Before we announce the winners of October’s High Mileage Heroes giveaway, here’s another cool offer that everybody should take advantage of: our partners at Pennzoil are currently offering a rebate good for up to 6 quarts of Pennzoil motor oil, which is essentially a free oil change for most vehicles! And who couldn’t use some free oil right about now? Now, on with the show.
The 2004 Toyota Sequoia, with more than 540k miles on the clock, emerged as the clear favorite this time. It was won by @usamarinas, and our favorite comment was left by @FlyingJackalope, who has some aspirations for his own ‘Yoda pickup:
"I’m favoriting the Sequoia for Toyota’s ability to produce such reliable vehicles. This gives me hope that my 2000 Tundra with the same engine will go at least 300k more than the 170k already on it.
Great lot of contenders this round BAT!"
With regular care, your truck should go another 300k miles and beyond! Congratulations to FlyingJackalope and the buyer usamarinas, who we hope keeps this Toyota ticking toward the million-mile mark. We’ll be getting in touch with you shortly about your new 1/18 scale BaT Ford Roadster Hot Rod!
Big thanks are also due to Pennzoil for sponsoring this series, and the BaT community for participating in some lively and entertaining discussion. Long may we drive, indeed! Don’t forget to cash in your rebate good for up to 6 quarts of any Pennzoil motor oil this fall.
ORIGINAL POST:
We all love a car with a good story, and the cars with the most miles often have the best ones. We think that makes special high-mileage vehicles and their histories worth preserving, and our friends at Pennzoil share this outlook. To help members of the BaT community keep old cars on the road where they belong, they’ve extended their rebate good for up to 6 quarts of any Pennzoil motor oil into the fall. In support of their “long may we drive” mantra, we’re highlighting some of the many steadfast vehicles on this site that have rewarded their owners with decades of regular use and enjoyment. This is our fourth salute to those High Mileage Heroes.
We’re asking you to tell us which of these cars most resonates with you, and why. Both the winning bidder of that automobile and the author of our favorite comment will be awarded a 1/18 scale BaT Ford Roadster Hot Rod! We’ll count comments submitted before next Wednesday, October 21. Last round, the buyer of our High Mileage Hero Bronco was @CozTOs, and our favorite comment was a touching tribute to its late long-term owner from @CarDogThreePedals.
Here are our latest High Mileage Heroes! Be sure to pick your favorite by commenting below.
279k-Mile 1995.5 Audi S6 Avant 5-Speed
Free online classified ads are littered with the corpses of high-mileage Audis being unloaded for beer money. This is not one of those. This UrS6 is one of 459 that came to the US and spent most of its life in the Pacific Northwest, racking up a total of 279k miles before landing on BaT. It was pressed into six years of daily driver duty by the seller, and sports a collection of aftermarket parts installed to upgrade performance and driveability. And it has the all-important rear-facing jump seat! Quick, roomy, and steadfast—that’s pretty much the perfect car in our book.
543k-Mile 2004 Toyota Sequoia SR5
We made a big deal about BaT auction 250,000 over the summer, but now it’s time for 250,001 to get its due. Distance-wise, this first-gen Sequoia had driven to the Moon and back, then circumnavigated the globe two and a half times before parking in the auction winner’s driveway. Contemporary Land Cruisers always steal the Sequoia’s thunder with their reputation for bulletproof reliability, but both models share the 2UZ V8, an engine that simply doesn’t know how to quit. The truck sold to @usamarinas, who had been chasing Toyota SUVs for years before finally snagging this wizened beast for a very affordable sum.
550k-Mile 1970 Volvo 142S 4-Speed
A 543k-mile Toyota is a hard act to follow, but this yellow brick has been on the road even longer. Nearly all of its 550k miles were driven by a single owner between 1970 and 2023, and the miracle moose needed but one engine rebuild during that time. Any mummy will tell you that the dry desert climate does a great job of preserving a body, and whatever covers the original owner had on the seats kept them looking almost new. The “red block” four sports twin SUs and is bolted up to a replacement four-speed with overdrive. We hope the new owner has gotten the A/C working!
456k-Mile 1978 Mercedes-Benz 240D 4-Speed
The Mercedes-Benz W123 chassis was voted “Most Likely to Last Forever” by its graduating class, so it’s no surprise to see one that has attained high mileage—but few examples still look this good at 456k. The car was treated right over the years, and received a repaint and a factory replacement engine (that has itself run for 330k miles) in 2001. The MB-Tex seats casually shrug off their 48 years of wear, and will likely look just as good when archaeologists uncover them in the year 4078. With just 62 horsepower on tap, this diesel tortoise isn’t going anywhere fast—but it’s proven its ability to go the distance.
Be sure to vote for your favorite! We’ll be awarding a BaT Hot Rod model to the author of our favorite comment as well as the buyer of the vehicle that receives the most votes.