My name is Mark Kalejs, I am a chemical engineer, and I drive my Ford Explorer 80 miles roundtrip a day – and have done so since I bought it new in 1994. The highway and country roads I travel over can sometimes be perilous, and I have been hit by other drivers four or five times, but my Explorer has gotten me home safely every time.

On one particularly icy winter night, I managed to flip my Explorer into a snow bank. A tow truck driver flipped it back onto its tires, and I simply got in and drove home. I was even on time for my father-in-law’s birthday dinner!

I have driven my Explorer more than 250,000 miles in 15 years: to work, to soccer games, and to Wisconsin (with my wife, kids, dog, and a pontoon boat in tow). And I will keep on driving it until it is irreparable … which should not be for awhile, since only Master Mechanic Reed Gifford from the Oswego, Illinois Riverview Ford dealership has ever worked on it. Reed and Mark have made a deal: Mark will keep driving his Explorer until Reed can’t fix it anymore.