Those who own a high-mileage Mercedes-Benz have a lot of headache and heartache to deal with. First, it’s the age of the car and the wear and tear that come with it. Then it’s the difficulty of finding replacement components for the oldie, but goldie. But now, they’re also getting a reward: a retro-looking badge.
Discounts are usually the most common reward for customers’ loyalty. But Mercedes-Benz is doing it differently. The premium carmaker is awarding retro badges.
But who qualifies for the prize? Mercedes-Benz is not too demanding. They consider everyone who owns a car with 100k, 200k, 300k, 500k, and one million kilometers. Those who own a 10-, 20- or 30-year old car also tick the right box in the High Mileage Award program. Japan is already accepting applications. That’s where the program has been going on since the 1960s. In the United States, things are a bit different. The owners must submit applications for cars over 155k, 310k, 466k, and one million miles.
An authorized dealer will carry out a checking procedure on the car before giving the special badge to the owner, as well as a certificate of authenticity and a letter of appreciation.
The most high-mileage Mercedes is Gregorios Sachinidis’ 240D taxi. He’s covered 2.8 million miles in it starting 1981, the year he bought it on the used car market. The car doesn’t drive anymore. Not because it is unable to do it, but because the Greek from Thessaloniki donated it to the Mercedes-Benz Museum and received a brand-new C 200 CDI instead.
The latest to pass the one-million-mile mark is a 1970 20 SE (W10) sedan, which used to belong to GEoreg and Luzstella Koschell from Orange County, California. The odometer of the car now shows 1,019,000 miles (1.64 million kilometers) and it is on display in the Mercedes-Benz Museum Collection in Stuttgart, Germany.
