As I pulled up to the shop one morning, I saw six cars awaiting us for the day ahead. It was only 6 a.m. and as my headlights swept across the tail lights of the parked cars, I could put a name and a face to all the vehicles but one. Most of the cars had been under our care since they were new.

As I generated an R.O. for each vehicle, the high mileage on each one struck me. Out of the six cars, the highest was a 2006 Acura TL with 270,000-plus miles. Just for the heck of it, I averaged the mileage on the six vehicles and it came to 190,000 miles.

Reflecting on my 40 years in the business, I ­remember when reaching the 100,000-mile mark on a vehicle was a big achievement. Volvo even gave a 100,000 badge that we used to put on a car when it hit that milestone.

What has changed so much that’s allowed cars to hit the 100,000-mile mark and far beyond? I began to ponder the biggest changes that increased the lifespan of today’s cars over my

40-year career as an auto technician.

The first thing that comes to mind is improvements in engine design, including metal as it ­relates to pistons and sealing rings, bearing surfaces as well as sealing techniques. Many tests show that when engines with 200,000-250,000 miles are disassembled for analysis, only minimal wear is discovered. That’s compared to the cars of the 1970s and early 1980s that showed significant wear at 100,000-150,000 miles. Another factor is definitely oil; it’s not that oil has changed so much over the past 40 years, but the additive packages have vastly improved.

Also, changes associated with emissions have had a big impact, even though they weren’t ­designed to improve engine life. A controversial change that had its beginnings in the 1960s was the development of the PCV valve, followed by air injection, EGR and catalytic converters and unleaded fuel. Measureable tailpipe readings were being tested in 1966 and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) was the agency founded as the regulating body. By 1974, standards were significantly tightened and gas ­rationing was in effect.

As the 1970s rolled into the 1980s, each manufacturer had a different take on how to deal with emissions; some used air ­injection; some implemented fuel injection (sooner than later), while others tried electronically controlled carburetion. But, in the end, they embraced fuel injection as the foundation for fuel management, which greatly cleaned up the byproducts being left in the engine and played a role in extending ­engine life. With precise fuel amounts being metered into the combustion chambers, fuel mileage improved and tailpipe emissions were lowered.

Fast forward to the 2000s, when we experienced greatly improved fuel injection, multi-valves per cylinders, electronically controlled valve timing, etc. — all of which equaled cleaner engines. That was the goal, but add in well-managed engines, better metals, closer engine tolerances and better oil additive packages and the results were also longer-lasting engines.

How does all of this affect us as shop owners? Service opportunities still exist, you just need to wait longer for them. Where in year’s past you might have replaced a timing belt once or twice in a car’s useful life, we are seeing cars get the timing belt replaced 2-3 times and, with the added miles driven, there are many opportunities for related sales in water pumps, idler pulleys, tensioners, as well as cam and crank seals. You can add to that list plastic radiators, motor mounts, suspension-related parts, and so on.

Increased mileage well beyond what was considered “normal” 20 years ago now presents many opportunities for you to keep your customers’ vehicles running well into the new “normal” of 200,000 miles, 300,000 miles and beyond.