I Asked a Car Expert How To Make My Car Last 400,000 Miles: Here’s What He Said

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For many Americans, daily life is simply inconceivable without a car. While they don’t love shouldering the costs of maintaining their vehicles, they try to keep their cars running as long as possible before taking on the expense of a monthly car payment. 

I’m certainly not immune, joking with friends that I plan to keep my car — which has about 100,000 miles on it now — until the bumper falls off. Still, in my wildest dreams, I can’t imagine my car making it to 400,000 miles. 

However, the prospect of getting that kind of maximum mileage isn’t completely alien to Ford Smith, founder and CEO of A1 Xpress, a family-owned courier and trucking company. Given how intimately Smith works with cars — having reliable transportation is literally in his business model — he’s got a few ways to keep them running for a long time. 

I talked to Smith about how readers could push the pedal to the metal in terms of boosting their car’s longevity — and some of his insights were surprising. 

Keep Up With Oil Changes 

Smith has kept vans and trucks in his fleet running for hundreds of thousands of miles by keeping up with one simple yet significant piece of car maintenance: staying up to date on oil changes. 

“Because that’s what keeps the inside of the engine and transmission alive. People think it’s just a matter of keeping the level topped up, but the job of oil is bigger than that,” he said. “It’s the coolant for the bearings, it’s the cushion for the gear faces, and it’s the filter that holds all the carbon and metal shavings suspended until they get caught in the filter.” 

When the oil ages out, it breaks down chemically and loses its viscosity — in other words, it can’t offer the same protections Smith described as critical to your car’s functions. Though certain issues, like wear and tear on your brakes, are more immediately visible, Smith shared that you won’t feel the full scope of neglecting your oil changes until it’s too late. 

“The damage doesn’t wait. It’s microscopic at first, but it compounds, and the engine gets noisier, less efficient, and more likely to need major work earlier than it should,” he said. “If the oil service is skipped, the wear is not noticeable until it becomes a failure. That’s why I tell people it isn’t optional. It’s the baseline for a car’s health, and without it, nothing else you maintain will matter.” 

Avoid This One Driving Move 

As you back out of a parking spot, you might start to turn the wheel a little before you’ve let your foot off the brake — a common habit that Smith said could be subtly damaging your car. He calls it “dry steering,” and it’s basically turning the wheel while your car is sitting still. 

“It looks harmless when you’re easing out of a parking spot, but it forces the power steering pump to work at maximum pressure, it loads the tie rod ends and ball joints unevenly, and it scrubs the tires across the pavement instead of letting them roll,” he said. 

Why is this such a problem? That scrubbing creates flat spots on the tread that don’t go away, effectively reducing the amount of rubber contacting the road. You could be creating bald spots, which are dangerous because they could make the car slip in the rain and extend your stopping distance in an emergency. 

Smith would rather you let the car roll even a little before you start turning the steering wheel. 

“It’s a small adjustment that saves wear everywhere from the steering system to the tires,” he said. “And those tires are the only thing keeping the car on the road. Once the tread is compromised, no amount of careful driving can make up for the lost grip.” 

Be Kind to Your Transmission, and It Will Be Kind to You 

Smith also wants people who drive manual vehicles to stop doing one thing: using the transmission to slow down every time traffic dips or they come upon an intersection. 

“A lot of drivers will go down a gear, let the clutch out, feel the car slow, then go down another gear and repeat the process,” he said. “It feels like you’re saving the brakes, yes, but what you’re really doing is putting the strain of slowing a two-ton vehicle onto gears, bearings and synchronizers that were designed to transmit power, not absorb it. Over time, that shock loads the teeth, overheats the clutch, and wears out the synchros long before the engine itself is tired.” 

Simply put — you have brakes for a reason. They’re built to do that very thing, and they cost a lot less time and money to repair than a transmission. Smith said that rebuilding your transmission runs thousands of dollars and can sideline your car for weeks. 

“The better habit is to let the brakes slow you, and when the car is already down to the speed you need, press the clutch, pick the right lower gear and carry on,” he said. “That way you preserve the driveline, you keep the car serviceable past 200,000 miles, and you only spend money where it makes sense.” 

Signs a Car Could Last a Long Time 

If you’re shopping around for a used car, Smith suggested looking for key signs that the vehicle can go the distance — in more ways than one. 

Key services are done on time: “A high-mileage vehicle can look clean thanks to detailing and run smooth on a short drive, but if it missed key services over the years, those skipped intervals come back to you in the form of worn bearings, worn seals or a transmission that’s near its end,” he said. “Seeing an organized pile of records of oil changes done on schedule, coolant and transmission fluid replaced at the right mileage, and timing belts swapped out tells me the owner took good care with the car.” 

It comes with complete paperwork: Smith also looks for vehicles that come with receipts listing odometer readings, since that allows him to verify mileage claims. 

“Let’s say a car shows 160,000 miles but you only see paperwork from the last 30,000 — it means you’re missing most of its story. On the other hand, if every 5,000 miles there’s a receipt with fluid changes or new parts, it tells you this car aged with care,” he said. “Without that proof, you’re the one taking on the risk and the cost of all the maintenance that might have been skipped.” 

Getting your car to 400,000 miles seems like a difficult task, but by performing some basic maintenance and avoiding certain driving habits, it’s more achievable than you might think. 

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