Welcome, I have a feeling with the family of hot rodders, that 200 won't stay in there long. I can see a car of that age having that many miles. Some places in TN are quite rural and you have to drive many miles sometimes to get to a store or church. I bought my Festiva from a guy in a small town and it had 217,000 miles on it and it's got close to 270k on it now.
Welcome Crashie. That user name scares me. Drive that wagon with care! Sure looks nice for that many miles on it. Someone mentioned that we joke around. I don't believe in that. I'm always dead serious so get used to it!
aboard Brittany, Those Fairmonts make cool wagons. I think they've been overlooked for many years. As was mentioned, it's a Foxbody car, and a Mustang 5.0 donor might be in it's future. Nice shape for almost a half million miles on it.
I live in Oneida, my dad gave me the nickname when I use to race Dirt-track cars, (rubbin is racing) and jaunty that is very possible, but i'm just going by what the seller told me.
That was supposed to be a joke. There is no way your car has nearly 1/2 million miles on it. No how. No way. You said earlier that that's what the miles were "10-15 years ago" when the previous owner bought it or something like that. Going with the most optimistic of that range, 10 years, that means that that car had 480,000 miles put on it between 1978 and 2004. That's an average of about 18,500 miles per year every year. Not impossible, but highly unlikely as even the best-built and maintained car will wear out after that many miles. Cars pretty much always get driven less as they get older as well. If we go to the other end of that range and assume it had that many miles 15 years ago, that means it put on 480,000 miles in 21 years (1978-1999), or almost 23,000 miles per year, which is about double the average miles put on the average car in the U.S. each year. The car's odometer has only 5 digits, so all it reads is 80,000, and it can't read more than 99999.9. It's reasonable to assume it's turned over once, and I can buy twice, but four times? No. Certainly there was an error in the paperwork some time in the car's past. It more likely has 180,000 miles on it. Even 280,000 is well more than most cars will last.
While it may not be likely to see such high mileage, it is not unheard of, either. My brother's 86 Colony Park was showing 850,000 kms when the body mounts broke after my sister-in-law went off roading accidentally. That is just over 500,000 miles, with the original engine, transmission, and limited slip back axle. Since the odometer DOES read to 999,999 kms in these cars, we were certain of the mileage. I also know one person who bought a 1991 Crown Victoria new. The last time I saw him, it was showing 300,000 kms, for the second time, so that is coming up on 800,000 miles.
I knew it! I just knew there'd be an argument about the mileage on this wagon. I for one was questioning it myself, quietly. We're usually saying "no way that wagon has only 8,000 miles on it" because most often low mileage is quoted. Anything is possible. A simple way for me to narrow down a high mileage question is to check the steering wheel and pedal pads for wear. Also the drivers seat, mostly the very edge from getting in and out thousands of times at church, should be worn and torn. A wagon with that many miles should show wear. Of course all of the many mechanical parts under the wagon should show signs of replacement and, or wear, too. Whatever the mileage on Crashie's wagon it's been very well taken care of. Possibly more clues will show up.
Exactly. We often ask for documentation when a seller is claiming a very low mileage car, and the same is true for an unusually high-mileage car. A car with nearly 1/2 million miles ought to have had more than 100 oil changes and gone through at least 10 sets of tires. Let's see receipts. Let's see receipts for the five transmission rebuilds it's likely to have had. The multiple radiator replacements or overhauls, too. Etc. Etc. Etc. Yes, everybody talks about cars going hundreds of thousands of miles and everybody has a brother-in-law who has a friend whose car did it. But 200,000 or 250,000 is not 500,000. I'm not saying it's not possible. I'm just saying it's unlikely, especially given the rate at which the miles were supposedly accumulated given the statement about it having already had 480,000 miles "10 or 15 years ago."
The other issue that works against this car having 1/2 million miles is that it is simply in too good a shape. Does this car look like it has even half that many miles on it? The answer is no. There is simply not enough wear, especially on the interior. Yes, it could have been redone on the inside and repaired and repainted on the outside. But why? This is a Ford Fairmont, probably one of the least popular, least valuable cars Ford ever made (no offense intended--we're just looking at history here). We all like it because it's a wagon, but anyone planning to put hundreds of thousands of miles on it looks at it as a workhorse, not a show car, and it seems unlikely they would spend the time and money to restore it. They're more likely to use it up, throw it away, and get another one. No, the more likely scenario is that it's just a well cared for car with 180,000 miles on it.
