Who's running the highest miles?

Bravepants

For 10 years from about 1992 until 2002 I drove a 1989 Ford Fiesta Mark 2. I part exed it in 2002 with 180,000+ miles on it. It was so cheap to run and I had it serviced every six months. Then one day my mechanic said that I should think about getting rid before the next 6 months is up as he couldn't do any more welding on it!

I have been quite proud of my car mileages, as I tend to drive cars until they stop, or need too much work.

Now I see that my numbers are piffling compared to some on here.

Our 2016 Mazda 3 is fantastic to drive and it's a keeper for us until it fails, it only has 66k on it at the moment though.

ChloeHewitt

My 2014 Polo also has 156k miles on it, even the VW garage we’re surprised by the mileage. They said they don’t see mileage like that on them these days. Feels like (and I hope it does) go for at least another 10 years!

HillStreetBlues

Bit of a sore topic for me.
Friend had a Getz bought at 50k still going strong at 150k we were talking about could it reach 200k or even 250k 5 minutes later some ********* wrote if off and put us both in hospital for over two weeks.

Karhut

Hi,
I wish I knew how many miles my “old girl” VW Golf MK3 TDI has on her clock, the odometer stopped working 2019 , it had 158000 on the clock.
I have had the car for 29 years, still going great ! Top motor. Never broken down ,never had large bills to repair ( max £350 ) Insurance fully comp next year £154 . 

GrumpyDil

Karhut said:

Hi,
I wish I knew how many miles my “old girl” VW Golf MK3 TDI has on her clock, the odometer stopped working 2019 , it had 158000 on the clock.
I have had the car for 29 years, still going great ! Top motor. Never broken down ,never had large bills to repair ( max £350 ) Insurance fully comp next year £154 . 

Assuming that is a display issue if you are really keen to find out pretty certain that something like OBD 11/VCDS would be able to read the mileage. 

Mildly_Miffed

Our intact-and-legal fleet:

Sensible daily (12yo) - 150k miles
Camper van (22yo) - 240k km (=150k miles)
Weekend pampered classic (42yo) - 150k miles

Karhut

What is OBD 11/VCDS ?

Yes I would like to know the mileage
It stopped working after I pressed button to zero trip, message came “ Error “ after that it stopped showing mileage.
The odd thing is when it’s very cold in winter you can see faintly the trip mileage .

Katieconker

I have an 18 year old Kia Picanto that had just done 30000 miles.  I have a service and MOT history three inches thick but would get nothing if I sold it so I just hope it will last another 18 years

ididgetwhereiamtoday

Katieconker said:

I have an 18 year old Kia Picanto that had just done 30000 miles.  I have a service and MOT history three inches thick but would get nothing if I sold it so I just hope it will last another 18 years

I don't think that qualifies as high miles!

Goudy

Karhut said:

What is OBD 11/VCDS ?

Yes I would like to know the mileage
It stopped working after I pressed button to zero trip, message came “ Error “ after that it stopped showing mileage.
The odd thing is when it’s very cold in winter you can see faintly the trip mileage .

OBD2 is the vehicle's On Board Diagnostic system.
It's the industry standard way to read the cars electronic brain/brains (ECUs).

VCDS is short for VAG-COM Diagnostic Software.
It's a manufacturer specific piece of (Third Party) software that runs on Windows that allows you to read the cars electronic brain/s via the OBD2 system.

You would need to buy the adaptor that works with your vehicle and the VCDS software, plus the VCDS software.

This adaptor fits into the car's on board diagnostic port (it looks like a old Scart Socket that you find on the back of VCRs and TVs under your dashboard somewhere) and connects it with the Laptop/VCDS software.

It will allow you do/see pretty much what a VW dealer would be able to do/see inside the car's electronic brain/s, including reading the mileage stored there.
It's only your mileage display that is broken, the mileage is still recorded and stored.

The adaptor and software can be a bit pricy just for a mileage read (though I think there is a Lite version for free, but functionality will be very limited) but most VAG forums have local owners that have the kit and would happily do a quick scan for you for a "drink" if you took it around.

Also, as VCDS is quite similar to the manufacturer specific software main dealers use, lots of VAG independents will use it as well.
They'll often have a set fee for a scan of the ECU based just on the time it takes to do it.

Before you start to read up further, most cheap, generic ODB2 adaptors and cheap/free software will not read the mileage that is stored.
They will only usually read the first set of generic diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) of the engine ECU (generic P codes), if you can get them to work in the first place.

DTC's are usually split into two

Generic all manufacturers use. 
And
Manufacturer/model specific.
Each code usually come with a further set of sub codes to further help with diagnostics.

There are more than one ECU within a modern car, these days there are a number of them all with their own fault codes.
Engine DTC's are usually P codes.
Chassis (like ABS) are C codes
Body are B codes.
Communication are U codes. 

Obviously to delve into the mileage stored you need something that can reach.