Ford’s Unkillable Pickup Truck Proves It Can Keep Going After A Million Miles
A million miles. It’s the automotive equivalent of climbing Everest — a number so staggering that most drivers will never come close, and most vehicles aren’t built to attempt it. Yet every so often, a truck or car surfaces that makes the impossible look almost routine. The vehicle you’re about to read about is one of those rare machines: a working pickup that has racked up a genuinely mind-bending odometer reading and, by all accounts, still has plenty of road left in it. If you’ve ever wondered just how far a well-maintained diesel truck can go, this one provides a pretty compelling answer.
This 2013 Ford F-350 Super Duty Has Driven At Least 1.3 Million Miles
Specs
 37 autotech Engine |
6.7-liter turbodiesel V8 |
|
Transmission |
 55 autotech 6-speed automatic |
|
Power |
400 hp |
|
Torque |
800 lb-ft |
Source: Ford
From the outside, this 2013 Ford F-350 Super Duty with a 6.7-liter Powerstroke turbodiesel V8 looks like pretty much any heavy-duty pickup truck you’d see driving around in North America. But don’t let its fairly ordinary appearance fool you. This truck is possibly one of the highest-mileage vehicles in the world. According to its owner, it has covered an incredible 1.3 million miles. The truck has had an entire video dedicated to it by PowerStroke Tech Talk w/ARod, who goes through this mega-mileage machine in impressive detail. ARod is a Ford Senior Master Technician, so he absolutely knows what he’s talking about when it comes to these trucks.
According to ARod, the owner has been able to back up his 1.3 million-mile claim through a clever workaround. The regular odometer has been pegged at 999,999 miles for some time, but the owner resets the trip B counter every 10,000 miles, allowing it to keep recording distance beyond what the main odometer can display. Using the accumulated trip B data, he has calculated the truck’s true total mileage at 1.3 million miles.
ARod doesn’t know exactly when the current owner acquired the truck, but the owner confirmed it already had 98,000 miles on the clock when he bought it. It seems like this truck was destined to be a mega-miler from day one.
How Did This F-350 Manage To Get To Over A Million Miles?
Getting any vehicle to a million miles is a phenomenal achievement, so it’s only natural that everyone wants to know the secret. That’s something ARod covers in detail. One of the key factors is that the truck’s exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system and diesel particulate filter (DPF) have both been deleted — work carried out before the current owner took possession. Removing these components is a common practice among truck owners looking to reduce the number of parts that can fail, but it’s important to note that this modification is frequently illegal in the US. Unless you live in a state where EGR and DPF deletion is fully permitted, it’s a path that could land you in serious legal trouble.
Another habit ARod highlights is the owner’s discipline about speed when towing. Whether he’s pulling a load from a towbar on the rear bumper or from a fifth-wheel hookup, the owner never drives faster than 55 or 60 mph. Keeping speeds in check reduces stress on the engine and drivetrain considerably, and it makes hauling heavy trailers safer for everyone on the road.
It Hasn’t Needed To Have A Lot Of Parts Replaced
Amazingly, this F-350 has required very little mechanical intervention over its life. At the time the video was recorded, the owner had just replaced the transmission and transfer case as a precautionary measure. Beyond that, the truck has needed multiple turbo replacements, two sets of driveline U-joints, and three sets of 4×4 hub lockouts. It has also gone through just two sets of brakes — one for the front axle and one for the rear. For a truck with over a million miles on it, that parts list is nothing short of extraordinary.
Are There Any Other Million-Mile Trucks Out There?
The 2013 Ford F-350 Super Duty’s mileage is incredibly impressive, but it isn’t the only million-mile truck on record. There are at least four other known mega-milers, and each one is a remarkable testament to durability. As you might expect, three of the four come from Japan’s most dependable manufacturers — but one hails from North America and has been racking up miles far longer than the F-350.
The Million-Mile Toyota Hilux
The dependability of the Toyota Hilux is legendary at this point, so it’s no surprise that at least one example has crossed the million-mile threshold. This Hilux has been owned by the same person for over 40 years, and it has been far from babied. Its only major mechanical change was swapping out the original engine and transmission for a more powerful powerplant and gearbox sourced from a later-generation Hilux. Remarkably, the original 2.0-liter engine lasted 400,000 miles before it was replaced.
The Million-Mile Chevy Pickup
That 2013 Ford F-350 Super Duty isn’t the only all-American pickup to surpass a million miles. Vice Grip Garage stumbled upon a 1979 Chevrolet C10 that was a legitimate million-miler when he needed a ride home. The truck hadn’t been road-registered for years before Vice Grip Garage bought it, and there was even speculation that it was still running its original engine. All it needed was a couple of new tires and a fresh title to be roadworthy enough to drive home.
The Million-Mile Toyota Tundra
The Hilux isn’t the only mega-mile Toyota pickup in the record books. A 2007 Toyota Tundra has also been documented crossing the million-mile barrier. Its owner used it to drive across the United States for years, accumulating roughly 125,000 miles annually during that stretch. With that kind of pace sustained over more than 15 years, it’s little wonder this Tundra eventually ran its odometer all the way to its limit.
The 2007 Nissan Frontier From Chicago
The Nissan Frontier is a pickup you’ll find all over the world, doing the hard work that trucks are built for. Many rack up serious miles over the years, but none quite like this one. This 2007 Frontier from Chicago has easily accumulated the most miles of any example on record. It was owned by a delivery driver who pushed it past a million miles through sheer daily use and kept right on going. When Nissan learned about the truck’s mileage, the company reached out and offered the owner a brand-new Frontier to use until he retired — a generous gesture recognizing just how hard both the driver and the truck had worked. The owner was certainly grateful for the offer.
What Other Famous Million-Milers Are Out There?
It isn’t just work-focused pickup trucks that have managed to reach a million miles or more. A number of cars have achieved mega-mileage distances over the course of their lives, and at least one of the examples below ranks among the most celebrated high-mileage vehicles in automotive history. As you might expect, one Japanese nameplate known for its reliability makes an appearance here.
The Honda Accord With Over A Million Miles
Honda is a brand synonymous with reliability, so it’s fitting that one of the world’s known million-mile cars wears its badge. This Honda Accord has just over a million miles on the clock and was owned by a driver in the northeastern United States before being returned to Honda. The company now uses it for promotional purposes — a decision that makes perfect sense, given how powerfully the car reinforces Honda’s reputation for building vehicles that last.
The Mega-Miler Hyundai Elantra
The Hyundai Elantra has long been a dependable daily driver for people around the world, and many examples have racked up impressive mileage over the years. None of them, however, are likely to match this one. This Elantra was owned by a woman who delivers auto parts in Olathe, Kansas, and it reached the million-mile mark on its original powertrain. The owner credits twice-weekly oil changes — roughly every 7,642 miles given her driving pace — as the key to its longevity. She also fitted a cow catcher to the front of the car to protect it from animals in rural areas.
Irv Gordon’s 3 Million Mile Volvo P1800S
Of all the mega-milers in the world, few are more famous than Irv Gordon’s Volvo P1800S. Gordon bought his Volvo in 1966, motivated in part by frustration with the unreliability of the two Chevrolet Corvairs he had owned previously. He kept the car until his death in 2018, covering more than 3 million miles in the process. Volvo was so impressed with his achievement that the company gave him two free cars over the years: a 780 when the P1800S reached 1 million miles, and a C70 when it hit 2 million. His 780 became a mega-miler in its own right, reaching around 450,000 miles before he sold it.
After Irv Gordon’s death, his P1800S was returned to Volvo. The company still owns it to this day, and it continues to be driven — just as its original owner would have wanted.
Sources: Road & Track, Volvo, YouTube (PowerStroke Tech Talk w/ARod).
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