The engine of this taxi has covered 800,000 kilometres, and this is what it looks like

When we talk about mileages close to one million kilometres, it is hard not to wonder what condition the engine will be in once we open it up. In this case, this is what the engine of a Ford Escape Hybrid from 2008 looks like. It worked as a taxi the whole time in the US city of New York and reached a staggering 800,000 kilometres. Once the engine was on the workbench, its condition was completely unexpected, and anyone would think it had covered that many kilometres.

Do you remember when we showed you what happens when you don’t change the oil in a car at 135,000 kilometres? Well, that case of a Audi TT 3.2 V6 is the example not to follow, whereas this taxi driver shows us what happens when intensive maintenance is applied (at the level of the work demanded of a taxi in the Big Apple). The signs of wear are minimal, and the timing chain looks practically brand new.

The key to this condition is that its owner carried out an oil change every three weeks, which, taking into account the mileage and the age of the vehicle, the calculations show was done every less than 10,000 kilometres. Although this doesn’t seem as intensive as the maintenance of the famous Ford Crown Victoria, which had its oil changed every two weeks. The state of preservation after 800,000 kilometres is such that the final days of this Ford Escape Hybrid from 2008 will be spent as an ordinary private car, since it will be sold to a buyer who wants it.

Another example of the maintenance carried out is the replacement of the brakes, which was done once a year, a fairly low frequency considering that other taxis in New York use several sets of brakes a year given the level of wear the American city generates. As for the mechanics themselves, and for the detractors of hybrid vehicles, the owner of this Ford Escape claims that the condition of the batteries is exceptional and that they have held up without problems through all these years and kilometres.