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Million mile club

8K views 60 replies 21 participants last post by  datechbpss101 
#1 ·
Not sure if there is a thread about this (other than that mileage log thread), so why not start one just for the 6th Generation.

I am thinking about making my 1999 Honda Accord to go over a million miles and possibly more. There are only like a handful or so of vehicles in the country with million+ miles, but only one of them is a 1990 Honda Accord. My car isn't abused at all and is around 104000, but it will get a hell lot more once I get into a college. As of right now, its taking about 20-30 miles per day (not miles per gallon).
 
#2 ·
That's a pretty lofty goal! Although if my math is correct, at your current usage it will take you 91 YEARS to reach 1,000,000 miles. Maybe Honda will give you a 2116 NSX when you get there?
 
#5 · (Edited by Moderator)
Lol bro. In like 1.5 years I will be in college, in which I will add on about 100,000 miles or more for 4 years, and it all depends on where I go. Plus in Florida, the mileage will add up by alot within a year.

At this rate it'll only take me about 30 years to reach 1 million miles on my 6th gen ;) I put 31k miles on her in the first year I got her, and that was only with commuting and visiting my parents occasionally. Maybe with routine maintenance and a lot of love, Selene will live to see her 50th birthday, haha!

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Well, I do the same thing for Lucky (my 6th gen) other than that mileage thing since I still have like a few months till I get my license. After that, I will be adding a lot of miles, plus possibly driving around the country. Also, now I am trying to start changing all of the usual fluids all by myself since I don't trust anyone in the area to service her.
 
#3 ·
So those that have not achieved the million mile have to wait? I might get back to you on this soon™ 50 years from now as I bought mine last year that just reached 1K miles.
 
#4 ·
At this rate it'll only take me about 30 years to reach 1 million miles on my 6th gen ;) I put 31k miles on her in the first year I got her, and that was only with commuting and visiting my parents occasionally. Maybe with routine maintenance and a lot of love, Selene will live to see her 50th birthday, haha!

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#7 ·
#9 · (Edited by Moderator)
Basically, my idea is to get more Honda Accords over the million mile mark/milestone, since there is already one or so that went over. This would be amazing if every (maybe most or at least half) of the Accord owners on this forum would join, then the million mile thing would become more common, especially for the Honda Accord. Hope this explains what my thought process is about this idea that came across me.

All this said though, is just a story type reminder that we all drive differently and changes in our lives make us drive our cars for different amounts of mileage per year.
That is true and I do agree. But we also got to keep in mind that certain areas tend to add more miles than others. For me, back in PA we just added about 1,000 miles or so per year on my Accord, and now down here in Central Florida, we add a lot more.
 
#15 ·
Bro, got a problem with me trying to earn an education and trying to have a great life with the car I got gifted from my parents? Let alone I said that I have a permit and soon to get my license. Now put that in perspective and use some common sense, that I'm a high schooler. Plus, I got 50+ years till I put her into retirement.

Once you get your license you won't have the time to think about that million miles. Wait until your first ticket... First repair bill... First time a civic speeds pass you and you decide you want a faster car.
I do care about a million miles because I'm not a ricer, as some say. Repair bills is better than a shiny new metal that will incredibly depreciate within the first few years of ownership, unless if I decide to jump to Nissan if Honda kills the V6 and the xSpeed auto trans for the Accord. Plus older Hondas have a record of being reliable.

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#18 ·
There's a guy on here who has a 7th gen that drives enough to get an oil change once a month. He already has 400k on his 7GA.
 
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#19 ·
Let's maybe set a smaller milestone of 300k, then 500k? 300k is my goal with Selene (6th gen gifted to me in 2015). She has about 136k now. Almost halfway there!

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#22 ·
My plan is to hit another 100k with the original tranny and engine before anything goes out.

You'll change your mind 1,000 times before you are 25 years old. My friends still make fun of me for swearing that I will own and drive my Jeep until I die. One 100 degree F summer without A/C was enough to drop that Jeep like a drama queen girlfriend.

On another note, do you guys remember when GM cars had odometers that only went to 100,000 miles? Then it would roll over back to zero. I think even the earliest Hondas and Toyotas I saw had odometers with the extra digit- going to 999,999 miles.

And I bring this up because I know a neighbor who traded in her MINT 4 cylinder 2007 Accord (that I did maintenance on and would have bought in a second) when it got to 96,000 miles because her moronic girlfriends kept telling her that cars explode at 100,000 miles and you better do something (sell it) before it falls apart. When she came home with a Chevy Malibu I wept. I actually stood in my driveway and wept. Dealer sold her car 5 days later for a $5,000 profit. I think I'm gonna cry again, right now. Bad memories....
Yeah. I totatly feel you bro. TBH I bet they drove either Toyota's or some horribly made GM vehicles. My friends made fun of my car and I told them to suck it up and that they aren't the one that is driving it.

So what are the requirements to join this club thread? Do you have to have a million miles on your car or do you just have to "want to" have a million miles some day?

Either way I'm out.
There are no requirements. If there were any, this would have been an exclusive club for 6th gen accords only and would have been found on the 6th gen accord forum.
 
#20 ·
You'll change your mind 1,000 times before you are 25 years old. My friends still make fun of me for swearing that I will own and drive my Jeep until I die. One 100 degree F summer without A/C was enough to drop that Jeep like a drama queen girlfriend.

On another note, do you guys remember when GM cars had odometers that only went to 100,000 miles? Then it would roll over back to zero. I think even the earliest Hondas and Toyotas I saw had odometers with the extra digit- going to 999,999 miles.

And I bring this up because I know a neighbor who traded in her MINT 4 cylinder 2007 Accord (that I did maintenance on and would have bought in a second) when it got to 96,000 miles because her moronic girlfriends kept telling her that cars explode at 100,000 miles and you better do something (sell it) before it falls apart. When she came home with a Chevy Malibu I wept. I actually stood in my driveway and wept. Dealer sold her car 5 days later for a $5,000 profit. I think I'm gonna cry again, right now. Bad memories....
 
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#23 ·
People don't make fun of my Honda, at least to my face. Most people I meet who ask about her seem to respect her. The fact she's as old as she is and in pretty good shape garners some at least. Having 300k on the odometer would just add to that I think.

Speaking of GM, people can't believe my dad's Camaro made it 313k on the original transmission. With bare minimum (but on-time) maintenance. So now I have that pair of shoes to fill, haha.

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#24 ·
I'll try to join, seems people around me *coughparentscough* are hinting at me getting a new car because once I fix something, another problems shows up. First my alternator now my muffler falls off(not the only problems I've had.). Which is great, because someone decided to weld them on and now i'm tasked with removing what's left of the bolts! (hurray!) But still, the experience is always fun to fix cars. So I plan on at least 500k. i'm already past 300k so why not? ;)
 
#25 ·
My goal was to get 200k out of our 98. We are at 201k now, and I can tell after 170k, ALOT OF ISSUES start popping up including tranny replacement which makes me second guess sometimes why I kept it and fixed absolutely everything that has went wrong over the past 3 years. Sure the original engine runs good with no leaks and minimal oil consumption... the now 3rd tranny in it shifts good (2nd one only lasted 24k miles)... but everything wears out including suspension, radiator, door locks, axles, vtech gaskets, catalytic converter / exhaust, emissions parts, paint, wheel bearings, engine mounts, internal distributor orings, power steering pump, timing belt,.. etc.. The paint on my 98 is starting to fail.. so after spending all this time and money fixing it mechanically (doing much of the work myself).. I guess I need to think about painting it.. as the sunk cost mindset kicks in.. right now I am at about $3k over the past 3 years / 30k miles and anticipate minimal repairs for the next 25k+ miles.. But in all honesty, it is hard to find a good car these days for under $5k.. or even 10k. With cars, you never get your money back (unless it is a rare investment type car), but you have to do the math and do what is logical. So I spent on average of $1k a year in repairs over the past 3 years on a $1,500 car.. whoop de doo.. This year and next I anticipate hardly anything except a paint job if I decide to do so. Find any car that costs $1k a year in total ownership costs and you will understand why I stuck to keeping this old car. The technology and "improvements" like nitrogen filled tires, TPMS, extra computers, and specialized tool requirements on the newer cars sure is a deterrent too.

Just keep in mind if after 250k if you are still on the original engine, and your tranny is miraculously still original there are tons of other parts that will wear out before then, and leaks will definately start showing up long before then. Once you get to a certain threshold, things will start popping up left and right. If you are resourceful, patient, and can do most of the work yourself the parts are cheap.. but do you have the time and tools to work on all the things that will need attention? Might want to have a backup car just in case. We have 4 cars, so it is not an issue for us.
 
#26 ·
The paint on my 98 is starting to fail.. so after spending all this time and money fixing it mechanically (doing much of the work myself).. I guess I need to think about painting it..
Starting to fail?! Haha. The paint on my '99 is all but destroyed.

Save yourself the trouble (and money) and get it liquid wrapped ("dipped") at a shop instead. Put the $2k you'd save by doing that away for repairs. It'll last a good three years if you take care of it. You don't sound like you're gonna keep it much longer than that anyway. Plus it'll save the paint it still has from getting worse.

as the sunk cost mindset kicks in.. right now I am at about $3k over the past 3 years / 30k miles and anticipate minimal repairs for the next 25k+ miles..
I've spent about $4k total on mine over a period of about a year and a half/25k miles.

Also, don't ever anticipate minimal maintenance or repairs on a car. You're setting yourself up for disappointment there.

But in all honesty, it is hard to find a good car these days for under $5k.. or even 10k. With cars, you never get your money back (unless it is a rare investment type car), but you have to do the math and do what is logical. So I spent on average of $1k a year in repairs over the past 3 years on a $1,500 car.. whoop de doo..
I spent $4k in a little over a year on a free car. But I see that more as if I had bought a really nice used car for $4k.

I also got another car last year for $400. So good, cheap cars are still very available, IMO.

This year and next I anticipate hardly anything except a paint job if I decide to do so. Find any car that costs $1k a year in total ownership costs and you will understand why I stuck to keeping this old car. The technology and "improvements" like nitrogen filled tires, TPMS, extra computers, and specialized tool requirements on the newer cars sure is a deterrent too.
You're complaining about spending only $1k a year but then boasting that it's better than maintenance on a new car, haha. This is exactly the reason why I only buy older cars...

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#28 ·
Honestly, if repairs cost you $1000 or less annually to keep the car reliable, and your car is paid off, you're saving money. A new Accord off the lot will cost 22-30k over the course of 2-6 years, so at best you're paying $3600 annually if you somehow don't get charged interest. Keep it on the road as long as you can handle and don't be surprised to make it into the 300's before costs start to increase and a new car becomes more appealing.
 
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#40 ·
As I can recall, I used to own an 05 Odyssey and we put 151k miles on her, and all the maintenance cost us about the same as the Accord, but with frequent oil changes, warranty issues, etc. We just got a Nissan and that car is literally eating our budget, plus they gave us some type of interest rate, and also convince my dad to buy some useless packages that the insurance covers. For the wheels, I could replace the stock 18s that came with the Nissan with some really great Vossen rims. Also, the maintenance on that car is bit more expensive (including the simple oil changes done at the Nissan dealer) than the Accord (using the same oil type). A new car (mostly the 9th gen V6 and the new CRV) is kinda taking me over, but then the issues the inconvenience of the push button ignition and then people are car-jacking these new cars with some type of device. Also, I still do love my car, even though my aftermarket stereo may be a pain in the butt sometimes, but again it is simple and fun to drive for me, and I do enjoy driving her than the Nissan. Sometime soon, I will be replacing all the fluids, and both the cabin air filter and air filter.
 
#29 ·
Any car that I heard of that approached 1,000,000 miles was driven almost exclusively on the highway - gentle, easy, very fast miles. Some sales reps can average 50,000 miles per year. At that pace it would take 20 years to reach 1,000,000 miles.

Sometimes its hard to grasp the reality of large numbers. Most people drive about 12,000 miles per year. If you average 12,000 miles per year, it would take 83 years to reach 1,000,000 miles. 83 years? As your only car? Your primary source of transportation? That would be like someone driving a 1934 Buick, every single day of their life, from the year 1934. Assuming they could have afforded a brand new car in 1934 at age 17, they'd be 100 years old....literally. All of a sudden a million miles seems like a bigger number, doesn’t it? Still worthy of that goal?
 
#30 ·
I happen to be one of those people who do a lot of driving every year. My last three cars in order are 2004 Subaru Forester (which I still own) has 276,000 on it, 2006 Mazda5, killed by a deer at 231,000, and my Accord which I bought April 2, 2016 with 86,000 on it. The Accord now has 124,xxx miles on it as of this morning and I see no reason it will not see 300K in my ownership (provided the universe doesn't have other plans LOL). My commute to work is 76 miles one way, five (sometimes six) days a week, we will also use my car for family road trips of various lengths such as visiting my sister in South Carolina which is a four hundred mile one way trip. Even with the large number of miles my cars accumulate, I can't really conceive of driving one car for long enough to gather the magic six figures. Sooner or later, luck, circumstance, and my wandering eye cause me to move on to another vehicle. Now if I could get my hands on a 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Lusso silver with a blue leather interior, maybe then , I would go for a million miles. Of course the maintenance on a million mile Ferrari would cost a TRILLION dollars but hey....
 
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#35 ·
or you can roll the dice with a low mileage (40-60k) used Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) tranny. I have had 2 on my 1998. First one was 750 installed, second only $600 as the owner of the JDM shop gave me a break since the first one failed with bad differential bearings after 24k miles.
 
#36 ·
Is a JDM tranny worth it or getting my current tranny rebuilt is better? Its kind of confusing me. And what are the benefits of a JDM tranny?

My tranny rebuild cost me $1,400 for the first one and $800 for the second one as it failed shortly after the warranty expired and the shop was nice enough to give me a pro-rated price. It has been solid ever since. My price is also out of the norm since the shop owner is also a family friend. That being said, I've seen some people have their transmissions rebuilt between $1,800 - $3,600 depending on where they have it rebuilt. The upper end of that spectrum is almost always rebuilt at a Honda dealership.
I can totally understand the complete ripoff from a Honda dealer, because they asked me about $750 to fix the sway bar link and ball joint (each part actually costs were about $20 per item). I guess a great mechanic should do. Would a dealer come down on the price if I show them an invoice from another shop?
 
#39 ·
I couldn't tell you why. I'm just passing along what I've heard / read.
 
#42 ·
That's gotta be hurtful for both the deer and the car. So what's the fate for your car now?

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#43 ·
With my JDM tranny on my 1998, I have never had the PCM reprogrammed, but there were a few sensors / solenoids swapped from my original US Tranny to make it work plug and play. On both of the JDM trannies installed on my 98, I have encountered an occasional weird (very minor) downshift behavior, but maybe that does have something to do with needing the PCM reprogrammed (first time I have heard this mentioned).. not enough of an issue for me to look into. I have just gotten used to it.

The main difference with the JDM and US trannies (for the 4 cyl variants) is 3rd and 4th gear ratios. You will be running a little higher RPMs to achieve the same speeds in the higher gears, but that does give you a little more torque.
 
#44 ·
I'm doing oil changes every 3 weeks. I am hot on the tail of the member who has 412k on theirs.

I should have easily over 400k by the end of march.

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#45 ·
Wow! I wish you very much luck with your goal. I'm currently in university, and drive a 2004 Accord. It's a fine car, but i'm not really one to keep cars for long periods of time, nor am I satisfied with the car enough to keep driving it. I do have a friend, however, who intends to keep his 7th gen Accord for a very long time.
 
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#46 ·
What bothers you from keeping a car for a long time, especially a Honda Accord? Also tell your friend to join this forum.
 
#53 ·
Thanks man. That's my goal as of the next twenty years. Then I will think about what to do after I reach my goal. Possibly I might start the same goal but with a newer Accord or something.
 
#54 ·
6th Gen Accords seem very durable.

I hoped to try and get big numbers on my old Volvo but it badly needed an engine rebuild and enough other things I decided it wasn't economically worth keeping it. Besides I wasn't going to catch Irv Gordon's 3 million mile Volvo. Now that guy is dedicated.

Take care of Lucky and see how far you can go.
 
#55 ·
Thanks man. I do take care of her and she is due for the fluid changes (ps, brakes, and possibly a wheel bearing replacement).
 
#61 ·
When life comes around, things change. So it did happen, the car changed. Next, my lifestyle will probably change due to a certain business that I am starting with few of my buddies (will talk with admins about the vendor accounts and stuff when the time comes), but the goal will still be in place, with a different vehicle. That vehicle may be the newest Accord around the block or the newest MDX, but time will tell. Of course, I may not have the money now, but I will have the money by the time the business starts becoming profitable. Then I surely to heck will be putting roughly 5k miles a month (HQ is gonna be in the central part of the country).

But right now, this million-mile goal is going on right now for my 2016 Nissan Rogue SL that will pass 81k miles tomorrow, Monday April 15 2019.
 
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