Eden man will soon hit 1,000,000 miles on his car

SALT LAKE CITY — Marty Simonich believes his 2001 Subaru Outback Legacy will reach 1,000,000 miles by March. The odometer reading currently sits at 990,426, and he travels over 100 miles a day in his daily commute. Lasting this long is a major milestone, considering the harsh, northern Utah mountain roads it drives on every day.

“I about scrapped it when I hit a deer and took out the radiator. So I invested money and put it back together. Then I hit another deer and then two more deer, but I kept it going,” Simonich said.

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Simonich credits his father and stepfather for teaching him how to work on cars growing up. And he’s had to use those skills to keep his Subaru on the road for as long as he has. He’s replaced or repaired everything from brakes and rotors to lights and carpet. But to him, it’s worth it.

“The upkeep to repair stuff, yeah, sometimes it’s costly—$1,000 to replace the exhaust system, and it’s going up because of the labor costs. But I’ve kept my car going,” Simonich said. “The new cars fall apart in three or four years.”

Along with all the miles, Simonich has made 25 years of memories traveling all across the country in his car. Some of the highlights have been going 120 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats, road trips to the Grand Canyon, and making a special delivery to Kentucky of a rare bottle of 1913 lager that was too fragile to send any other way.

Simonich hopes Subaru will reward him with a new car like other carmakers have done for people reaching 1,000,000 miles.

He’s also curious to see what the odometer will read once he hits his goal. Will it stay stuck at 999,999? Or will it reset to zero?

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