February 1, 2008 1:42 PM
A man and his million mile truck
Marshfield News Herald
If you're one of those people - almost all of them guys - who drive a car or truck until the wheels fall off, you have a new hero.
Meet Frank Oresnik, who is on the verge of putting 1,000,000 miles on his Chevy Silverado pickup truck.
Oresnik took the 1991 Chevrolet Silverado to the Oil Ex-Change Quick Lube in Medford on Thursday for what he expects will be its last oil change and tuneup before hitting the magic number.He said the truck is 1,200 miles from a million, and once he hits the mark he will retire the vehicle.
"I feel almost like the longtime NFL player as he goes into his last training camp knowing this is the end," Oresnik said.
He credits proper maintenance and a good measure of luck for allowing the truck to rack up so many miles. He said he's had more than 300 oil changes and tuneups at the Medford business, going in every 3,000 miles.
The truck has had four radiators, three gas tanks, five transmissions and six water pumps, but the engine has never been overhauled, Oresnik said.
I once pushed a 1971 Volkswagen Beetle to 240,000 miles before giving it up. At the end it had a coat-hanger for a radio antenna and some of the seat covers were beach towels. Still ran great, though. I made an economic decision to get rid of it: a new car was cheaper than a divorce lawyer.
February 1, 2008
2:07 PM
KW writes:
"Ford" Silverado???
Is that hybrid or a cross-breed?
February 1, 2008
2:07 PM
gr8fuldude writes:
At one million miles in 17 years, that means this guy drives an average of 58.8K miles a year. Ugh! When I lived on the east coast, I knew people who did that, and their quality of life stunk, usually due to insanely long commutes.
February 1, 2008
2:35 PM
Mark Wolf writes:
Oops. Fixed that.
February 1, 2008
2:35 PM
jay writes:
"I feel almost like the longtime NFL player as he goes into his last training camp knowing this is the end," Oresnik said.
That is awesome
I pushed a 1986 Honda Prelude to 260k during high school, college and right up until I got my first corporate gig. Still miss that car.
February 1, 2008
3:17 PM
David Hakala writes:
So does he get a Hank Hill Award from Fox?
February 1, 2008
4:14 PM
Shaggy writes:
Wow, This truck has more miles on it then Hillary, now that is an accomplishment.
February 1, 2008
6:06 PM
just sayin' writes:
I think you guys are blowing the Hillary joke. I don't think she gets that much attention and may be why Bill was getting some somewhere else. My dad has a 64 Chevy pickup that he bought new. Anyone think they will own a vehicle for 44 years? He used to only drive it a few times a year (dirt for the garden etc) but hasn't driven it for a few years. I'm trying to convince him to sell it to someone who could cherry it out. Not my thing but someone would love it.
February 1, 2008
9:15 PM
Brian in Evans writes:
58 THOUSAND miles a year? This sounds like a FISH STORY. He saw the guy that got a Free Car who laid the same claim, but to a vehicle far older, and probably made a deal with the oiL change outfit. Wants to be the next Jared! Nobody drives that many miles a year, for that many years.
February 2, 2008
7:02 AM
Anonymous writes:
This sounds like a hoax
if someone really did 60k miles a year
this is the same as driving to California every week (about 1200 miles)
This guy has to be on the road every day almost every hour.
February 2, 2008
2:49 PM
Michael writes:
My best was a 1976 Toyota Celica GT Coupe (not the hatchback) with the 20R 4 cylinder motor. 250,000 miles, no engine overhaul, 1 paint job, several stereo systems and not much but oil changes and I think a water pump or 2. Had trouble with the AC - but it was aftermarket and trouble from the beginning. Sold it to my nephew in 1997 at the 250K marl. He trashed it in less than a year.
February 2, 2008
4:22 PM
Anonymous writes:
M-
You SOLD a '76 celica to a family member with 250K miles on it.
Are you a used car dealer by trade? What a Grinch. Yeah, you.
Let me guess, you needed another case of Keystone Light in the fridge.
February 3, 2008
7:25 AM
DR writes:
Got up early to start on my homework that is due Thursday, and saw the story about Zim finally making it into the Hall - awesome, and about time. And then I saw the header about the million mile truck and had to check it out.
While it's certainly not impossible, I find it a bit tough to believe because my dad bought a brand new 1969 Ford Econoline van to run service calls for his TV shop in Phoenix, and he was always in the thing, driving from Mesa and Apache Junction on the east, to Tolleson and Litchfield Park on the west, to Maricopa in the south, to way past Beardsley and New River in the north - sometimes hundreds of miles a day. When he retired and sold his shop in 2004, he kept the van until last year when he finally ran an ad and sold it for $600 with over 780,000 miles on it.
If my calculator is working, that just under about 23,000 a year, and it seems like he was always in that thing. It did have an engine rebuild at just over 600,000 due to rings, and I think it went through two water pumps, a power steering pump, and a fuel pump. Not bad at all.
Out in my field, I have a 1987 Tempo with 357,000 that I use every so often. Still gets 34 to a gallon, runs very well with no oil burning, and has had an ignition module (on the distributor) and a fuel pump replaced in it. Took me and the family reliably from North Dakota to Phoenix, and from Kansas City and Tulsa to Disneyland in LA for many years when the kiddos were younger.
With my drive the last 10 years, round-trip for work every day being around 120 miles, I guess I can believe he drove an average of about 160 a day, every day, since he bought the truck - but that's a boat load of miles.
February 3, 2008
10:51 AM
Anonymous writes:
I have a ford explorer 97 and have 300 k on it with original everthing. Worried it would self destruct because it has the original hoses and water pump even.
Inclucing the gass tank. How do you go though gas tanks??? Must be salt from the road.
Now I am sad because I will never get up to that record unless I keep my explorer for ever.
February 4, 2008
12:06 PM
Ron Westfield writes:
You better believe the guy.
I have a '93 Silverado with 416,000+ on it and still working hard, service truck & commercial snow plowing.
February 5, 2008
10:54 AM
Stone Cold writes:
My '92 Suburban topped 320k miles before I traded it in on a new 2003. Excellent truck, very reliable. In those 320k miles, I replaced the transmission once and the engine once. Other than that, it was a handful of normal repairs (water pump, alternator, battery).
GM gets slammed by so many people, but in the 16 years I've been driving Suburbans I'd rate them as an "A". My Suburbans have been every bit as reliable and trouble-free as a Toyota.
February 5, 2008
11:41 AM
Mitt Romney writes:
Let me make myself clear on this issue.
Trucks use petroleum, which comes from Iraq. Look at my Hair. Iraq is in a lot of turmoil these days, and there is petroleum there that we can use in our trucks. Petroleum is good.
Thank You.