that thing had plenty of regular maintenance according to the owner. Also, two rebuilds to get to 3 million miles and counting works out to about the same rate (and getting better) that this guy hit.

pretty regular maintenance? 55,000 miles between oil changes? LOL did you read his stories? He changes the oil when it's black. His oil changes were every 10-20k miles. That is not regular maintenance. That's terrible maintenance.

[Slowhand]

pretty regular maintenance? 55,000 miles between oil changes? LOL did you read his stories? He changes the oil when it's black. His oil changes were every 10-20k miles. That is not regular maintenance. That's terrible maintenance.

Long oil changes don't constitute shit maintenance, necessarily. There's another guy out there running a million mile Chevy Express that does 25-30k intervals on his. With modern synthetics and the bulk of his driving being relatively stress-free highway miles it's just not that absurd. And he diligently maintained the rest of the car mechanically, as per his own logs, so it's not like he was abusing the thing.

[CJ]

Long oil changes don't constitute shit maintenance, necessarily. There's another guy out there running a million mile Chevy Express that does 25-30k intervals on his. With modern synthetics and the bulk of his driving being relatively stress-free highway miles it's just not that absurd. And he diligently maintained the rest of the car mechanically, as per his own logs, so it's not like he was abusing the thing.

Yes, but he isn't using synthetics. And 55k on an oil change isn't abusing a car? a million miles with shit ass maintenance and no rebuilds is impressive. I find that more impressive than the volvo.

[Sean88gt]

that nigga look like he would drive a van.

god bless.

He said he keeps his goatee about 9" long, so it can tickle his "passengers" knees.

[Reefer Rae]

My Ford Exploder is somewhere north of 450k on the original 4.0 motor. Trans replaced once. Biggest issue I have is the windows randomly decide they don't want to work. I am looking to sell it this Spring, but it has been good to us.

KBB says that due to mileage you owe me 4500 dollars if I buy it!

[LaserSVT]

Got a customer with an Escape 4 banger that has 512k on it last time I saw him. Only done timing belts and oil changes. It did burn up an alt but thats it.

[Strychnine]

http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/The-Worlds-Greatest-Traveler-A-1988-Mercedes-That-Has-Been-to-172-Countries.html

820,000 km = 511,388 miles... 124,000mi + of that offroad.

Outside Online
Monday, January 07, 2013

The World's Greatest Traveler: A 1988 Mercedes That Has Been to 172 Countries


Gunther Holtorf, a 75-year-old former airline CEO who has driven more than 820,000 kilometers over the past two decades, doesn't care if you remember his travels. But you better respect Otto, his G Wagon that will be placed in a museum if it makes it through this final leg.



Gunther Holtorf has been living in his car for the better part of the last 23 years. He has driven 823,000 kilometers, a quarter of that on unpaved roads, all in a 1988 Mercedes G Wagon he calls “Otto,” across 172 sovereign countries, 17 dependent territories, six special territories, and five de-facto states. He’s driven to Tibet, Mt. Everest, Sudan, Iraq, and Afghanistan during periods of conflict, and became the first Westerner to drive in North Korea last year. He’s never been robbed and insists he’s never paid a bribe.

Holtorf travels without a suitcase and has no mobile phone, no blog, no Facebook or Twitter pages—no electronics of any kind. He has rebuffed potential sponsors because he doesn’t want logos on his car. Holtorf doesn’t patronize hotels or restaurants; he sleeps in a makeshift bed in Otto’s backseat and cooks food he buys in local markets.

On January 10, Holtorf, 75, will leave his native Germany for his final voyage, which will take him to nine of the 10 countries in the world he has yet to visit. But when asked if his final voyage will confirm that he’s the world’s greatest living traveler, he scoffs.

“A lot of people have tried to travel everywhere,” he says. “I’m just another traveler, but the car, the car is special. Otto is the most traveled vehicle on earth.”

Holtorf says that Otto has never had a breakdown and still runs on its original transmission. But his travels haven’t been without a cost. Holtorf and his late wife Christine left their son, Martin, then 10, with an aunt for what was supposed to be an 18-month trip across Africa in 1989.

“But the more we traveled, the more we realized how little we’d seen,” he says, and so they kept going, putting Martin in a boarding school.

And Holtorf continued to travel, even after his wife was stricken with cancer and became too sick to continue because that’s what she wanted. On his final voyage, Holtorf is traveling with a lady friend who is also a widower. We caught up with Holtorf from his home in Gollenshausen, Germany, just before his departure to ask him about his life on the road.

*** interview follows at link***

The car was built in July 1988. It cost 30,000 Euros. I’m still driving it. It’s not only the same car; it’s the same car with the same components. It has the original gearbox—never touched, never opened. The original transfer case—never touched, never opened. And also the original axles and differentials. It now has exactly 823,000 kilometers.

The aim is to continue now and complete the tour with the car in its original shape. Mercedes Benz wants to take the car and put it in their museum in Stuttgart after the journey is over.