[100Kmphormore]

Our 2006 WagonR which is at 40K on the odo is used regularly for Bengaluru - Dharmasthala runs. Not a hiccup

[123.rishabh]

Have been using my 2005 W220 S350 for highway runs only, since I stay in Delhi NCR & it cannot be used in the city due to NGT rulings.

Recently took a trip from Delhi to Jhansi via Gwalior & Orchha.
The car performed flawlessly without any hiccups.



In Orchha, google maps redirected us via a village and had to manage driving on the narrowest of roads full of traffic.



The second trip was in the month of May from Delhi to Jodhpur.



It was peak summers and I faced an issue of a coolant pipe burst (Engine to the Cabin heater core) when i just reached Khimsar fort resort and stopped the car.
Thankfully the resort is a home to a lot of vintage cars and there mechanics helped me replace the pipe with a makeshift arrangement and I could continue my 5 day trip without any other issue.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by 123.rishabh

Have been using my 2005 W220 S350 for highway runs only, since I stay in Delhi NCR & it cannot be used in the city due to NGT rulings.

Off topic. While that first pic looks like a quintessential desi pic, the third pic is just wallpaper material!!!

[venkat_partha]

2006 Ford Fiesta. Do regular (at least once a year) BLR-Mumbai trips, non stop. multiple trips BLR-Chennai trips. non stop. Just did a BLR-Goa trip. Car is in tip top shape. do regular maintenance and repair/replace consumables.

[Bismaya]

My 21 year old Maruti 800 has recently done a 383kms trip in a day when my father got transferred. I insisted on taking the CSUV but my father has insistent on driving his beloved car on the NH and enjoy the distance. I know it's not a huge distance in a day or a trip overall but totally worth the time and experience. Total travelling time comes under 8 hours. Average Fuel efficiency came around 20.3kmpl with light AC usage on highways and speeds under 90km/hr.

Stops: Once every hour or an hour and quarter.

[JediKnight]

No issues in running a 15 year old car on a highway if maintained well as many pointed out. In fact I would say an old trusted car may be more reliable. New Cars have too much electronics and complex emission systems. Moreover when they break down many a times your average roadside mechanic may not be able to fix it. On the flip side a newer car will be safer but drive sensibly you should be okay.

I would make sure that the car is serviced regularly. Before journey check all the fluids. Tires should be in good condition and inflated correctly. Check front ball joints. Make sure your timing belt/chain has been changed as per manufacturer recommended interval.

[livetodrive]

Took my 17 year old Santro to Bakkhali from Kolkata. The car at present is clocking more than 1.3 Lakh KMs . Post 90K KM it is being driven by different local drivers.

It was a 300+ KM trip with 4 people on board. On empty stretches the car still has the grunt and quickly reaches 80+ speed. Post that the speedo saturates and I did not push it to go more. Issue is with suspension and mild jerks are felt inside the cabin. There were different problems in this long run like other Santros (sound from steering tie road, screeching wiper), but Dad has kept it well and it is in a good state to run around the city.



Once we returned back home, our driver took the steering wheel and asked if I did any servicing in past 3 days. I just said its happy to hit the highway again with his owner .

[Cresterk]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Not just students, but even adults use those in the US. My colleague uses his dad's old Honda as a beater car to park at the airport for days, etc. That car is older than me and still had more safety and useable features than what we get here today.

Man I feel you. I was watching this old review of a 2005 Lincoln in the US the other day. You don't get many of these features even in cars costing 1 crore in India in 2022.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vNUXUA526s

Skip to about 9:40 to have your mind blown.





And coming back to the topic of the thread. When I was a kid, we once drove a pre-2000s honda civic all the way from Riyadh to Qatar and back for a family roadtrip.

[zaid qazi]

In November 2020 we were in delhi for some work and we were planning to go hyderabad by train Or by a flight suddenly we happened to plan to go buy a car so we purchased a honda city dolphin which was 2004 model and which was no more fit to run in delhi,we started of from delhi late at night and drove down 1600 kms one side in a 16 year old car without any hiccup.

[Yash390]

We have a 17.5 years old 130k kms run Honda City GXi. Stopped taking it to the highway 5 years back as we had an XUV500 W8 AWD for that. The car is always in excellent shape mechanically but the absolute lack of safety features (no airbags and ABS) has just robbed me of my confidence. With absolutely reckless drivers and unexpected animals ruling the highways, I'm just scared.

[PhantomLord]

I have done all most all my long trips on 1995 W124, longest one was in 2019, Coorg to Gujarat. Nothing like driving 124 all day, reasonably fast, comfortable, feels safe and handles anything Indian roads can throw at it. I even took it off-road at Gir, you can search for '124 @ Gir' in youtube.

Gujarat Travel Map


124 @ Dwarka



124 @ Rann: Matches MB's White + Marble grey paint combination ?



Lost on Road to Dholavira: Good Samaritan helped me get out of the village, he himself got lost for a bit though :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C0VZgw9pdE

[jonesanto]

Lot of cool stories....

When I said "I do not have the courage to take such an old car for a long highway run anymore." What I meant is, no courage to take a car where its parts availability is scarce. I have a 14 year old Innova which has done 25K in the last six months and I will take that anywhere any day, reason being... It's an Innova. No explanation needed.

Last week we checked availability of Elantra's original diesel filer, nothing available in my town, has to come from Chennai and they said, minimum 15 days.

Like many pointed out, a new car can breakdown too, but if you know you will get parts and any local mechanic will know what to do about it, it's confidence inspiring.

Being that said, if given a chance to drive her on the highway without my family, I will jump on it.

[SN88]

There is a honda city 2007 in my building with 2 lacs something kms on the odo and it does Mum-Goa once/ twice a month with absolutely no issue's. its regularly maintained and the owner seems to have no concern with the age as it drives just how it used to in its prime.

I suppose maintenance and ofcourse certain cars are just made to last a lifetime.

[revsperminute]

Indore-Bhopal-Indore in a 100 series LC. Being what it is, I did not push it too much since the engine was still being run-in.

[cka]

This is such a nice thread idea. Today I got a well maintained Hyundai Accent as Ola ride and the car had clocked 3.5 lakh kms in 5.8 years. I started chatting with driver and found out that he was earlier doing only Outstation trips but the ride hailing apps allow/prefer only upto 5 year old car on outside trips.
May be simple logic is they don't trust the driver partners are maintaining the car well as a yellow plate car easily does 60k+ kms in a year.

Sorry for going off topic.