The Dodge turns 100,000 miles (Part 1)

I don’t know how many people can say exactly where they were when the vehicle they were driving turned the magical 100,000 miles.  But I do.  It happened to me on the Dodge recently. I was driving up to see my parents about 70 miles north of where we live and there it was. Bam!

It was getting dark and I had to pull over to the side of the road real quick because it had to be perfect. There was even a storm raging and some crazy clouds in the sky. Like this was something meant to be. Pretty cool.

My 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 is the first and probably the only vehicle that I will ever buy new.  Because I’m just a cheap bastard?  Depends on who you ask, and if I bought them a few beers over the years. But I digress.

When the odometer turned, it dawned on me that I had driven 99.9% of that 100 grand. So then my mind started musing over how many thousands of miles I had probably driven in my entire life.  Of course, that means recalling all of the meaningful cars I have had the privilege to sit behind the wheel of over the last 40-plus years.

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Sure I put a few miles on my parent’s 1982 AMC 4-wheel drive eagle station wagon when I first got a permit. That great straight six-cylinder tank of a tank of a tank. You could go anywhere you want as long as you were OK getting 16 miles to a gallon.

Then came my college car and that of my youth. The beautiful swept lines of the 1976 Mustang II. Hatchback and all with one mean mural on the hood.  Now that one saw me through four years of college, and my first couple of years in Southern California. Where it finally found a home with a guy who spoke only Spanish and paid me in cases of beer.

Now the 1966 Mustang.  Ah, that 289 with the four-barrel carburetor, the Pony Interior, and the factory AC.  Now that was a road machine. Sure, your back was sore after an hour and a half as you stuck to the vinyl seats, but boy you sure looked good doing it. That car saw a lot of California miles.   Why? Because everything in California was a drive. Even when I started to date Nancy we were 106 miles apart from doorstep to doorstep. Of course that normally included quality imported beer, a meat and cheese plate, some nice crackers, and more often than not sex. So I guess even today I would consider that quite the bargain and worth every mile. And remember, I looked soooooo good driving that Mustang anywhere and everywhere.

Then back up into my native Washington state, there was a beautiful 1974 Dodge Power Wagon 4×4 in Avocado Metallic Green that I bought from my dad. We put lots and lots of hours on that beast.  Taking the kids camping and towing the tent trailer around. That wonderful 318 pulled 9 to 10 miles to the gallon on a good day. It was like riding a buckboard wagon on the Oregon trail at 55 miles an hour. Ouch.

I started working as a Field Rep in claims for Safeco, and over those seven years enjoyed quite the trilogy of automobiles.

I started with the Electric Maui Blue Chevy 4-door Corsica. Then graduated to a beautiful Champagne Metallic Ford Contour. And finally, I finished my claims career in a beautiful bubble-like Ford Taurus station wagon in plain white. I opted for that car because it was great for parking at a remote trailhead when I went backpacking. Back in the day, Safeco had you pay a $50 per month use fee, and you got to drive your work car for personal use. Most people even sold their primary cars. Of course, I was driving around 25,000 a year for work, and a lot more for personal. And paid for zero maintenance and fuel.  Miss those days.

We did buy one of Nancy’s old company cars. Once more, back in the day insurance companies would swap out their field cars at 60K. So that’s how many miles were on the 1999 Jasper Green Chevy Lumina. Hate to say it, but that car had the curb appeal of a cinder block but the functionality of a Swiss army knife. One of the last cars to have a front bench seat and a trunk to fit a body. The best thing was that rock solid 3.0 V 6. If I kept the speed at 65 mph I could pull 35 miles to the gallon all day long.  Even scratched on 40 mpg during the long treks thru Montana.  Sold that bad boy with 185K on it with zero problems to a 23-year-old kid that looked like a young Sammy Hagar. One of the easiest cars I ever had to maintain.

Of course, there was and still is Nancy’s 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe. But most of those 130,000 miles are all hers as it’s been her daily driver for many years now. I’ll share the total loss story with you later. It’s when some guy plowed into her and one of the comps the insurance company used for valuation was the exact same car (color and everything). She drove down to California and bought it. Then the engine blew up coming home. I’m just scratching the surface of that future post.

So at the end of the day, counting the 100,000 miles from the dodge, I’m pretty sure my lifetime aggregate is in the 500 to 600,000 range. Wow. Maybe that’s why I feel old.  After all, it’s only 25000 miles around the equator.  And just under 240,000 miles to the moon. I guess the life I have been living has been in reality a life in motion. With a little bit of luck, I still got some left in me. Thank goodness I have a Figaro to help me hit that million-mile mark.