Over 200,000 Miles

To the surprise of everyone I know, and to my delight, my 1997 Oldsmobile Acheiva has surpassed 200,000 miles. I bought the car used in 1999. Since that time, I have had to do little to it really. Regular fluid, and filter services, belts and hoses, tires and of course breaks.

There have been a few other repairs as well. The alternator went out once, and ended up taking that battery with it. The water pump needed replacing, and that was a royal pain, but a part that usually will go out in a car no matter what the make and model. It finally needed new Oxygen censors as well, but again, not uncommon. We finally have to replace the axle bearings, but after that many miles that really shouldn't be a surprise. We replaced the axle shafts at that time too, but only because we were trying to locate the cause of the noise, which turned out to be the axle bearings. One of the motor mounts has been replaced to, but it was the upper one, and that was done around 100,000 miles. The only other thing that had to be replaced was the radiator. They make the tanks in those things out of plastic now. Plastic gets brittle after a while, but that happened after 150,000 miles and after I gad owned the car for nine years.

I know of one other thing that my car needs in the near future and that is shocks a struts. They are finally going a bit too soft, but they have made my ride smooth for a very long time. They are just ready to retire.

All in all, I can't complain. So far the motor and transmission are still very sound, and strong. A lot more than I could have even thought to hope for. I wish Oldsmobile wasn't out of business. My car has lasted a long time, but I am not delusional. I know it won't last forever. I would love to make my next car an Olds.

Here is a picture of my odometer reading shortly after I reached 200,000 miles. I know have over 204,000 now.


Shot with 1.3 Megapixel at 2009-06-16

Ignore the low coolant light, it was only on because I just started the car. :)