Milestones have meaning. I recently decided to plan an occasion around rolling 100,000 miles on my 1986 Acura Legend sedan. The fact that it took the car 38 years to accrue its first 100,000 miles is kind of a feat in itself: the Federal Highway Administration says that on average, a motorist covers 13,476 miles per year. The Legend has driven just 2,631 miles per year.
Planning the Occasion
I wanted to pick an appropriate venue for the milestone, so I scoured Google Maps for something that would be both meaningful and within mileage range. “Legend Trail Golf Club,” stood out to me for obvious reasons. And so, the wheels – both literally and figuratively – were put into motion.
The car was at 99,914 miles on a Saturday morning when I left the garage, and I knew Legend Trail was 30 miles away, so I had some miles to burn. I did so by venturing around the surrounding area. One of the places I visited was Sears-Kay Ruin, located just outside Carefree, Arizona in the Tonto National Forest. Sears-Kay dates back to the year 1050 AD with the native Hohokam people of the area.
Right on target like a well-choreographed moon landing, I arrived at the front door of Legend Trail Golf Club in Scottsdale just as the 100,000 was making its way around the odometer. A few onlookers were understandably curious as to why I was taking pictures and filming video of a plain-Jane passenger sedan at the resort. I later celebrated by venturing inside the cantina for a “Legend Club” sandwich.
Mileage Mania
All of this made me ponder if any of our readers are like me and seek after ways to celebrate vehicle milestone achievements. What are some of the clever ways that you’ve done so?
My first car, a 1986 Chevrolet Celebrity, only had a five-digit odometer. Were auto manufacturers painting a picture of planned obsolescence? After all, after 100,000 miles, a car was pretty well used up. Admittedly, that car was pretty tired at 194,000 (which read 94,000) when I last saw it.
In the 1980s and 1990s, most automakers began the switch to digital odometers. Personally, I was a little bummed about that. There is something special about watching a big roll-over “build-up” as mechanical numbers prepare for a milestone. And one of my favorite automotive hobbies, visiting the local salvage yards, became a lot less interesting when I was unable to see the mileage readings on junked vehicles.
Below are some of the memorable milestones I’ve documented in my 1994 Legend. I bought the car with 95,000 about 21 years ago, and so far, I’ve captured all of these:
- 100,000 through 500,000
- 111,111 through 555,555
- 123,456 through 567,890
For that last one, I even pre-calculated things so that the trip meter – which falls to the right of the odometer in the gauge cluster – said 234.5. The numbers across the cluster read 567890.1 and 234.5 in perfect sequence. Yeah, nerd alert.
Back in 2017, my friend Josh and I coordinated a date and location for us to both roll 555,555 miles on our cars simultaneously. We called it “Fantastic Fives,” and we gave each other a high-five on video as it happened (driving past each other in opposite directions).
Another fun one was when a new freeway opened in the Phoenix area in December 2019. It was a section of Loop 202, and it measured 22 miles in length. I rolled 222,222 miles in my Acura ILX on 12/22 with 2 friends onboard at 22 miles per hours and 2,000 rpm. Now that one took some serious effort!
Where to Next?
Here are some of my coming attractions:
- 600,000 – of course!
- 621,371 – which converts to 1 million kilometers
- TBD!
Let’s hear about some of your achievements, mileage-wise, in the comment section.
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