It Keeps Going…and Going…and Going

When Dan Wulff bought his beige 2002 Dodge Stratus SXT brand new for $17,000, he never imagined he’d still be driving it 23 years later. With 316,163 miles on the odometer and counting, his daily driver has become something of a legend – not just in his Long Island neighborhood, but now among automotive enthusiasts who can’t believe what they’re seeing on the odometer.

“The family and I basically expected it to expire, like, 50,000 miles ago,” Dan laughs from his garage in Hicksville, New York, where the Stratus sits ready for another day of commuting to Brooklyn Heights. “People make fun of me. My family makes fun of me, wanting me to get rid of the car, but it purrs like a kitten. It really does.” If it is running well and showing no signs of a catastrophic failure, you might as well keep on rolling!

The relationship between Dan and his Stratus didn’t have an entirely smooth start. With just 860 miles on the odometer, disaster struck. “I dropped off my daughter at the babysitter and came up to this road,” Danny recalls. “The guy in front of me goes to turn, I start inching forward, looked both ways, and another guy comes into the right lane and stops. I hit him pretty hard in the rear bumper.”

The accident required $5,000 in repairs to Dan’s Stratus – a substantial sum for a brand-new car. But rather than being discouraged, Danny saw it as an opportunity to learn about his vehicle. “I told the dealer I wanted it done by you guys, whoever you use for bodywork. Five thousand dollars later, and boom, I had my car back, and then the rest is history.”

What sets Danny’s Stratus apart isn’t just its longevity – it’s how those miles were accumulated. As a building engineer working midnight shifts, Danny commutes 60 miles daily between Hicksville and Brooklyn Heights. In the early years, his wife also used the car for her job in Manhattan, creating a tag-team approach that kept the Stratus in constant motion.

“She would go in on a Monday early, come home by two o’clock, then I would jump in the car and go back and forth to Brooklyn,” Danny explains. “I worked Wednesday and Thursday, Midnight shifts. When I got home from work, she would jump in the car and go straight back to the city. That’s how it started to stack up the mileage.”

This relentless use pattern, Dan believes, is actually the secret to the car’s longevity. “I think it’s the fact of it being driven all the time,” he says. “I also hear noises and know I have to look into it. I fix it or have the mechanic do it.” Dan made sure to emphasize how quickly he has jumped on even the tiniest of noises throughout the car’s life. If it feels or sounds wrong, he is in there making it right immediately.

Dan’s mechanical aptitude has been crucial to the Stratus’s survival. As a building engineer who runs HVAC equipment, he brings technical skills to automotive maintenance. “I do all my own front-end work – ball joints, control arms, struts, electrical stuff, window motors. I’m not a mechanic by trade, but I’m mechanical.”

His vigilant approach to maintenance has paid dividends. The engine and transmission remain original, as do the axles – a fact that amazes even Dan. “People can’t believe it. I check the boots every time I get under there to do any front-end work or oil changes. There are no cracks, no rips. It’s insane.”

Recent maintenance includes the first-ever inner tie rod replacement at around 314,000 miles. “They were bad, don’t get me wrong, but they were the original tie rods from day one,” Danny notes. The radiator, also original, was finally replaced just two months ago.

Perhaps most remarkable is the survival of the automatic transmission – a known weak point in these vehicles. Dan encountered a transmission issue years ago when a shop changed the filter, altering the pressure points and causing shifting problems. A simple computer reset solved the issue. He has never changed the transmission fluid. “I’m a believer of leaving the old fluid in the transmission. I swear to you, it’s the original fluid. I’ve never changed it.”

Seven years ago, the Wulff Stratus collection doubled when a neighbor offered him their white 2002 Stratus with just 50,000 original miles. “Mr. Schwartz called me over and said, ‘Would you like the white car?’ I said ‘Absolutely.’ When I asked how much, he said, ‘My pleasure, you can have it.”

This second Stratus now serves Danny’s oldest daughter, Jordan, who uses it to commute between Boston and her job while pursuing her master’s degree. With 133,000 miles, it’s the “low-mileage” car in the family fleet.

Both Stratus cars have become more than transportation – they are a family institution. When Jordan’s car was rear-ended at a softball game, Danny feared it would be totaled. Instead, working with his body shop connections, he managed to get it repaired and back on the road instead of it ending up in a salvage yard. “The trooper said to me, ‘What kind of car is this?’ I said it’s an ’02 Stratus. He goes, ‘Man, it took it like a champ,'” Dan recalls proudly.

The family connection will continue when Jordan hands the white Stratus down to Wulff’s 15-year-old daughter, who’s already a car enthusiast. “She loves The Fast and The Furious movies, loves the Charger and Challenger.”

Despite its age, the beige Stratus remains Danny’s daily driver. The original AC compressor still blows cold with occasional refrigerant top-offs. The original remote starter still works. Recent projects include replacing four burned-out dashboard bulbs to restore full illumination.

“I literally live out of my car,” Danny admits. “I take a jack with me, tools with me. I have a tire repair kit in the car. I can plug my own tires, which proved very useful one day coming out of work at midnight.”

When asked to sum up his ownership experience, Danny reflects on the unique bond he’s developed with his car. “It’s been fantastic. I scored on the 0% financing for 60 months, and the fact that I work on the car myself helps. It’s just been such a reliable car, and I know it’s because I’m the original owner and I take care of it.”

His advice for long-term car ownership is straightforward: stay vigilant, address problems promptly and never stop driving the car. “I think that’s a big factor – being driven all the time. If I hear something funky, I change it.”

As Danny’s odometer approaches 317,000 miles, the question isn’t whether his Stratus will reach 400,000 or even 500,000 miles – it’s how many more generations of his family will get to experience this automotive survivor that simply refuses to quit.