100,000 miles

Made it! (iPhone photo by BobbaLew.)

—My 2012 Ford Escape, purchased not long after my wife died over seven years ago, has turned 100,000 miles.
58 long years ago, when I got my driver’s license, getting 100,000 miles out of a car was amazing.
The infamous “Blue-Bomb,” a 1953 Chevrolet , made 100,000 miles, and was the only car our family had which didn’t fail during a vacation-trip. It also was the car in which I learned to drive.
By 100,000 miles it no longer had heat. But it was our only car which started in cold weather. Our replacement, a ’57 Chevy four-door sedan, wouldn’t crank in cold.
The Blue-Bomb finally failed inspection — my father never maintained his cars. The brake shoes were worn into the backing-plates.
Like my Escape the Blue-Bomb was used — “pre-enjoyed,” the salesman said. 5,000 miles on the Chevy, 2,200 on my Escape. My salesman told me my Escape’s original owner died soon after delivery.
100,000 miles over seven years is almost 15,000 miles per year. Many of those miles were trips to Altoona, PA to photograph trains with my brother. Some Altoona trips were just myself. Plus there were trips to south Jersey to visit relatives.
I never made any long trips. Altoona is 255 miles. South Jersey via northern DE is about 365. (I have another brother who lives in northern DE.)
Our “Faithful-Honda,” a 1989 all-wheel-drive Civic stationwagon, made 162,000 before my wife’s accident totaled it. It was the BEST car we ever owned.
My 1993 Chevy Astrovan, purchased because I’m a Chevy-man, made 140,000 miles.
My Escape is beginning to rust, but not heavily. The Japanese sorta defeated rust, and my Escape is essentially a Mazda Tribute, slightly restyled then rebadged to be Ford’s Escape. —Ford affiliated with Mazda a while ago; Ford’s Probe being essentially a Mazda.
Ford cut loose from Mazda, and is now independent. The newer Escapes are very much Ford. 2012 was the final Mazda Escape.
So far only one unplanned repair. Something was making the radiator-fan work. My Ford dealer was familiar, so it was fixed.
The entire exhaust-system was replaced behind the catalytic-converter. 75,000 miles on the original. I bet it’s stainless-steel. Years ago an exhaust-system rusted away in maybe two years.
And the shock-absorbers are original. Even my ’83 Volkswagen GTI needed new shocks. My ’72 Vega GT needed new shocks at 33,000 — tires too.
But it may need new shocks, although I’m inclined to get a newer car.
100,000 miles, and it still feels fine. Maybe a new car next year. My 2012 Escape is extremely dog-friendly, and newer Escapes aren’t.
I don’t look forward to switching, and I’d like to go smaller. No gigantic pickups for this kid.
I also would like to buy American. I can still see that oily black pillar of smoke towering over the Arizona.
This is a flip-flop. 50 years ago I preferred ferrin-cars over American. Now I’m back to American.
And it’s also weird that a Chevy-man prefers Ford.

• Click that “Chevrolet” link, readers. That’s Dinah Shore singing “See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet.”
• My brother and I are both railfans. Altoona is where the Pennsylvania Railroad crossed Allegheny Mountain — the railroad is now Norfolk Southern. The railroad is extremely busy. Every year I do Shutterfly calendars of train-photos my brother and I took. I send ‘em as Christmas presents.
• We called it “the Faithful-Honda” because over 162,000 miles it never was in the shop. Even my wife liked the Honda, and she hated driving.