200,000 and Counting

Sometimes you have to celebrate the little things, too.

On my way to class last night, at about 4:48 p.m., C.S.T., on Illinois Route 38, our 1995 Honda Civic reached 200,000 miles. I noted the occasion by pulling off on a side road and taking the photo above. It takes some anal retentiveness, and a lot of preventative maintenance, to keep a car this long, so here’s what it took to get the Civic to that big day:

48 oil changes

4 sets of tires

2 timing belt/water pump replacements

4 brake jobs

5 valve adjustments

1 new radiator

6 sets of spark plugs

3 mufflers

3 stereos

A still-original clutch

And, approximately 5,715 gallons of gas (at 35 mpg)

Am I asking too much to think Alex or Kristen could drive this car someday?

Probably.

On the other hand, it is a Honda. . .