Many people drive old cars. Whether it is out of necessity or choice, it makes no difference: as the cars age the owners have to deal with minor or major problems and, at some point, get rid of them.

Well, except for 53-year old Joe LoCicero who owns a 1990 Honda Accord. What makes Mr. LoCicero’s car special is that its odometer surpassed the 1 million mile mark 20 years after it was rolled off the assembly line in Honda’s Marysville, Ohio plant. That’s equal to driving the circumference of the Earth about 40 times…

LoCicero has named his Accord “True Blue” after its light-blue color and is a master auto technician who racks up the miles as he travels to Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont inspecting vehicles for lease terms and warranty claims.

“Joe is a testament to what you can do if you maintain your car”, said Ron Russell of Darling’s Honda in Bangor, which organized a parade in honor of “Million Mile Joe”, as he is now nicknamed. “Thankfully, not many people do it or we’d be out of business”, Russell joked.

LoCicero bought the car in 1996 with 74,000 miles on the odo. Throughout the years, he kept track of everything, from fill-ups to tire rotations and maintained the car in the best possible way.

Due to his profession, he was able to do a lot of the work done by himself – something that his wife, Sharon, confirms: “He’ll be out there, underneath the car, on a blanket in the middle of winter”, she said.

He has replaced the seatbelts, steering wheel, upholstery and fuel pump (at 741,000 miles!), but he swears that both the engine (which he only took apart once) and the transmission are original.

“If you listen carefully, she’s getting old. But its’ been an amazing ride”, said LoCicero who, according to a Honda spokeswoman, is the first person documented by the car manufacturer to have passed the 1 million mile milestone (we assume in the U.S.).

Therefore Honda decided to give him a brand-new cobalt blue 2012 Accord last Sunday during a special event which included a plane flying above with a “Way to Go Joe!” flyer.

LoCicero admits that he tried to sell the car to a few dealers, who might have wanted to advertise it, for $1 million: “A buck for a mile – that’s fair”, he said. “I didn’t get any bites.”

Story References: Honda & Portland Herald

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