Man drove car 1,000,000 miles and people are shocked at what the car company 'gifted' him after hitting milestone
Niamh Spence
Featured Image Credit: Youtube/Fox 2 St. Louis
I don't know about you, but I was pretty chuffed when my car hit 168,000 miles, so getting to 1,000,000 is pretty impressive.
Hitting the one million milestone might seem far-fetched, but one man managed it, and he did it with a Volvo he'd had for three decades.
The fact that the humble Volvo even reached the seven figures is a feat in itself, as so many vehicles would have conked out before getting close.
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Driver Jimi O'Shea bought a Volvo 740 GLE in 1991, and certainly never had any designs for it to still be going over 30 years later.
In fact, the purchase was one that caused a bit of a stir for an entirely different reason, as O'Shea's dad worked for a Ford dealership at the time, so he wasn't happy with his son's new car.
To try and smooth things over with his dad, O'Shea promised his dad that he'd manage to drive his car until he clocked up one million miles. At the time, he might not have predicted that it would take him three decades to do so.
The fact he got the average Volvo to reach into the high hundreds - let alone 1,000,000 - is pretty impressive, as the brand doesn't typically make high mileage vehicles.
Now, O'Shea's Volvo might have reached the one million mark, but it's still had to undergo some improvements to get there. Over the years, it has gone through several engine and transmission swaps, but the chassis body has remained the same as the original he bought back in 1991.
Hitting the one million miles mark didn't go unnoticed in the car industry, especially by Volvo themselves.
According to Fox2, O'Shea's original purchase was inspired by him hearing that another man, Irv Gordon, had been gifted another car after reaching the million milestone.
In fact, Gordon had taken it to new levels, and managed to drive his 1996 Volvo P1800 for 3.2 million miles, the equivalent of the distance to the moon and back 14 times.
O'Shea also got a pretty sweet reward from Volvo for reaching his own milestone, but it wasn't a cash prize or money.
Instead, the manufacturer gifted him a brand new S60 Sedan - but it did come with a catch.
This time, Volvo said he could drive the car completely free for two years and then, he would have to pay for it.
I mean, it's still a free car for two years, so isn't all bad. Plus, if his 30-year figures are anything to go by, O'Shea would clock up approximately 33,333 miles each year, and this means he could manage a neat 66,666 miles before he has to start paying for the new S60 Sedan.