Distances
This event happened to our minivan while on the way back from seeing my maternal grandmother. Every trip seems more special to myself and to my grandmother as we both know time is getting short for such visits. It has been awhile since I've passed this amount of miles on a vehicle. The first couple cars that I drove (but didn't own), all had that many miles on them when I started driving. The first car I ever bought did pass that mile count and I put on every single one of those miles but I got rid of it in the year before the pandemic as it no longer fit our family lifestyle, namely it was a manual transmission that only I was able to drive. I imagine it is still out there being used and may have crossed 200,000 miles. My last vehicle was totaled by a hail storm before I could cross this milestone. This one, it's replacement is still in great shape and will hopefully continue to serve our family until enough of them leave the nest that a smaller vehicle can replace it.
Meanwhile, we are maybe a week away from getting a new replacement vehicle for my wife. Her old car, is two years older than mine but with 40,000 less miles on it. The plan is for it to transition to being my oldest daughter's car and hopefully get her through college. The new car will be in the single digits for mileage so will have a long time before it will every cross this threshold. Perhaps by then, our youngest will be needing a vehicle herself.
Most of my vehicles of the past 30 years have gone well beyond the 200k mark before I ditched them. It is amazing for when I first started to drive in the 70s, a 100,000 miles was a lot! Vehicles have gotten better.
ReplyDeleteAlthough they were gifted vehicles, the first four vehicles I drove early in my life were all 200,000+ miles. I guess since I have purchased my own vehicles, we just don't drive enough to generally reach the 200,000+ mile mark before rust cancer gets to them. But like you said, quality has improved significantly so perhaps this van might be the first one (counting only those I have purchased).
DeleteThere used to be a web site called Carfax where you could check the location and police records for any car. Maybe it still exists. If you have the VIN number you can see where your old cars are now! I think you have to pay for a report but when I did it it wasn't much and it was pretty interesting.
ReplyDeleteI think the website exists but I’m not sure I know the VIN number anymore.
DeleteA milestone!! (pun intended)
ReplyDeleteIt kept my mind occupied on the long drive across the state.
DeleteI get rid of vehicles once they get over 100,000 miles. Of course that takes me a LONG time as little as I drive. My 2018 Forester (with 32,000 miles on it) will probably outlive me.
ReplyDeleteMiles never seems to be the reason in my world.
DeleteMany years ago I used to drive a Volvo, and at that time Volvo owners would get a quarterly magazine with a list of high mileage vehicles at the back. Some of the had breached the 500,000 mile mark whilst not being that old, and I remember one used as a taxi on one of the UK Channel Islands that had racked up more than 250,000 miles in just 5 years even the island was less than 20 miles long!
ReplyDeleteI’ve heard of such high mileage tales. I’ve never heard of one around here with gravel roads and lots of short trips.
DeleteAll are cars are high mileage and well used. As long as they keep running, we'll keep driving them.
ReplyDeleteThat is usually my philosophy too when things cooperate with that.
DeleteI would get a "new" car every couple of years, except for my very first car - a used 1968 VW Karmann Ghia that I loved. After getting married and having 4 children, I went through so many different cars, I don't know if I can remember them all. So I hardly added miles on to my vehicles and would go out and "find" a better car (station wagons, SUVs, sedans) and surprise my husband in the driveway. Finally, 2 years ago, I found the perfect little car for me - a hybrid Lexus UX250 that is a cross between a SUV and small sedan. I didn't have to worry about a family packing into it. It is just for me to putter around town and do errands. I put an average of 4,000 miles per year on it, so if I live to be 95, it might get 100,000 miles.
ReplyDeleteThose Kerman Ghia’s are definitely distinctive and I would drive one with a new drivetrain and modern conveniences.
DeleteI hope our 2010 Honda keeps chugging along. We don’t drive much anymore so I’d rather not have to buy a new car. I’ll be 76 in a few months and I hope it lasts till I’m 80, and then will worry about it.
ReplyDeleteFortunately cars last longer these days so your chances have increased.
DeleteCongrats on 100,000!! Both of our cars are over 130,000 and I hope they keep chugging along because we are not too far away from Kyle getting behind the wheel. And I don't need a new car payment to go along with the insurance premiums for a teenage boy.
ReplyDeleteTeenage drivers certainly complicate car ownership strategies.
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