The NZ Herald has a fun story about a one-owner Toyota Hilux that has 1,200,000 km on the clock.
The owner says, “The original engine has never had the head off and the gearbox and differential have never come out. However, the radiator was replaced about 200,000 km ago.”
He said the secret was changing the oil every 5000km and always using the same brand.
I had one similar. A ute that just kept on going. It only died after I put it in the tide when launching a boat. Water was pouring through the windows (which were down) but remarkably the engine kept going and I was able to drive it out. Problem was, about a year later things like the brakes started to seize and it was not worth repairing. – Oily Rag Ed’