One day, in 1997, I decided to see if I could get a newer Subaru with fewer miles that looked better than  my Subaru which was at 190,000 miles. I decided to start looking for another Subaru. I went to a used car lot. I test drove a 1992 Subaru. The drive was nice and this car looked a lot better than my old Subaru. I was ready to buy until the salesperson told me while he was looking a my old Subaru, that I should be glad that I am finally "getting rid of that piece of "; I think you get the point. So I put him on the spot and asked, "You don't think my car will make 200,000 miles, do you?" He told me that there was no way that my Subaru could make 200,000 miles without needing major repair work. Due to the rudeness of the salesperson, I walked. Now, I had to prove that my Subaru could make 200,000 miles.

A few months later, my Subaru broke 200,000 miles and at the same time I once again started to look for another Subaru. I saw a few deals, but nothng to get me to buy. Many of the cars, I test drove, although newer, did not run that much better than my Subaru, so I thought, why get into debt when my car ran so well.

At this time, I decided to stay with the car until it was ready to go. Later that year my Subaru needed to be smog checked. The mechanic saw the mileage at 200,000 miles and was impressed. My Subaru passed the smog test after having to go through a minor repair.

When my Subaru broke 250,000 miles in March of 1999, other mechanics, one who did the tires, and another who had to fix a headlight, were impressed with the high mileage. My "the Good Guys" computer associate named Jim, who worked at Montgomery Ward before working at "the Good Guys" was also impressed.

When I told Jim about my 25,000 mile rollercoaster tour, he figured that the car would not get past Arizona. This started a betting pool with employees at the Good Guys to guess where the car was to break down. Tave guessed Texas, and Peter guessed Nebraska. The store manager, Frank, told me, "You're crazy!"

On Monday, June 21, 1999 at 6:45 in the morning, my Subaru embarked on a long 25,000 mile journey. In Las Vegas, I could smell the radiators of other cars, so I checked mine and found no problem. The next problem occurred driving down Pikes Peak, when I used just a little too much brake. The ranger told me to park my car and let the brakes cool down because, "hot brakes fail."

The last trouble was when the car stalled at 11,000 feet in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, just short of Independence Pass due to lack of oxygen. I was able to restart and that was all the problems I faced from the car. No repairs were needed, just oil changes which I did every 5,000 miles.

As of December 30, 2000, my Subaru has over 321,000 miles and still rolling. January of 2000, my Subaru received its first major repair which required a few head gaskets and a cylinder to be replaced. At the same time, a brake job was needed. The total cost was far less than having to buy another Subaru. As the value of Subaru increase, you hang to what you got until repairs go into 4 figures then you abandon ship.

My Subaru has yet to require more than $1,000 in repairs at one time. In that day, I will be forced to buy another Subaru. In fact the reason you are hard pressed to find used Subarus is because owners tend to drive their old Subarus to the grave.

In December 2001 my car broke 350,000 miles and finally needed it's first major repair! Total cost exceeded $1000 as the car needed to come back 3 separate times for something else. In fact  the car stranded me twice in one month, the last time was at Six Flags Extreme Park after riding X and Deja Vu. Oh well nothing lasts forever!

On March 22, 2002, my Subaru gasped its last breath of air as the engine finally burned up. The final mileage: 356,394.6 miles. Not bad for a 20 year old car!
In  the November of 1981,  my father purchased a brand new Subaru DL Wagon, pictured left, to commute to work and back. In 1994 the odometer hit 118,000 miles. This was when my father purchased a new 1994 Subaru and gave me the old one. He expected me to own it for 1-2 years.

I used my Subaru for school and work. This included delivering newspapers for the Press Telegram.  I had my own music business. I produced and sold CDs/ cassettes. I played piano and keyboards. I also was a Mobile Disc Jockey,  computer tech guy and more, so mileage added up quickly.
Meet The Little Subaru that Made the 25,000 Mile Road Trip!
This page was last updated on: December 29, 2003