557,000 Miles

Posted by Miss Cellania in Car & Vehicle on July 3, 2009 at 10:08 am


90-year-old Rachel Veitch of Orlando, Florida has been driving the same 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente since it was new. Now she has racked up 557,000 miles on the odometer -and it’s still going great!

Unlike her three husbands, Veitch says, the Mercury has “never lied to me, never cheated on me, and I can always depend on her.”

Veitch is on her seventh Midas muffler, and thank you, gentlemen, for the lifetime warranty. She’s had three sets of Sears shock absorbers, also through a lifetime warranty. And though the number seems high, she claims to have had 16 free batteries, courtesy of J.C. Penney and Firestone.

“She’s demonstrating the perfect way to take care of a car,” says Mike Hardie, director of global quality and productivity for Ford Motor Co., and that’s what makes her a menace.

“If everyone did that,” he says, “we’d never sell another one, so don’t spread it around too far.”

If the engine ever goes out, Veitch may be in trouble, because they are no longer manufactured. Link -via the Presurfer


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COMMENT

18 comments to "557,000 Miles"

  1. quinnnchick
    July 3rd, 2009 at 11:08 am

    truly amazing. and to think I was happy with 130K+ miles on my Escort.

  2. Katey
    July 3rd, 2009 at 11:10 am

    Shows how much climate matters in a car's life. The cold and snow and salt of New England would have rusted that thing out 20 years ago.

  3. Skipweasel
    July 3rd, 2009 at 11:21 am

    My old Audi had 275,000 on the clock when I sold it. The current heap, a Xantia hasn't reached 150,000 yet, but then it's only 14 years old so it's barely started.

  4. 1 Lucky Texan
    July 3rd, 2009 at 11:51 am

    That climate is also why she's had 16 batteries. Average life in some parts of the southern US is 30 months.

    http://www.jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/lifemap.jpg

  5. Dude Manbrough
    July 3rd, 2009 at 12:54 pm

    Impressive; however I currently drive an '04 Ford pickup with 210,000 miles & counting. At this rate I'll lap her easily.

  6. NicoNicoNico
    July 3rd, 2009 at 2:13 pm

    Amazingly, she's apparently driven it consistently. That adds up to an average of 12000 miles a year, which is a fairly decent number if she doesn't go on too many road trips.

  7. Ajan
    July 3rd, 2009 at 2:43 pm

    Wish I can do the same with my darling bike!!

  8. GailW
    July 3rd, 2009 at 3:25 pm

    Re:>>“If everyone did that,” he says, “we’d never sell another one, so don’t spread it around too far.” <
    Yeah there's no better way to keep information to yourself than to let it get posted on the Internet! :)

  9. Mulleteer
    July 3rd, 2009 at 3:36 pm

    I don't know.. the maintenance for that thing must be constant burden. There is always something to be fixed, adjusted or tuned in car this old.

  10. Vonskippy
    July 3rd, 2009 at 5:09 pm

    Not such a big deal, considering the last twenty years or so the car's never been driven over 20 mph (and probably in the wrong lane).

  11. NoBig
    July 3rd, 2009 at 7:41 pm

    For Heavens sake- I have sold at least 3 Volvos with more miles than that. All still running.

  12. Geekazoid
    July 3rd, 2009 at 10:03 pm

    Wow, 90 years old and still driving. I don't want to know what her reaction time is like, though since she's driven all this time she must be a good driver.

  13. SenorMysterioso
    July 3rd, 2009 at 10:08 pm

    Thats really not a lot of miles for a 45 year old car. I admire her for driving it that long though.

    My fam drove a 63' Ford Ranchero regularly for about ten years until '06 and it's still being driven by the person that bought it from us. The maintenance was never a burden. Plus old cars are simple enough that you can fix most things on your own. Living in Colorado I never had issues with snow. Just have to make sure you wash the salt & mag chloride off.

  14. Altima
    July 4th, 2009 at 1:11 am

    That's great. I have a 97 Altima that's around 300k and running smoothly. It's gone through several long distance relationships though so I doubt it'll last to 500k. And there have been lots of maintenance updates..just always under enough money for it to be worth it.

  15. supafreake
    July 4th, 2009 at 2:18 am

    By the time we had gotten rid of the family Minivan, we had clocked over 700k miles on it. It died a firey death at the hands of Trainee firefighters.

  16. Kalel
    July 4th, 2009 at 2:25 am

    I drove my Honda to the Moon and left it there.

  17. Skipweasel
    July 4th, 2009 at 5:46 am

    supafreake - I once had to dispose of a wheelchair accessible minibus. Poor old thing really was past it and didn't comply with reasonable safety standards. Turned out the best thing to do was give it to the local fire brigade who enjoyed themselves immensely. Being GRP they didn't want to burn it, but they invited several neighbouring teams over and spent a happy afternoon turning it over and rescuing "wheelchair users" from it. They were so pleased to have something different for a change - normally they only get cars.

  18. Gene
    July 18th, 2009 at 1:57 pm

    I'd rather read an article about someone who has kept her marriage for 40+ years. That would have been more impressive.

    Maybe if she was that meticulous with the first?


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