Does Driving Fast Lasting The Car

[bluethunder2008]

Hi,

I drive every to work around 35 mile , and that 's a high way road so I'm driving in around 100m/h, 5 days a week.

Does that hurt the car or make it last faster ?,

I've heard that high ways does not effect the car comparing the normal road, espcially in the gear shifter, and the engine.

I'm doing the services on the time.

[SRK]

That's a good question. Car salesman (and others) routinely claim that "highway miles" is a good thing. To some extent that's true.

For every mile covered, the engine will turn over fewer times in top gear. On the highway, being in top gear, the engine sees less wear. The other end of the scale is therefore sitting in traffic idling. Zero miles for whatever revolutions the engine turns.

Every time the transmission shifts, wear occurs. If it stays in top gear, it wears less.

Seals and other elastomeric parts are affected by heat and wear, and become brittle according to how many hours they are heated. On the highway, time is time, just like in traffic.

The front end of the car will be "sandblasted" more from highway driving - windshield and paintwork.

Tires wear more rapidly at high speed than low.

Brakes see less wear on the highway, unless you drive in the mountains.

Highway expansion joints, hit at higher speeds, will wear out suspension bushings.

Longer highway drives tend to keep the oil cleaner as it gets to and stays at operating temperature, but changing the oil negates that benefit for those who drive more slowly.

So a car driven at highway speed most of its life will have less wear on the drivetrain and brakes, but perhaps more suspension and tire wear.

My opinion is that the driver's habits tend to provide more or less wear on the car. As most of us know the first owners of many of the LS models tended to be older, and tended to drive more conservatively, and that contributes more to the condition of the car in general, than whether it was highway or city driven.

A high miler is a high miler. If I had to choose between a 100k highway car and a 50k city car, of the same age, and same price, I would still choose the city car.

[Lexusfreak]

I agree with most of what SRK has said, except I'd probably choose the highway car. Mileage on a vehicle is not as important (regardless of city or highway driving) as well as the vehicle is maintained. Having said that if the 100k car is almost all highway, I think the engine & tranny will have less wear & tear overall even though it has double the mileage. B)

Constand stop & go driving is not good for a vehicle.....and lot's of short trips (vehicle not getting up to operating temp) do more harm than good as well. It all depends on one's view mind you & how well a specific car was driven & maintained so the question is a bit of a catch 22. ;)

[GRAND_LS 4]

I agree with most of what SRK has said, except I'd probably choose the highway car.  Mileage on a vehicle is not as important (regardless of city or highway driving) as well as the vehicle is maintained.  Having said that if the 100k car is almost all highway, I think the engine & tranny will have less wear & tear overall even though it has double the mileage.  B) 

Constand stop & go driving is not good for a vehicle.....and lot's of short trips (vehicle not getting up to operating temp) do more harm than good as well.  It all depends on one's view mind you & how well a specific car was driven & maintained so the question is a bit of a catch 22.  ;)

 

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Highway miles simply mean the car was used LESS. Because you cover distances faster in highways, and the car isn’t occupied as much. So the interior, and mechanically, were most likely used less then a car that’s driven the same distance in the city.

Btw, Blue thunder is in Saudi, all the highways are asphalt, no highway joints. However, the only problem with highway driven cars, is that they tend to have more chips in the front bumper. I would rather some chips, then mechanical, or interior wear.

[SRK]

The one thing we may all be forgetting is that there is absolutely no means of confirming if a car was actually driven on the highway, or used as a "taxi" by somebody. As I said, if it has high mileage, it has high mileage.

I'd still take the 50k car.

[Lexusfreak]

The one thing we may all be forgetting is that there is absolutely no means of confirming if a car was actually driven on the highway, or used as a "taxi" by somebody.  As I said, if it has high mileage, it has high mileage. 

I'd still take the 50k car.

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There would be obvious signs if it was a taxi or say an 'air port' limo. It all depends on a specific car as opposed to generalizing a situation. B) That's why I mentioned it was a 'catch 22'. ;)

[VBdenny]

Starting the engine is when the most wear occurs. Taxis in NYC typiclly last 400,000 or more miles since they are hardly ever shut off.

So how much is gasoline in Blue Thunder land? and do they bother you for driving 100mph?

[dole2000]

I would rather get a car with to many miles, than not enough. I have purchased cars that where under driven and they had a lot of problem when I drove then on a regular basis. Give me a LS with 150K on it with good service records any day.

[bluethunder2008]

So how much is gasoline in Blue Thunder land?  and do they bother you for driving 100mph?

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it cost nothing comparing to other countries, 0.24 USD per letter.

driving 100mph is not allowed in travelling road, but in highway connecting the city , it's not allowed by law , but no body is checking for that, no Radar Camera or something like that. :)

the legal driving speed is 120km/h which is almost 70mph.

[GSsoldier]

.24? dang its like the gas prices in the 50's correct me if i get the reference wrong i am a late 80's early90's child... i cant rememberwhen it was when my more wiser friends said prices for gas was that cheap 100 mph on average? thats pretty fast even for me i;ve been trying to slow down i would hate to pay more for insurance

whats laws about insurance over there though blue ? california requires drivers to have it no matter wat which is kinda dumb but also kind of smart... cant say the same for other states though

[Jeff]

Hi all, I've owned over 70 cars in my lifetime and I can tell you first hand that a well maintaned high mileage car has always served me better than a very low mileage car. What I've found, if the car has high miles and almost cosmetically perfect, the car has been loved and cared for. The worst cars I've purchased have all been low low miles for the year. When you start using these ultra low mileage cars as normal drivers, things start breaking and leaking. I have a 96 LS400 with 139K that I would take over my moms 26K 1998 Caddy deville any day. The best used cars I've owned have all been Lexus brand with over 100K. (6 LS400's , 1 SC400, 1 RX300, and last but not least 1 GS400) Great cars......all of them.

[bluethunder2008]

whats laws about insurance over there though blue ? california requires drivers to have it no matter wat which is kinda dumb but also kind of smart... cant say the same for other states though

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in SAUDI ARABIA, you have to have a licence insurance , which cost you about 165 USD per year, and this insurance only covers your driving faults.

the full insurance is high comparing to licence insurance. and it depend on the type of your car. ( I think this one is applied in every place in the world.)

The High speed driving is also uncovered in the insurance.

I'm not going to reach 120mph, LS400 is amazing car , it's giving you very good ride, stable driving

I had Nissan Cedric , GM Caprise , and Crasseda, all are nothing comparing to LS400.

[Lexusfreak]

whats laws about insurance over there though blue ? california requires drivers to have it no matter wat which is kinda dumb but also kind of smart... cant say the same for other states though

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in SAUDI ARABIA, you have to have a licence insurance , which cost you about 165 USD per year, and this insurance only covers your driving faults.

the full insurance is high comparing to licence insurance. and it depend on the type of your car. ( I think this one is applied in every place in the world.)

The High speed driving is also uncovered in the insurance.

I'm not going to reach 120mph, LS400 is amazing car , it's giving you very good ride, stable driving

I had Nissan Cedric , GM Caprise , and Crasseda, all are nothing comparing to LS400.

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How much would 'Full insurance' cost you? B)

[GRAND_LS 4]

$160 for liability kicks !Removed!. That’s like $13 bucs a month. Covers up to $250,000 (I think) with the Company that I was with when I was there.

[bluethunder2008]

The full insurance , depend on your car and the year model.

but for one like mine , LS400 98 , it will cost $1100

usually most of poeple care about the require not the full insurance.

$160 for liability kicks !Removed!.  That’s like $13 bucs a month.  Covers up to $250,000 (I think) with the Company that I was with when I was there.

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[akewlguy]

Insurance is 350 here.. THat is a 93 with liability and collision.

Also if I were to look for a LEXUS again I would check carfax and maintenance records. I know more then ever if you know what to look for (laymens for laymens) you will know during the test drive what is right or wrong.

With everything being equal I would take a car with lower mileage. Now if someone lives in NYC and they have 20k less I would think they have more city miles.

I do know that my older friends who drive nice and easy with a mix of city and highway seem to have cars that last forever. They have crappy Fords and Chevys that last forever. So I guess regular maintenance and not romping on the car helps.

[nc211]

Kind of off topic, sort of. In connection with the mileage / age of the car and maintance, I look at where the car has lived. If it's a northern car, I tend to shy away due to the constant winter road salt conditions. I've owned only 1 northern car, and won't ever own another one again. It had rust bubbling under the paint 3 years and 30k miles into it's life. Although Lexus tends to use better materials to prevent such an event happening, still that road salt is just as bad, if not worse, on a car than running it along the beach in the surf. I've seen those Jeep ad's where they show a Jeep splashing along the beach, and just think to myself "well, that car is done for." I sort of feel the same way about winter cars.

[nc211]

edit: but I would not have a problem buying one from the guys on this board. No doubt in my mind that they wash and maintain their cars religiously!