Dexter Mills took his 2000 Honda Accord to more than the 1 million miles on the odometer.
The Southpoint, N.C. vehicle inspector travels a lot for work, putting on an estimated 65,000 miles per year, reported WRAL. He told the news station that he stopped at 999,999 to get photo proof of the odometer rollover, but the number actually just stays put.
Mills credited preventative maintenance, particularly regular oil and filter changes, to his car’s longevity. He replaced the engine twice through the years. Other than that, the only other replacements were to the alternator, starter and A/C compressor. A former auto tech, Mills did most of the work himself.
He also told WRAL that the way he drove mattered to the life of his car.
“Probably one of the biggest things is I don’t drive cars hard,” he said. “Every car that we own or have owned, I typically drive it in a non-aggressive manner. I don’t do jack rabbit starts.”
Mills accord was running the base-model 2.3 L four-cylinder, say the eagle eyes at Jalopnik. If Mills closely followed that model’s maintenance plan, his Accord could have had about 134 oil changes and 670 quarts throughout. And that’s at a 7,500-mile change interval.
What are some of the highest odometer reads you’ve taken down at your shop?
