This Honda Accord Just Crossed the Million-Mile Mark

As someone who currently owns an E39, the idea that people are still scared of a little mileage on their cars is completely foreign to me. It’s not the Old Times anymore, and a car doesn’t automatically blow up when it hits 100,000 miles. And yet, even I’ve never owned a true high-mileage car. At least nothing approaching the million-mile mark like one owner recently did in his Honda Accord.

Back in January, The Drive spoke to Justin Kilmer, the owner of a 2003 Honda Accord Coupe that, at the time, had 982,000 miles on the clock. For what it’s worth, it was the good version of the Accord Coupe that paired the 3.0-liter V6 with the six-speed manual transmission. His wife reportedly bought it while they were dating, and by 2015, it had hit 185,000 miles.

990k update – some repairs, an article written about the car, almost there!

But then Kilmer took a job as a medical courier and began using it to transport medical supplies with the Accord. That job required him to drive about 100,000 miles a year. And instead of buying a new car every year, he decided to simply keep driving the Accord and documenting the necessary maintenance on his YouTube Channel.

The car is still on its original engine, although he reportedly plans to replace it soon. It’s also only on its second transmission, which is likely due to the fact that it’s a manual and not an automatic. But he’s still had to replace plenty of other parts more than a few times, including ball joints and tie rod ends. Heck, he’s even had to replace the driver’s seat.

According to Road & Track, the car officially crossed 1,000,000 miles over the weekend. Although, you can’t see that on the odometer. Apparently, it got up to 999,999 miles and then stopped, which was expected. That said, he did reportedly set a trip odometer to count down the last 1,000 miles, so he knew exactly when he’d hit his goal.

Sadly, there’s no big post from Kilmer himself because he reportedly doesn’t have social media outside of YouTube. But we wouldn’t be surprised if he drops a video on his channel soon to celebrate the accomplishment. And celebrate he should. Because while anyone can get their car to 100,000 miles these days, driving ten times that distance, especially on the original engine, is far from an easy task.