When I got into my friend Justin’s 2003 Honda Accord recently to take it for a spin, the odometer read 59,030 miles. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve taken that reading at face value – after all, the car looked virtually new both inside and out. And it drove equally well.
But in reality, the car had 1,059,030 miles on it. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that Justin had added a “1” to the instrument cluster at the left side of the odometer. How was such an automotive feat even possible? One million miles comes out to about 40 times around the equator of the earth or traveling to the moon and back twice (and then some).
Justin drove the roughly 1,125 miles from his home in Corpus Christi to mine in Phoenix so we could take our high-mileage V6 coupes out on the town (my 1994 Acura Legend now has just over 595,000 miles on the odometer). Our destination for the day was a restaurant called Horny Toad, located about 30 miles north of Phoenix in Cave Creek. About 10 other Honda/Acura enthusiasts joined for the occasion. Following lunch, Justin and I got together for some Q&A in my garage.
One-Owner History
Justin’s wife bought the Satin Silver EX coupe new off the lot at Pensacola Honda in 2003 with about 10 miles on the odometer. At least initially, the Accord led a somewhat “normal” life in terms of mileage accumulation. But Justin took on a side job of delivering medical supplies and that’s when things started going crazy. There were nights when he would drive a seven-hour route at night after getting home from his day job. His highest-mileage year was in the 140,000-mile range.
Maintenance-wise, the “J30” 3.0-liter V6 remained unmodified and received synthetic oil changes every 15,000 miles or so. The original six-speed manual transmission was replaced with a used unit around 300,000 miles. At 922,000 miles, Justin noticed the car started to shake and had a shop do a full evaluation. He had lost the exhaust valve in the number one cylinder, so the car was essentially running on the remaining five cylinders. “Can I make it to a million on five?” he asked. “I don’t see why not,” the shop told him. And so, he did. He said the car made very little power, and it ran a little rough, but he plugged along and eventually hit the milestone in Tennessee in early 2023 with a few other Honda Accord owners in attendance.
At 1,015,000, the Accord finally received a new “crate” engine. In addition, a mechanical and cosmetic refresh was carried out that included paint, interior and suspension work in addition to many other checklist items. Even the original shift knob and steering wheel were replaced. And of course, since the original odometer froze at 999,999, a new one was installed showing zero miles. The car’s entire lifespan is documented – and the CARFAX report is 16 pages long.
Aside from talking about his car, I wanted to pick Justin’s brain a little about his road-tripping habits. I asked him how he passes the time on longer drives, and he said he listens to SiriusXM and his favorite channel is Octane. His favorite road in the country to drive is Highway 20 running north out of Oak Harbor, Washington, and crossing the Deception Pass bridge.
Connect with Justin
For our readers on the east coast, if you want to get up close and personal to a unique Accord coupe, Justin is planning on showing the car at “H Day” in Maryland the weekend of April 12. The event started in 2002 and now attracts over 1,000 cars each spring.
Regardless of where you’re located, you can follow Justin’s travels on his Instagram as well as his YouTube channel to keep tabs on his ownership experience with the high-mileage Honda.
Here’s to the next million miles, my friend!
