Don’t you love the stories about drivers who have travelled astronomical distances in their cars?
The latest is a chap from Bedford in the UK whose Suzuki Vitara has clocked up 436,500 miles over the past 10 years.
That’s 701,674km in our money.
The Vitara SZ-T with a 1.6-litre petrol engine has been regularly serviced and retains its original engine, gearbox and exhaust system.
Purchased new in 2017, its owner has had the car correctly dealer-serviced every few months and drove it daily, including many trips across Europe.
The Vitara still runs perfectly with no oil leaks, but the owner has gone through no less than 15 sets of new tyres over this period as well as quite a few replacement brake pads.
The only other item of note that has needed replacing is the rubber boots of a driveshaft.
The story brings back memories of the American schoolteacher Irv Gordon who had clocked up a staggering 5.23 million kilometres in his Volvo P1800S by the time of his death in 2018.
It has been certified as the highest mileage, private registered vehicle driven by the original owner in non-commercial service.
Then there was our own Noel Maynard from Proserpine in Queensland, who notched up more than 1 million kilometres in his Nissan Patrol.
Noel purchased his Series IV GU Patrol in 2005, but in the early years, the kilometres accrued slowly.
It wasn’t until he began using his vehicle to escort “wide load” vehicles that the numbers really started to soar.
Sadly, the UK chappie has traded in his Vitara, so that rec0rd has been nipped in the bud right there.
The good news for Suzuki however is that he has swapped the car for a 2024 approved used Vitara Hybrid and will perhaps continue to travel these staggering distances with the brand in the coming years.
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