Marysville, Ohio ? Ten years ago, Gordon Bearss drove a new Honda Accord wagon off the assembly line as the company’s plant in this central Ohio community celebrated its 10th anniversary.

Now he’s brought it back for the 20th anniversary – with 1 million miles on the odometer and no plans to trade it in.

Bearss likes Accords, and he gets plenty of use out of them.

He bought his first Accord in 1976 and put a mere 115,000 miles on it.

A 1986 Accord hatchback had been driven 615,000 miles when Bearss brought it to Ohio. Honda was so impressed it gave him the car he’s driving today.

Bearss, 48, of Ottawa, Kan., drives as much as 750 miles a day as a courier of canceled checks and other documents.

He said preventive maintenance preserved the car’s original engine and transmission.

Bearss estimates he has spent $70,000 in gas, upkeep and repairs on his car, replacing the clutch twice and using 30 sets of tires, but figures it’s still cheaper than buying new.

“To me, it was not hard to do this,” Bearss said Friday about reaching the million-mile mark.

Bearss stopped driving his car a week ago so that the 750-mile trip from Kansas wouldn’t put him past that point.

He was 170 miles short Friday morning. So he made two round trips on U.S. 33 between Dublin and Bellefontaine, a distance of about 40 miles, then drove a few more miles so the car could hit the seven-figure mark while cruising past the plant about 25 miles northwest of Columbus.

“I was just looking for a safe way to do it and not get into a fender bender,” he said.

He said he couldn’t remember what he felt on attaining his goal.

“I was distracted,” he said. A Japanese film crew and a photographer were in the back seat capturing the moment.

“I’ll be jumping up and down later,” Bearss said.

He plans to drive the car until it fails.

“We’re anxious to see what its limit will be,” said Pat Simmer, Bearss’ mechanic, who also made the trip from Kansas.

No one tracks how many vehicles have reached a million miles. A New York man recently made headlines for putting 2 million miles on a 1966 Volvo P1800.