“It’s earned its retirement.”
A junkyard worker was left stunned by the mileage sticker on a Ford Escape that came into his lot. The man, who posted footage of the car on the Auto Parts City Facebook page, spotted some peculiarities with the vehicle that indicate it lived many lives while transporting passengers to and from various destinations throughout Chicago.
A text in the video tells viewers that the vehicle will be the “highest mileage Ford Escape [they’ll] … ever see—586k miles.”
The Facebook user records footage of the car, which looks like it has seen better days. The front passenger window, for instance, has been replaced by a section of plastic wrap. As the junkyard worker gets closer to the crossover SUV, it’s evident that the car’s paint job isn’t original to the car either. Streaks, uneven coating in some areas, and a lack of polish make it look like a DIY job.
“This Ford Escape deserves its own video because this Ford Escape could probably tell a million stories,” the Auto Parts City employee says.
“So, it’s currently black. It was last used as an Uber and a Lyft,” he tells viewers, highlighting stickers in the Escape’s windshield from both of these popular rideshare applications. “But this thing started off its life as a regular white Ford Escape,” he says. Driving this point home, the Auto Parts City rep cracks open the door to showcase the car’s interior. Indeed, inner portions of the car’s body show that the Escape’s original paint color was white.
As he investigates other areas of the vehicle, he finds indicators that the car was also adorned with other hues. One section near the front passenger’s inner door jamb reveals streaks of both yellow and bright green paint.
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“I’m assuming at some point here in Chicago, the Yellow Cab company bought it, and then it was painted yellow. And then, after Yellow Cab had it, whoever the green company is, the green cab company painted it green. And then when they retired it, it ended up getting painted this black color,” he tells viewers as he continues to assess the car’s exterior.
The variety of paint jobs wasn’t the only point of interest that the Auto Parts City worker had with the Ford Escape, however. After popping open the front driver’s side door and poking his camera inside the car, he points to a June 28 service sticker on the car’s windshield. According to the tag, the car was due for some more maintenance at the 586,000-mile mark.
“But let me show you something about this Ford Escape here: 586,000 miles!” the Facebook user exclaims off camera. According to the tag, the car was being managed by Taxi Town, located in Chicago.
The worker informs his audience that he is unable to read the odometer or start the car because he isn’t in possession of its keys: “I wish I had a key for this one to see if it starts. But I don’t.”
Afterward, he proceeds to inspect the contents of the vehicle, including medication, several packages of small cigars, snack cakes, and other personnel effects.
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“And some of the goodies I just noticed here in this car. There’s a Twinkie in that pocket, Game Leaf over here. Over here, we’ve got another Twinkie. There’s a bottle of Trazodone, Sweet Aroma Russian Cream—this thing’s got everything in it,” he says.
Capping off the cabin’s overview is a shot of what looks like a massive subwoofer resting in the car’s backseat. At the end of the video, he surveys the bottom portion of the SUV’s hood. Just like the front passenger’s inner door jamb, there are also several layers of paint: yellow, green, black, and white, in this section of the clip.
“I think I’m actually curious enough to pull a Carfax on this Escape and learn its life history,” the Auto Parts city rep says before his video comes to a close.
According to Chron, one of the most crucial operations of a taxi or rideshare rental company is in-house automotive maintenance. By employing techs, transportation companies can reduce expenditures for repairs on their fleets of vehicles. Mechanics can coordinate with the business’s scheduling department to ensure that cars are cycled in and out appropriately. Additionally, by keeping several of the same models on rotation, parts and supplies can be purchased in bulk for greater discounts, further cutting down on material costs.
Due to the constant driving taxis endure, especially in major cities, it’s no surprise that these vehicles tend to get more mileage on their odometers than personal commuting vehicles. NYC taxi cabs, for instance, put around 70,000 miles on their odometers every year. On average, these vehicles last around five years, meaning they’ll routinely hit the 400,000-mile mark, according to Allan Fromberg, the Deputy Commissioner at NYC’s Taxi and Limousine Commission. The Auto Predict blog says London’s Black Cabs also hit a redoubtable mileage. Some UK-based rideshare vehicles hit 377,401 miles before they’re decommissioned.
This suggests that the Ford Escape shown off in Auto Parts City’s video was able to rack up an irregularly high number of miles when compared to these aforementioned figures. While Ford doesn’t necessarily have the best reputation when it comes to reliability, the automaker has a large production count for fleet vehicles. The Crown Victoria, for instance, was once a ubiquitous staple of police departments and cab drivers. Hagerty penned an article in 2023 that highlighted how two cab drivers were still rocking the V-8, rear-wheel drive, capacious sedans. One had 491,000 miles on its odometer, and the other passed the 550,000-mile threshold.
Motor1 has reached out to Ford via email and Auto Parts City via Facebook direct message. We’ll update this if either responds.
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