It's been a good run for million-plus-mile vehicles recently. In September, it was the gent with a million-mile 1989 Saab SPG, then in October it was another gent with a Volvo P1800 cruising past 2.6 million miles. The domestics opened up the 2008 race to a million three days ago with a Wisconsin man 1,200 miles away from the 6-zero mark in his 1991 Chevy Silverado. Now it's Ford's turn, with a deliveryman based in Toledo just 147 miles (at time of writing) from the magic million.
Like the Silverado owner, Doug Schell bought his 1997 Ford E-250 van used with 40,000 miles on it. The van still has its original engine and transmission, neither of which has been rebuilt. Schell said he puts 80,000 to 100,000 miles a year on the workhorse, delivering parts and "single envelopes" all over the country. Unlike the Silverado owner, Schell only changes the oil every 10,000 miles, and the van is missing certain features like working air conditioning. Even so, with severe understatement, Schell concedes "It's a really good van." What does he plan to do to celebrate the feat? "I'm thinking of throwing it a party," he said, "but I don't know if that's too weird." No reason to party is weird, Doug. Thanks for the tip, Tina!
[Source: Toledo Blade, Photo by Andy Morrison]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
EJ25RUN @ Feb 4th 2008 2:35PM
just like mercedes did when they took a million mile car in thier muesum ford should give the guy a new car!
Dinger @ Feb 4th 2008 2:37PM
1,000,000 miles in an Econoline? His ass must be real sore.
J. D. Billiford @ Feb 4th 2008 2:50PM
>>> I've said it before, and I'll say it again: reaching the one million mile mark on ANY vehicle is quite an achievement.
Congratulations, Doug!
MemphisNET @ Feb 4th 2008 2:53PM
Congrats, Doug!
calebe @ Feb 4th 2008 2:53PM
lol how many sets of ball joints and bushings did he put into the front end? E-lines are horrible on front ends.
John P. @ Feb 4th 2008 2:54PM
Celebrating by throwing the van a party. that's cool, but be careful. When my brother and I celebrated 300,000 on my Ford Festiva, we finger-painted the entire car with water soluble paint, drove around town awhile and got pulled over by the cops. They couldn't believe anyone would ugly up a car so much on purpose, even if it was lowly Festiva.
mxls2005 @ Feb 4th 2008 2:55PM
a lot of miles for an econoline
whofan @ Feb 4th 2008 2:56PM
Looking at the way the right front tire is leaning it could use ball joints now.
Hey Ford, give this guy a new van.
2004m3driver @ Feb 4th 2008 2:56PM
For sure! Look at all this good publicity this is getting them, surely its worth a brand new econoline Van.
FAB @ Feb 4th 2008 2:56PM
God, that thing must rattle!
Menice @ Feb 4th 2008 3:11PM
what ...no gallery of pics?
congrats doug..
Eric Liberatore @ Feb 4th 2008 3:15PM
I'm sure Ford would love to reward this guy with a new van. Problem is, they just can't afford it.
Pat @ Feb 4th 2008 3:25PM
Maybe a 1 million milles isn't the only thing this van has hit ;-)
Pat @ Feb 4th 2008 3:26PM
Darn reply button ... this was supposed to be in response to the comment posted by whofan
ron @ Feb 4th 2008 3:29PM
A prime reason the auto industry is in the dumps! People routinely getting 250,000 miles on their vehicles, and these guys come along and get a million. Cars are simply lasting too long! I'm old enough to remember when cars were considered shot at 60K miles, and you had to buy a new one every so often. Maybe the government should step in and cars declare all cars "unsafe and inoperable" at 100K miles so the industry would sell a lot more vehicles (just kidding).
Mr. Oak @ Feb 4th 2008 4:25PM
Ahhh.... Someone finally figured it out. Word is people are holding on to their (purchased) cars on average 18 months. As the quality/durability of cars go up, retention also will.
Bert @ Feb 4th 2008 3:34PM
I think the Japanese have something similar to what you describe. I think it's something like the registration taxes and mandatory inspections make it harder and harder to keep 3-4-5 year old cars.
Matt @ Feb 4th 2008 3:53PM
Clearly this is a product that Ford should abandon in favor of a more un-reliable model (or two). That seems to be their motive with the Panthers.
If I were the guy...I wouldn't want a new one...far too ugly.
I believe that Ford only offered him the X-plan.
k.w.a @ Feb 4th 2008 3:54PM
Ford: "Congratulations Doug! here's your new van!"
* New van looks exactly the same as the old one*
Doug:" Is this really a brand new van with 2 miles on it, or just my old van with the odometer starting over?"
*Ford salesman looks the other direction*
h8rain @ Feb 4th 2008 3:56PM
To Bert:
I have heard that as well, about being "forced" to buy a new car. I just don't know the regulations on it.
Anyone know?