The Highest Mileage Honda In The World
Honda has built its reputation on doing the ordinary extraordinarily well. While the rest of the automotive world chases horsepower headlines and design awards, Honda quietly keeps stacking up evidence that its cars simply refuse to quit. We already know it excels in incredible hot hatches and even dabbles in supercars from time to time. But if you need a reliable small car to run around town and pick up groceries, Honda has that covered too — with something cheap to maintain and easy to live with.
What a lot of people take for granted with Honda products is that they are pretty reliable, whatever you choose. The trouble is, although Hondas will no doubt rack up a lot of miles, many are discarded long before they reach their potential. There is one Honda model, however, that is famous for cruising through seven-figure mileages without breaking a sweat. It’s not the most exciting, and it’s not the best looking, but this is one Honda you can rely on to do a couple of round trips to the moon — as long as you take care of it.
The Highest Mileage Honda Is A Blue ’90 Accord
What happens when your car’s odometer rolls over the one million miles mark? Does the engine ironically blow up in response to this momentous occasion? Does the odometer reset to zero? Does the car develop yet another strange banging noise? All of these are plausible scenarios, but for Joe LoCicero, something even more unexpected happened.
There Was A Surprise In Store For The Owner Of The High Miles Accord
Specs
 29 autotech Engine |
2.2-liter F22 inline-4 |
|
Power |
125-140 hp |
|
Torque |
137-142 lb-ft |
|
Drivetrain |
FWD |
Honda
On October 24, 2011, Honda hosted a surprise parade in Saco, Maine, to celebrate Joe LoCicero’s remarkable accomplishment of hitting one million miles in his 1990 Honda Accord. The parade interrupted a brief press conference where Joe was due to receive an oversized key to a new 2012 Honda Accord in recognition of his historic mileage. The one-block-long celebratory “Million Mile Joe” parade featured an airplane banner congratulating Joe, a giant odometer float powered by six people spinning life-sized hamster wheels, and a marching band.
Joe LoCicero Had Bought The Accord With 75,000 Miles On The Clock
Whether a surprise parade is enough incentive to push a car past a million miles is hard to say, but it does illustrate what a genuine accomplishment it is. The average American driver covers about 14,000 miles a year — a figure LoCicero could match in roughly three months. He drove for work almost seven days a week. LoCicero bought the 1990 Honda Accord in 1996 with 75,000 miles already on the clock — what many buyers would consider a reasonably high mileage — and reached the one million mark over the following 15 years. He averaged around 62,500 miles a year and began attracting attention at around 300,000 miles.
The Honda Accord Had No Major Issues
The plucky Honda required no major engine or transmission repairs — both remain original items — and was only towed to a garage once, in 2007, due to a fuel pump issue; the radiator was replaced twice. LoCicero says he always used the highest-quality OEM replacement parts and followed Honda’s maintenance recommendations closely. A blog dedicated to his journey (Millionmilejoe.com) also noted that he avoided riding the brakes too heavily and changed the brake fluid on a regular schedule. The Accord’s exact current mileage is difficult to pin down — 1,002,517 miles were recorded as of 2023, though some reports suggest the total is even higher.
The Second-Highest Mileage For A Honda Is… Another Honda Accord
By this point, it’s becoming clear that Honda Accords are seriously reliable cars. Justin Kilmer’s 2003 V6 coupe has covered over 1,060,000 miles. This svelte coupe was a far cry from the boxy Accords of earlier generations — and it still looks reasonably modern today. Justin works as a medical courier, according to reports, and accumulates enormous mileages through his job.
There has been a fair amount of work done on the car, including a recent clutch replacement and a full suspension overhaul. The door lock actuators and the entire driver’s seat apparently failed as well, but the engine remains original. The main odometer froze at 999,999 miles when Justin passed the one million mark, so he keeps fans regularly updated through his YouTube and Instagram channels.
And The Third-Highest Mileage Is: Another Honda Accord
Anyone hoping the next highest-mileage Honda would belong to a sales rep hammering an NSX seven days a week, or a ridiculously well-used Civic Type R, may be disappointed. The third spot on the list goes to yet another Accord. According to local news outlets, Dexter Mills covers around 65,000 miles a year in his 2000 Honda Accord. The car became his primary work vehicle after his wife purchased a new car in 2006.
Mills told WRAL in 2009 that he was averaging between 440 and 460 miles from a tank of gas. Repairs have been minor — a new alternator and starter motor among them — and Mills credits the car’s longevity to the fact that he simply doesn’t drive hard. He did note, however, that the Accord’s engine was replaced twice — at 375,000 and 695,000 miles — which means it isn’t entirely original under the hood.
Here’s What To Do If You Are Thinking Of Buying A Used Honda Accord
Used Prices For Honda Accords Capable Of Reaching 1,000,000 Miles (Or Similar)
- 1992 Honda Accord EX Sedan: $1,789
- 2000 Honda Accord EX Sedan: $2,924
- 2006 Honda Accord LX coupe: $5,057
Admittedly, not many buyers are actively hunting for a mid-1990s or early-2000s Honda Accord — but you can’t argue with these cars’ ability to breeze through enormous mileages. As you might expect, such bulletproof reliability doesn’t come with an exclusive price tag; even the increasingly scarce 1990s models remain very affordable. For example, a 1993 Honda Accord EX sedan has historically carried a Kelly Blue Book Fair Purchase Price of around $1,789.
A newer 2000 EX sedan will cost a bit more, with KBB pegging the average price at around $2,924. The 2006 model comes extremely well recommended, earning a 4.7/5 consumer rating on KBB; an EX coupe that originally listed for around $22,960 new can now be found for a fraction of that. You could also consider a 2016 Accord, one of the best used sedans out there. For more practicality, an Accord wagon, a staple of the lineup for decades, is a great option.
Sources: KBB.com
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