Driving 35k-40k Miles In One Year?

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Sex Panther

Sex Panther

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So i ended up buying a black 2004 Volkswagen Jetta GLS for just under $6500 with 82,000 miles on its belt. I'd say it was a steal.

This year will also be a transition year for me and my girlfriend who are gonna be far apart for a year. She's finishing her last year at McGill University in Montreal while i'm headed to Yale down in New Haven next year. She's trying to get into UPenn, Columbia and NYU next year for her MBA but right now it's all up in the air with that idea, which would help, seeing as how that would be a FAR less-taxing drive. I plan on driving to see her every other week or once every 3 weeks.

As someone who knows jackshit about cars (as some of my friends on this board may know), I just wanna ask, will driving this much in a year (including lending this car to my buddy, and possibly driving back home to Chicago once every 4 months) mess up my car? Will I need regular maintenance for all this? What changes will I need done after the year?

In short, excluding the gas, what will I need to pay for to make sure this car runs healthy after a year of this marathon?

Remember, I know NOTHING about cars so all the info you guys can give me will be great.

xoxo
 
that sounds like a lot.

VWs are really bad maintenance-wise. Should have went japanese. No way I'd get a VW with 80k miles on it.....I'd be wary of getting one past warranty to be honest. :ohno: they break down and have a lot of expensive maintenance.
 
There is going to be A LOT of maintenance. In fact, in the long run it will probably be cheaper to fly/train/bus that commute than drive it all the time.

Oil changes every 3-5k miles
Tires
Brakes
Random crap (clutch, axles, electrical, etc.)

Considering it's a VW also, seriously, I'd plan on driving maybe half of the trips and figure out another way the other half. It will cut down the chances of a major headache (getting stranded somewhere) by quite a bit.
 
Oh also, you have a 90k maintenance coming up also. That one is usually pretty expensive (at least in my experience).
 
so.....there's no way this car will last (excluding oil changes cause I can learn to do that myself) that long/far without thousands of dollars of maintenance?
 
Actually, better question, anyone willing to ballpark the year's worth of maintenance?
 
all depends on the shape of the car to be honest. There is a lot of stuff that can go wrong....especially at that mileage. Has the timing belt been replaced yet? Have you done a complete inspection?
 
authentiq said:
so.....there's no way this car will last (excluding oil changes cause I can learn to do that myself) that long/far without thousands of dollars of maintenance?
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Sure, it could last. It could not. There's a ton of variables that we don't know (maintenance prior to your ownership, past problems, etc.).
 
VW Jettas main issues are it's legendary electrical problems, and if it doesn't have any yet it probably won't. Typically they happen more on new cars than old ones.

Have your mechanic give it a good checkup for the basics to see if you need any hoses or belts replaced now (probably), change all the fluids and filters, and if the timing belt/chain hasn't ever been replaced you should do that now.

35,000 miles isn't really that much, but since it's in a short time frame you have to remember to schedule your oil changes and such according to mileage, not according to every few months.
 
authentiq said:
Actually, better question, anyone willing to ballpark the year's worth of maintenance?
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Think about it this way, you are compressing 2-3 years of average driving and compressing it into a year.

But just based on the bare essentials:

Oil Changes- $25 if you do it yourself. 25*12= $300
Gas- ~$100 round-trip. If you make 20 trips in the year that's $2000

That's $2300 just on gas and oil/filters. That's assuming everything on the car is absolutely perfect.
 
brakes on it too. $200 for each if you don't need rotors resurfaced.
tires might need changing. $400 for tires.
$500 for timing belt.
 
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EL PRESIDENTE said:
all depends on the shape of the car to be honest. There is a lot of stuff that can go wrong....especially at that mileage. Has the timing belt been replaced yet? Have you done a complete inspection?
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Yes, and Yes.

Everything is fine with car, or so my mechanic says.

and there are no mechanical problems. I've already calculated the cost of gas so I just need the estimate on how much everything will cost and what kind of problems might arise during that time frame.

Thanks for the responses though, guys.
 
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Do you have a mechanic?

If not, find one NOW, before you have trouble.

Be anal about servicing that car and when you have an issue REPLACE all suspect parts. Don't screw around. Always use the best parts available. And invest in some SeaFoam and start using it. Use it to clean fuel system by adding to the vaccum, use it in your fuel, use it in your crankcase, and in your tranny.

DO ALL SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE. Don't defer anything.

And if you get the chance to swap the VeeWee for a Toyota, then do so.
 
Assuming that most of the mileage will be done on the highway - oil probably does not need to be changed as often as every 3000 miles - I would not be surprised if even the manufacturer recommends oil changes every 5-10K miles - modern metallurgy and oil quality has made the 3000 miles oil change interval a thing of the past unless you drive in very dirty (dust/sand) environment or mostly in start/stop conditions. If the car is really in good condition - and most of the mileage is highway mileage - I would not be worried about 5K intervals - and if the manual actually tells you to do it every 10K miles - just do it every 3 months.

I am not sure if VWs are timing belt engines (my German cars always had timing chains - but I suspect that VW builds stuff to a slightly cheaper standard than BMW) - if a timing belt was not changed recently - I would immediately schedule an appointment to do it. VW has interference engines, if memory serves - and if a timing belt breaks on one of these you have more than the hassle of a car that does not go to deal with - because you will most likely also bend some valves and will require a big engine rebuild job (at least new valves/cam-shaft). Job one is to check if a timing belt was changed on the car - and if not - do it, now.

Other than that - honestly, I would not be too worried about high mileage on well maintained modern cars. VW has had reliability issues in the past - but I think that 2004 is around the time they started to pay attention to the quality of their build - so hopefully, other than electrical issues - which are a nuisance - you will not have too much issues with it, especially if you pay attention to the recommended maintainance schedule and follow it as you should.

Cars will consume tires, brakes, gas and oil - but if this is mostly highway mileage - you hopefully will not have too much issues with it.

As I said - modern cars are built much better than old cars. My Subaru has 170K miles on it and it still feels as tight as a new car...
 
Figure at least $1/mile, maybe as high as $1.50

That includes insurance, maintenance, gas, etc.
 
ucatchtrout said:
Do you have a mechanic?

If not, find one NOW, before you have trouble.

Be anal about servicing that car and when you have an issue REPLACE all suspect parts. Don't screw around. Always use the best parts available. And invest in some SeaFoam and start using it. Use it to clean fuel system by adding to the vaccum, use it in your fuel, use it in your crankcase, and in your tranny.

DO ALL SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE. Don't defer anything.

And if you get the chance to swap the VeeWee for a Toyota, then do so.
Click to expand...

i'll look into some seafoam. thanks a lot.
 
andalusian said:
Assuming that most of the mileage will be done on the highway - oil probably does not need to be changed as often as every 3000 miles - I would not be surprised if even the manufacturer recommends oil changes every 5-10K miles - modern metallurgy and oil quality has made the 3000 miles oil change interval a thing of the past unless you drive in very dirty (dust/sand) environment or mostly in start/stop conditions. If the car is really in good condition - and most of the mileage is highway mileage - I would not be worried about 5K intervals - and if the manual actually tells you to do it every 10K miles - just do it every 3 months.

I am not sure if VWs are timing belt engines (my German cars always had timing chains - but I suspect that VW builds stuff to a slightly cheaper standard than BMW) - if a timing belt was not changed recently - I would immediately schedule an appointment to do it. VW has interference engines, if memory serves - and if a timing belt breaks on one of these you have more than the hassle of a car that does not go to deal with - because you will most likely also bend some valves and will require a big engine rebuild job (at least new valves/cam-shaft). Job one is to check if a timing belt was changed on the car - and if not - do it, now.

Other than that - honestly, I would not be too worried about high mileage on well maintained modern cars. VW has had reliability issues in the past - but I think that 2004 is around the time they started to pay attention to the quality of their build - so hopefully, other than electrical issues - which are a nuisance - you will not have too much issues with it, especially if you pay attention to the recommended maintainance schedule and follow it as you should.

Cars will consume tires, brakes, gas and oil - but if this is mostly highway mileage - you hopefully will not have too much issues with it.

As I said - modern cars are built much better than old cars. My Subaru has 170K miles on it and it still feels as tight as a new car...
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hmm, so i'm guessing oil change once a month in my case? or less/more?

and yeah, i got the routes down, so it will be mostly highway mileage.

thanks for the advice.
 
authentiq said:
hmm, so i'm guessing oil change once a month in my case? or less/more?

and yeah, i got the routes down, so it will be mostly highway mileage.

thanks for the advice.
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What does the manual say about intervals?

A quick online search tells me that VW of this era should have an oil change every 5000 miles if you use petrolium based oil or 10K for synthetic - so - assuming synthetic oil - every 3 months would be good.

But, check your car manual - I have no way to tell if the internet data is accurate.

Check the timing belt thing, however. The same internet check tells me that VW uses a timing belt, not a chain, and that as I remembered - it is an interference engine.
 
andalusian said:
What does the manual say about intervals?

A quick online search tells me that VW of this era should have an oil change every 5000 miles if you use petrolium based oil or 10K for synthetic - so - assuming synthetic oil - every 3 months would be good.

But, check your car manual - I have no way to tell if the internet data is accurate.

Check the timing belt thing, however. The same internet check tells me that VW uses a timing belt, not a chain, and that as I remembered - it is an interference engine.
Click to expand...

synthetic for me. and yes, its a timing belt.
 
paid in full. and im looking to drive 5 hours, break for an hour, eat, then drive the rest.
 
andalusian said:
I do not think depreciation, finance charges and travel time costs really figure in his calculations.
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Depreciation certainly matters. How many miles on his tires? Those need to be replaced. Will his engine need to be rebuilt at some point - that cost has to be accounted for.
 
how long would a VW engine generally last?

Just wondering, is 450k miles feasible?
 
authentiq said:
how long would a VW engine generally last?

Just wondering, is 450k miles feasible?
Click to expand...

The car could last forever (well, a really long time), as long as the frame isn't bent and it doesn't rust to pieces. You can replace just about every part on it as need be.

I happen to like VW. I owned a 1973 Bus and a 1984 Vanagon and they were very reliable. That 1973 bus probably had 450K miles on it - it was over 25 years old when I donated it to charity. It also held up its resale value - I paid $2500 for it and that's about what it cost new.

I see a LOT of old buses on the streets here in San Diego.
 
Denny Crane said:
Depreciation certainly matters. How many miles on his tires? Those need to be replaced. Will his engine need to be rebuilt at some point - that cost has to be accounted for.
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He paid $6500 for it. The 27c/mile figure in that link is just not relevant in this case. This car had most of it's depreciation happen already. A new Jetta is a $20K+ car - so for the next 5 years or so the car is going to depreciate an extra $3-4K at most - in other words - it is not really relevant to his calculation.
 
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