2000 Honda Accord Does 1 Million Miles
It takes a lot of work to get a car to 1 million miles. Even with careful planning, it takes the right car and the right owner to get there. Dexter Mills and his 2000 Honda Accord are just such a pair. Over the last 20 years, Dexter's Accord has driven enough miles to circumnavigate the planet 40 times!
Going the distance.
Dexter Mill’s Honda Accord does not look like much. It looks like just about every other old Accord you would see on the streets. Dexter’s Accord is hiding a little secret, though. This car has driven enough miles to circumference the earth 40 times! What does it take to get a car to 1 million miles? Well first off, it takes an insane amount of driving. Given that the car is a 2000 model year, that means the Accord did on average 50,000 miles a year!
Images Courtesy of Jalopnik and WRAL
So much maintenance.
The next thing it takes to get a car to 1 million miles is a lot of maintenance. Even if oil changes were only done every 5k miles, that is still 10 oil changes per year or 200 total! We decided to go through the maintenance schedule listed on AllData for the 2000 Accord and came up with some other staggering maintenance numbers. 100 tire rotations, 33 air and cabin filters, 10 timing belts, and 10 spark plug changes!
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It all adds up.
The third thing that it takes to get a car to 1 million miles is money. Even though the Honda Accord is one of the most reliable cars ever built, given a long enough timeline, everything breaks down. This Accord has unfortunately not made it to 1 million on its original engine. In fact, it is on its third. Other than that major repair, the news story only mentions the replacement of the starter, A/C compressor, and alternator. Combined with the maintenance mentioned before and things like brakes, tires, batteries, etc., the total adds up fast. Some quick math says that number is north of $40k, even if everything was done on the cheap.
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Labor of love.
So it is clearly not an easy task to get a vehicle to that kind of mileage. Dexter, who works for the automotive inspection company AutoSpec, seems super happy about it all, though. In an interview with new station WRAL, he said: “It’s been absolutely phenomenal, I still average anywhere from 440 to 460 miles out of a tank of gas.” When you're driving the distance Dexter has been all these years, things like gas mileage take center stage.
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Being put out to pasture.
While the car has been good to Dexter, he feels it is time to let the old girl rest, but it comes with a heavy heart. “I’m a little sad, but I think it’s time to let it rest... let it retire,” he said to WRAL. While it is always a little sad when a good workhorse of a car is put away, I think Dexter's Accord has earned it. This little Honda has shown what Japanese reliability is all about, and even though it may not be the most exciting car on the streets, it's still one of the best.
>>Join the conversation about this million-mile Accord right here in the Honda-Tech Forum!
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