Aug 30, 2023 3 min read

How much do you drive your car each week? A few miles? A few hundred miles? I travel to and from Pittsburgh for work five days a week, so I’m more in the couple hundred mile category most weeks.

Back when I lived in Toledo, Ohio, a while ago, my house was only one mile from work! Some other places I’ve lived have been 20 to 30 miles away from work. Between that and traveling to see family and friends, the miles tended to add up quickly. By contrast, when COVID-19 had me working from home, I didn’t go anywhere and drove my car hardly anywhere for months.

Are you a new car buyer or a used car buyer? Most of the time, I tend to buy newer used cars with decent mileage.

My first car had 60,000 miles on it when I bought it and I sold it when it hit 140,000 miles. My last car had 30,000 miles on it when I bought it and I sold it at 120,000 miles.

One constant is that I always drive Hondas and I always name my cars. One of them was named Betty (for no particular reason). My spiffy little red Civic coupe was dubbed Helio after my favorite IndyCar driver, Helio Castroneves. After that was an Accord called Dario (after Dario Franchitti), and now I drive another snazzy coupe I dubbed Fernando (after F1 driver Fernando Alonso). One co-worker drove a pickup truck that was more than a decade old and had more than 200,000 miles on it. She called it Dale and nearly cried the day she finally traded Dale in for a brand-new truck. I almost cried when I bid farewell to Betty the Del Sol since it was one of my favorite cars and they don’t make them anymore.

Fernando came off the car lot with a mere 1,500 miles on him and he was the newest car I have ever owned. I have tried to baby him, change his oil regularly and keep him nice and clean. I’ve had Fernando for four years (though he’s 5 years old), and last week he hit a milestone when the odometer rolled over to 60,000 miles. Where did the time go? I remember thinking I would keep this car for 10 years (and I still plan to if not longer!).

Some people I’ve talked with only have 10 or 20 thousand miles on their cars, even after years of driving them. Other folks tell me they’re still driving cars with 200,000 to 230,000 miles on them and they’re going strong with regular maintenance. Fernando is due for an oil change, tire rotation and routine maintenance this week. Then it might be time for another car wash and good cleaning inside.

Then Fernando will be ready to hit the road again for the next 60,000 miles!

Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.