One tough Pontiac 6000

[87aero]

Man's Pontiac has more than 500,000 miles
Kinston Free Press
LaToya Mack
Staff Writer

PINK HILL - Pontiac may have found a new pitch man in James Heath.

The 77-year-old man drives a 1991 Pontiac 6000 that, as of Monday morning, had 500,354 miles and counting.

"It runs good," Heath said. "I haven't done nothing hardly except put head gaskets on. It had a new alternator."

Heath began driving the car for work in 1994. He hauled medicine to Dunn, Fayetteville, Pembroke, Lumberton and Elizabethtown. The car had 97,000 miles on it when he got it.

The company he worked for gave him the car when he retired in 2001. The car had 350,000 miles on it then.

Since he's retired, Heath, who lives three miles outside Pink Hill, said he drives to Pink Hill and Kinston a few times a week.

One of Heath's secrets to keeping his car running is using Havoline oil and STP. His advice to people who want to keep their cars running as long as he has is to use STP.

"If you use STP oil treatment in it, you can't wear it out," Heath said.

Heath only changes his oil once a year. He's put three filters in the transmission in 500,000 miles. The brake rotors have never been turned and he's never had to put a new signal light on the car.

Heath attributes some of the car's staying power to General Motors. He said the car is well-built.

"It has the best-running motor I've ever had any dealings with," Heath said. "I've always had Pontiacs all my life and I've always liked them."

Wayne Pittman, Heath's insurance agent for Allstate Insurance, said someone at General Motors told him that Heath was only the second person they knew about to have a car with more than 500,000 miles.

Judging from Heath's words, his Pontiac will rack up many more trips.

"I'm aiming to drive it until the motor and transmission gets bad. Then I'll junk it," Heath said. "I think (the car will) last longer than me."

http://www.kinston.com/SiteProcessor...&Section=Local

[guitarlix]

That's pretty impressive. However I'm sure there are many cars and trucks out there with more than 500,000 miles.

Here's one for example



And this site has many Hondas/Acuras over 350,000 miles so surely some of them may have crossed 500,000 miles.

http://www.hondabeat.com/highmiles.php

[DuSpinnst]

MB's and BMW's where known for working well over 20 years. Sure parts are expensive but I have plenty of family driving around in late 1980's and early 1990 BMW's and MB's in Germany.

Good for that 6000. I often wonder what happened to my mom's old 1985 Pontiac 6000, it is probably in a junkyard by now.

[87aero]

Oh I know 500,000 is not unheard of but it's other parts of that article that are amazing. I can hardly believe (and don't know if I do) the man when he says he's only had to fix a head gasket and alernator and also that he only changes the oil once a year. If true he's running tens of thousands of miles on a single change. I've always been afraid to put STP in a car, the stuff is so thick I don't know how it can do an engine good. (it works great for priming an oil pump though).

[BrickTamland]

My uncle bought a 6000 the first year it was out, in 1982. Somehow, I bet the car has rusted away completely. A friend of mine's dad had the 6000's corporate twin, a Century. It might have been an '87. He told me that car got pretty high in the mileage.

[J..D]

My brother had a Century that his mother in law gave him it had over 300k and ran perfect he gave it back to her when he was done driving it still running. He is also the type of person to beat the living **************** out of cars so the fact it's didn't die is more crazy than the car having 300k to start with.

[spaz]

i guess the longer they made the A-cars the better they ran. We had an '82 century and it barely lasted 70k till it was so bad it wouldnt pass state inspection. Moral of the story: don't buy a car the first year it comes out.

[vsd]

right now my 92 astro is at 504,367, i started her up and took her for her weekly spin around the block today. of course the rotors have been turned plenty of times, and plenty of bulbs have blown out, and i've only put a few hundered miles on her since i inherited her a year ago. but the engine and tranny are all original, i love that van, its a family heirloom really, my dad used it to start up his company. i think the reason its survived so long is cause my dad swore by castrol syntec oil in it since it had 150k, and that fact that the 4.3 is one of the best engines, in terms of reliability, that gm has ever made.