100,000

Today was a big milestone for Chloe. She hit 100,000 miles. I bought Chloe in early 2005. I’d been home from my mission 6 months or so and felt it was finally time to get a car. My parents are extremely generous and have purchased a car for each of their children. At the time, Shelly was the only one who had taken them up on the offer.

I started looking at things and researching and decided that I wanted a 1979 Camaro. Mom said no.

So I started thinking seriously. SUV’s get bad gas mileage, but are great for outdoor recreation. But they get bad gas mileage. So I struck them off the list (goodbye Nissan X-Terra).

So that left Toyota and Honda. I chose Honda because their 2001 models had better designs than Toyota’s. And I chose an Accord over a Civic because Accords are bigger and I’m tall. My dad felt it was important that I have a V6 if I was going to be driving in the mountains a lot, so I got that. But the V6 only came with the EX models, which have a leather interior, sunroof, etc. So I ended up with a nicer car than I had in mind when I started looking.

Have I been happy with my choice? Yes and no. The car had previously been in an accident and started having paint problems early on. It still has those paint problems because I just don’t feel like it’s worth fixing them. But mechanically, the car has been a dream. I’ve put 50,000 miles on it. All I’ve done is change the oil regularly, flush the transmission fluid, put on new tires and put in new brakes and rotors. I haven’t had any surprises or breakdowns. Everything runs well.

At 105,000 I have my scheduled maintenance. That’s the big one, where they replace the timing belt, adjust the idle, etc. But it’ll be worth it if I can get another 100,000 miles out of Chloe. I’d even be happy with another 60,000.

What did my family think of my purchase? Both Kevin and Janene bought Honda Accords.