Norway (Maine) man drives his Honda to the 1 million mile mark

[Maine-ah]

http://bangordailynews.com/2011/10/24/news/portland/norway-man-drives-his-honda-to-the-1-million-mile-mark/

SACO, Maine — A Norway man hit a milestone for car maker Honda this month when his car became the first documented vehicle by the Japanese maker to hit 1 million miles.

Joe LoCicero, 53, was honored on Sunday by a parade in Saco put on by Honda, where he was presented with a brand new Honda Accord.

While some parts have had to be replaced, LoCicero says his 1990 Honda is still running on its original engine and transmission. He bought the car in 1996 when it had 74,000 miles on it and has maintained it through the years using only Honda-approved parts.

*that's the whole article, there's a video at the link.

[Fumesucker]

1. That article is remarkably confusing..

A Norwegian named Joe LoCicero gets a parade in Saco, Maine for driving a Japanese car a million miles?

:crazy:

Edited for speling.

[Maine-ah]

2. lmao...

we also have a Paris, and a China in Maine...and a few others...


http://thequibleycorner.blogspot.com/2008/05/foreign-cities-and-countries-of-maine.html

[formercia]

3. I always laugh when I see that sign

:rofl:
..thinking how it confuses people from away.

His car looks great, considering all of the salt on the roads in the Winter. Maintenance is the key. I just had a new timing belt put in my CRV. The dealer asked if there was anything wrong. Nothing wrong, just a Honda recommendation. It runs like a new engine now.

[Maine-ah]

4. we had a little Honda

ended up selling it a few years ago, probably on the road still. Right now, I have a Nissan, regular maintenance, no problems with 112k miles on it. Though for other reasons I'm currently driving my Mom's Saab w/ 150k on it....back and forth to her house to take care of her is killer on the gas, and since she can't drive, she told me to take her car. My favorite thing about it, is the heated seats. Nice to have a warm ass this time of year up here. The hubby likes his old Ford truck, and that has about 150k on it as well. Their truck line seems to be better than any of their cars I ever had.

[TBF]

5. My 2001 Subaru is close to 120K miles.

The dealer services it each year before inspection. I haven't had payments for years and I'm keeping it as long as it runs.

[Nye Bevan]

7. I do the same thing with my cars.

Too many of my friends and family lease a brand new car every 3 years and then wonder why they are short of money.

[NavyDem]

6. How does someone put that many miles on a car in such a short time?

Granted, I drive a 99 VW Jetta, but I'm barely at 130K miles, and I do make sure maintenance is kept up to date. I drive my car everyday for work, but couldn't imagine putting 50K per year on it. I barely put 6K on it per year. But, I guess this goes to show that you don't have to trade up every couple of years. I know I'll drive my VW until it cannot be economically fixed.

[PotatoChip]

10. High mileage is often a product of where you live

Maine is a very rural state, and most people have to drive long distances for just about everything including work.

The guy bought the Honda 15 years ago w/174K miles already on it. So if my math is correct, he only had to put slightly more then 55k miles p/yr on it. That is very doable for people in rural areas. High end of normal actually.

Whoops. On edit I see that the article said the Honda had 74k already on it, not 174k. Nonetheless, that doesn't change the amount p/yr significantly. Still feasible.

[NavyDem]

11. Still...

That's gotta be close to 150 miles per day, 365 days per year. I couldn't imagine driving that much. Especially with gas prices what they are. I get just under 30MPG, and I still don't like having to fill up every couple of weeks.

[PotatoChip]

Yeah, it's quite a bit

But still possible. Maybe the guy's work required a lot of travel?

[AngryAmish]

8. My 98 Accord has around 140-150k I think

I bought it used. Put on brakes, distributor, ignition over the last 60k. . I love that car. It is my first foreign car and I will never go back to American made.

[FarCenter]

14. My son now has my '98 Accord, and has about 197,000 on it

To be competitive, manufacturers should be shooting for 20 years and 300 K miles vehicle life.

[bullwinkle428]

9. 291,000 miles on my own Honda. Guess I'm just a slacker, as I'm

looking at replacing it in the near future!

[Shagbark Hickory]

12. The imports became really popular for a reason. nt

[lumberjack_jeff]

16. I have 270,000 on my 4wd Chevy.

All cars are better than they used to be.

[Romulox]

13. I love my Japanese car, BUT WHERE ARE THE JOBS????

:silly: :hi:

[taught_me_patience]

15. I had the exact same car and it was a POS

So many things went wrong, including a needing a full transmission rebuild. I hated that car and ended up selling it for $900 and it only had 150k miles. I did have a 2005 Accord that was much better though. I now have a Ford and we'll see how long it lasts.

[Liberal_in_LA]

17. nice he got a brand new car

[ProdigalJunkMail]

18. My Jeep had over 300K on it before it was killed

by a guy who made a mistake on a wet road. i would have taken it to a million...it was running like a champ.

sP

[yewberry]

19. Holy cow, I know that guy.

Haven't seen him in about 20 years, but that's Joe.

That blows my mind! :crazy:

[intaglio]

20. Wiki has a list under Car Longevity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_longevity

and lists a 1976 Mercedes Benz 240 D as having done 2,850,307 (now in a museum) and a 1964 Volvo P1800S as having covered 2.8 million by July 2010, this is still running; the owner hopes to get to 3 million soon.

[JCMach1]

21. A teacher in HS had a VW Van that was driven from Alaska to the Tip of South America

and had been driven over 1M miles...

He used to share his travel pics with students.

[JoeyT]

22. I've got a 99 CR-V

with 340k on it and still no major problems, which was bought used.

I wouldn't buy anything newer than a 2000 in that series: Too many problems and a ridiculous maintenance schedule. My last car was bought new and union made and I let the dealer know that was why.

[jmowreader]

23. What does Mr. LoCicero do for a living, pray tell?

To put 926,000 miles on a car in 15 years, you need to drive about 62,000 miles a year. I'm thinking either merchandiser or outside sales rep.

[WCIL]

24. I watched the (Honda produced) video at the link

He is a claims adjuster and drives approx. 62,500 miles/year. He has also been a mechanic, so is very comfortable working on his car. There was a jokey bit about how his wife doesn't know if he is married to her or the car; he has notebooks full of records and takes regular pictures of the odometer. He apparently is gone a lot.