She hoped to reach 1.5 million in the same car, but was stopped in her tracks when asked to deliver a package to a local auto shop. She was told the package was actually hers, and found that it contained the keys for her new 2019 model year Elantra, given to her by Hyundai in recognition of her extraordinary achievement.
How did she do it? Quite simple, Haines reported in 2018: “The key is to prioritize regular maintenance and to have a quality vehicle.”
” data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/h1gVBXUCOnIFwxfFf4nSWA–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzNg–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/autocar_slideshows_320/df63054b636201598cc5c75944650711 class=caas-img data-headline=”Hyundai Elantra (2013)”>Selden Cooper drove his first Volvo, a 1967 164E, for nearly 250,000 miles, a distance which seems much less impressive now than it did then. In November 1986 he traded it in for a 240 DL, fitted with Volvo’s famously reliable B21 series engine, and from then until September 2012 he put one million miles on it.
Many consumable parts were changed in that time, and the body was resprayed, but according to the Lehman Volvo Cars dealership in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, which serviced it, the engine was barely touched. Cooper donated the car to Lehman in June 2015.
” data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/jUN3RT2yQLHck3j163uckw–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzNg–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/autocar_slideshows_320/fa07e9c1d91e2ad5da3d7701bab17664 class=caas-img data-headline=”Volvo 240 DL (1987)”>Wisconsin food distributor Frank Oresnik bought his five-year old Chevrolet Silverado when it had 41,000 miles on the clock. Powered by the legendary Chevrolet Small Block engine, it went through the million-mile barrier twelve years later, in 2008, having notched up roughly 80,000 miles per year.
Having paid for this one, Oresnik was not keen on putting himself back into debt buying a replacement, so he maintained his truck very carefully and drove it no harder than he needed to, though it did have to do a lot of towing. PICTURE: Representative model
” data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/5Pqar8mh..vCwlrcMocegw–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzNg–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/autocar_slideshows_320/e2fa50de8e3ad3418615662c5df38971 class=caas-img data-headline=”Chevrolet Silverado (1991)”>Delivery driver Dan Edelman bought his Dodge Ram not through loyalty to the Dodge brand but because of his well-placed confidence in its 5.9-litre Cummins diesel engine. The truck went through several automatic transmissions before he realised how to set them up properly, but the engine required little more than normal and regular maintenance.
Edelman certainly knew how to get the most out of a vehicle. He also owned a 1994 Plymouth Voyager with more than 600,000 miles on the clock. PICTURE: Representative model
” data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/hpOebasRuSn_lrzlddNsMQ–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzNg–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/autocar_slideshows_320/1f1444542674e049f277ea335252addc class=caas-img data-headline=”Dodge Ram 2500 (1996)”>The next two cars on our list are both fourth-generation Honda Accords fitted with the 2.2-litre F22A engine. The first, nicknamed True Blue because of its colour, was bought by Maine resident Joe LoCicero (pictured, not to be confused with the actor of the same name) when it was six years old and had covered 74,000 miles.
Driving nearly 5000 miles a month for his work as a vehicle inspector, LoCicero reached one million in autumn 2011, and was rewarded with a brand new (and also blue) Accord presented to him by the Darling Auto Group Honda dealership. How did LoCicero do it? Regular oil changes and vigilant preventative maintenance.
” data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/.hENtBL2WGr4jG1OqzfXQQ–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzNg–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/autocar_slideshows_320/93d7af7e71c8388589b63d86a7136560 class=caas-img data-headline=”Honda Accord (1990)”>Another million-mile Accord is the 1994 model owned by David Witte, a self-employed route mapper from Timonium, Maryland. Witte’s job meant that he practically lived in his car for long periods. He reached one million miles – a surprisingly anticlimactic event, he thought – on Route 340 in West Virginia in May 2001.
Interviewed less than a year later, he said he was considering a change of career: “Driving around in a car all day doesn’t gain you a whole lot of respect.” PICTURE: Representative model
” data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/2Os8NcGGDpDFTKVbbHHnBw–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzNg–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/autocar_slideshows_320/579db1b33cb0591debadd6df4c84c63c class=caas-img data-headline=”Honda Accord (1994)”>In December 2014, American motor journalist Matt Farah saw an ad for a Lexus LS which had already covered 897,000 miles on its original four-litre V8 Toyota 1UZ-FE engine, over 700,000 of them in the hands of its third owner. He bought it with the specific intention of taking it to a million miles, with the help of many friends and acquaintances.
Farah himself was at the wheel when the six-figure digital mileometer froze on 999,999 miles in 2019. One mile later, according to the trip computer, he considered his work done. PICTURE: Representative model
” data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/vvnIW7..ChHEN3ptx0CdaQ–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzNg–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/autocar_slideshows_320/7dfd52df9b907ae325db6d725069d755 class=caas-img data-headline=”Lexus LS400 (1996)”>Some people reach enormous mileages not through work but simply because they love driving. Chet Belisle of Topeka, Kansas was one of these. When he bought his Lincoln Town Car it had travelled just 53 miles, but he raised the total to over 1.3 million miles in a three-decade series of very long journeys.
The car’s Ford Windsor small-block V8 engine, whose fuel economy was at best 22mpg, needed one rebuild but was never replaced. PICTURE: Representative model
” data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/WcMjpILnPzbeXmDjz2MrAQ–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzNg–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/autocar_slideshows_320/d3afe6d651dceab16936560639f90433 class=caas-img data-headline=”Lincoln Town Car (1983)”>Georgia phone company executive Paul Harman bought his four-cylinder 2.4-litre diesel Mercedes 240D as a two-year old used car with 40,000 miles on it. He reached the one million mark in October 2007. Secrets of his success? He credits the fact he changed the oil every 3000 miles.
Slackening his pace a little, he got to 1.1 million miles in July 2012, shortly after changing the clutch and starter motor.
” data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/8rr2u9FAvJVEI8BxQthQXw–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzNg–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/autocar_slideshows_320/b314c88ed9fbf9facbf4dabd6515f90e class=caas-img data-headline=”1981 Mercedes-Benz 240D”>Wisconsin travelling salesman Peter Gilbert’s Saab 900 is a very unusual million-mile car in that it was designed as a high-performance model. It’s a turbocharged SPG (Special Performance Group) version, known outside the US as the Aero.
Presumably by not driving too hard (though he accidentally hit a few deer), Gilbert took the car to 1,001,385 miles by 2006 before donating it to the Wisconsin Automotive Museum near Milwaukee, where it is still on display now. Saab then gave him a 2007 model year 9-5 Aero. Thanks to the Wisconsin Automotive Museum for supplying a picture of the car in its current home.
” data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/H9loNn20V1bEyJQJDlGbjA–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzNg–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/autocar_slideshows_320/679bdc5330e38eaf97e6d5e2e26c1408 class=caas-img data-headline=”Saab 900 (1989)”>Unusually, Ben Clopot’s Mercedes 250SE coupe already had around a million miles under its wheels when he bought it. Its original owner took it well past 600,000, and after he died in 1992 his family added a further 350,000.
Clopot, a Los Angeles estate agent, used the car in the same spirit, maintaining it carefully and adding over 35,000 miles per year. The Mercedes M129 petrol engine is original, though it has been rebuilt several times, and came with 300 pages of receipts when Clopot bought the car. The car has done 1.28 million to date. Clopot’s longevity secrets? “Anything that breaks gets fixed immediately.” PICTURE: Representative model
” data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/R45kKq043QBxFqL1gdPC7Q–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzNg–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/autocar_slideshows_320/e1cd554496cea3d54f6adfa8cd2f5f35 class=caas-img data-headline=”Mercedes-Benz 250SE (1966)”>George and Luzstella Koschel of Orange County, California bought their Mercedes 280 SE new in Germany in 1970. They then drove it for 1,019,000 miles before selling it back to Mercedes-Benz in time for it to be displayed at the 2005 Detroit motor show.
Mercedes-Benz issues High Mileage certificates to the owners of its cars that have done 155,000 miles and more, with a special award at the 1 million mark. The current Mercedes high mileage champion is Athens taxi driver Gregorios Sachinidis in a 1976 240D; it clocked up 2.8 million miles, though did so on four engines.
” data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Srul3vTbwG3MDkMEmqYQ8w–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzNg–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/autocar_slideshows_320/19d299e982257768b83dcd3db2eac240 class=caas-img data-headline=”Mercedes-Benz 280SE (1970)”>Guy Newmark’s father bought this late-model 356 when it was just a few months old and later passed it on to Guy as a graduation present.
The San Pedro, California resident used it as his daily driver and reached one million miles in 2016. The four-cylinder air-cooled engine, similar to that used in the Volkswagen Beetle, was rebuilt three times.
” data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/M1yHeV6qIAgyTenJ_eoCDA–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzNg–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/autocar_slideshows_320/d41ca3d35a4728d037cbe29f632ee252 class=caas-img data-headline=”Porsche 356C (1964)”>Delivery driver Victor Sheppard bought his Toyota Tundra pickup new in 2007 and drove it for 1,020,130 miles before handing it over (with some reluctance) to Toyota in 2016. The company dismantled it for inspection and gave Sheppard a new Tundra in return.” data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/TrVBHTELA0fJHt1T.Zoz3A–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzNg–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/autocar_slideshows_320/9f542d69f2cb73846f1fb999179f320a class=caas-img data-headline=”Toyota Tundra (2007)”>
In 2019, Victor Sheppard’s friend Aaron Morvant also reached one million miles in another 2007 Tundra. On Sheppard’s advice, he has had it serviced at Greg LeBlanc Toyota in Houma, Louisiana, which is presumably the only dealership in the world to have looked after two million-mile Tundras. PICTURE: Representative model” data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/XS6qJ3zlgO_1W4W5gOgMrQ–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzNg–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/autocar_slideshows_320/bcfe5f6329e26af25aa845a9b3fb296c class=caas-img data-headline=”Toyota Tundra (2007)”>
Californian Vic Dres was already thinking in terms of breaking a million miles when he bought his Volvo 740 GLE new in 1988. A round-trip commute of over 160 miles every weekday for 17 years was a big help, and although he switched to a new job much nearer home in 2005 he kept at it, finally achieving his goal in 2014. PICTURE: Representative model” data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Bos2Rri0DIy5q5dmLr4ibA–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzNg–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/autocar_slideshows_320/36841bbec9fa1d4ffe5862279da9bd66 class=caas-img data-headline=”1988 Volvo 740 GLE”>
The grand-daddy of all private high-mileage vehicles is Irv Gordon’s Volvo 1800S. Gordon, a schoolteacher, collected the car from Volvoville of Huntington, New York, on a Friday evening in June 1966 and took it back for its scheduled 1500-mile checkover the following Monday.
He was mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records for the first time in 1998, having covered 1.69 million miles, and hit three million in Alaska in September 2013. By the time Gordon died in November 2018, aged 77, the total had reached 3.2 million.
” data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/LCfuJPN5gMN82kIZMmh2bw–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzNg–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/autocar_slideshows_320/2c7996ab1debfc0a9b150664445fb98a class=caas-img data-headline=”1966 Volvo 1800S”>A later Silverado, this one a 3500 HD fitted with a GM Duramax diesel engine, hit one million miles in just six years – or a mighty 166,000 miles per year. Why? Well, it’s owned by Hugh and Tammy Pennington, and they deliver trailers (in some cases nearly 40 feet long) to car dealerships across North America.
Interviewed when the truck reached seven figures, Tammy estimated that she and her husband regularly drive up to 700 miles a day, either on business or when they take long-distance holidays. PICTURE: Representative model
” data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/4H5SqKjAM80E5KLqyMjJAA–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY4Mw–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/autocar_slideshows_320/68a7bc0f0aefb233310c9ca3fe36d6c9 class=caas-img data-headline=”Chevrolet Silverado (2006)”>Like the Penningtons mentioned earlier, Donald Jensen delivers trailers using his Dodge Ram which, as with the Dan Edelman version, is fitted with a 5.9-litre Cummins diesel motor. It reached one million miles in 2013 and was reported as having hit 1.7 million by April 2019.
The mileage is an estimate, though we believe a reliable one. The problem is that the Dodge has had to have its mileometer replaced twice. In other words, the least reliable part of the truck is the one that shows how reliable it is. PICTURE: Representative model
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