My 2014 Civic is still on original front brakes. 140 k km +. Needs to be replaced soon but out standing longevity. The rears have been replaced twice already. Not sure why there is a difference.

Oil pan seal. They usually leak after a replacement bc nobody does it right

My car still has the original factory air in the tires.

My dad bought a mid 90’s Corolla from an elderly lady. It was about 15 years old at the time, and it had the original tires and everything. Car had like 15,000 miles on it. He bought it to gift to somebody who needed a car.

Before he gave it away, he gave me a ride to the ferry terminal. My dad drives like an absolute fucking maniac, taking the smallest gaps, tailgating people at 1/2 car length at 60 MPH kind of thing. So I’m holding on for dear fucking life, yelling at him to slow the hell down, as we’re flying down the highway on these original little 14 inch ancient, dry-rotted tires.

Suddenly traffic stops and he slams on the brakes…and realizes a car with original, old rotten tires and no ABS doesn’t stop very well, especially when you’re used to a modern car.
It was a white knuckle ride as this little tin can car locked up and slid all over the fucking highway and we very narrowly missed a horrific accident. The whole highway was billowing with tire smoke.

I guarantee those were the originals, lol. When he picked me up a few days later he was in his regular, modern car.

I’ve never said that unless verified by either my knowledge (with backup documentation if there’s money or a trophy at stake) or manufacturer date code. Bosch has a three-digit code (although it’s alphanumeric, and could be only two characters before 1964), SWF has an alphabetical code, Hella has an alphanumeric code, Blaupunkt used alphabet until 1970, then made the switch to numerical.

My E30 had its original cap and rotor, both dated 1988. My E30 also had its original block because the block had the VIN on it. Most of the suspension bushings were original, as evidenced by condition. The fan clutch and fan are both original based on date codes.

My E36 still has its original radiator; the date on the radiator is older than the car.

Within my niche, vintage German cars, I can usually tell with a high degree of accuracy as to whether or not parts are original because I’ve seen a lot of original parts. Some of it even boils down to sealant application and selection; I can always tell when an early 911 engine case has never been split.

A lot of cost cutting/homogenization, as well as materials progress, has happened in the parts world, and original parts may have used, for example, a unique sheathing with a tracer (that may have originally been to increase burst strength), but modern hoses don’t need that reinforcement and the lines are now just rubber hose. Could that hose have been reproduced? Sure, but no one does that surreptitiously- there’s value to high-level restoration and reproduction.

And of course, there’s always the matter of witness marks on hardware. Look on the flats of the bolt heads and nuts- are there discolorations? Patterns in grease? Are the corners rounded?

I know this is much more in-depth than trying to figure out if a 2014 Traverse was driven gently, but it was nice to put out there.

In my case, the original parts on my car came with a part # along with a date code from when they were manufactured. If the part was after the build date, I wouldn’t count it as original.

I’ve spent countless hours researching these parts to see if they’re original or not.

The three components I’m missing under the hood are: the water pump, fuel pump, and master cylinder. I’m also sure all the hoses and belts have been replaced.

Otherwise, the rest of what I have is either original to the car, or originally purchased with the car.

Plus many other original parts to the car. Hood, fenders, seats, console, deck lid, quarters, dash, doors, glass except for the windshield, etc.

My car has 101K on it. It’s 57 years old.

I have provenance on the car going back to 1967. I know all the owners of the car (I’m the 5th).

I’m original owner of a '87 Mustang and have all the receipts, loaded into a spreadsheet even. I know what’s original and what I’m long overdue on replacing. lol

My truck is still on the original factory rear brake shoes; I know because I also have the replacement set (with receipt) my father purchased in 1996 but never installed because the original ones are hardly worn. The proportioning valve essentially prevents the rear brakes from ever actuating unless the bed is loaded or you slam on the brakes real hard; the shoes still have lots of life left.

My dad has a pristine 1971 AMF Harley Sportster. It has less than 5,000 miles on it. I asked him once “why don’t you ride it around more?”

He said “everything on that bike is original…including the tires”

In this case my grandfather bought the bike brand new and never really did much to it.

Sometimes you can see the pen marks made by the factory on things like brake rotors and the accompanying set screw. Once the set screw is undone, the pen marks no longer line exactly up, or the replaced part no longer has pen marks on it while the set screw does.

my favorite one of these was an old guy proudly telling me his 02 z06 was on its original tires in 2019

My Mother’s 1998 Chrysler Cirrus still had the Original battery when she sold it in 2020. Unless you know the product code it’s hard to tell on a none 1 owner car.

Sometimes there are really obvious revisions to parts. For example early E90 N52s got metal thermostat housings. The replacements are all plastic now. So if you pull off the thermostat housing and it’s plastic it’s been replaced at some point. There are more subtle things like that. The N52 again factory aluminum bolts have blue paint but none of the aftermarket replacements are marked blue.

Most people don’t keep track of this stuff and don’t really know as others have said.

My '80s Volvo had a voltage regulator that said “Made in W. Germany” so I’m pretty sure that’s from back in the day.

The concept of originality is where we get into looney territory regarding old cars. Things like tires, ignition parts, cooling system parts, gaskets are wear items. They’re not meant to be on the car indefinitely, because… you know… cars are made to be driven

I think it’s better to focus on whether an old car is stock vs whether it’s original. Once someone has modified the car for “more performance”, it’s likely been abused by that owner and is something I avoid when looking for an old car to daily.

My E30 is not all original, but it is stock.