---
title: "My Car Turned 10 Today! What Do I Do With It Next?"
description: "It's driven across the country, on race tracks and through rivers. It's not dead yet. There's no way I'm getting rid of it. What next?"
date: "2020-10-01"
modified: "2020-10-01"
authors:
  - name: "Stef Schrader"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/stef-schrader"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/36863/my-car-turned-10-today-what-do-i-do-with-it-next"
categories:
  - "Culture"
  - "News"
---

# My Car Turned 10 Today! What Do I Do With It Next?

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2020/10/lancertime_970x546.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Exactly 10 years ago today, I got my daily driver as a graduation present: a red 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS. In that time, it has been absolutely impossible to kill—and not for lack of trying. Part of me wants to gun for [million-mile hero](<https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a28991860/the-million-mile-lexus/>) status, and *all* of me wants to ship it to the [Nürburgring](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/25118/volkswagens-tiniest-car-is-all-you-need-to-terrify-yourself-on-the-nrburgring>). Point is, I've done enough oddball things with this car that I need to keep adding to the list. What should I do next?

So far, the Lancer has a pretty impressive list of accomplishments. It's rallycrossed, autocrossed and even done a local time trial. As soon as it was out of its break-in period, I took it on [Harris Hill Raceway](<https://austin.culturemap.com/news/sports/11-13-12-09-35-beyond-f1-real-people-racing-around-austin/#slide=0>). When track days finally opened up at [Circuit of the Americas](<https://oppositelock.kinja.com/boldly-going-where-no-automatic-lancer-gts-has-gone-bef-513338610>), I ran the Lancer there, too. That's right: The most [*aggressively*](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/35986/i-took-my-modified-chevy-cobalt-ss-on-its-first-road-trip-my-pride-is-still-intact>) [*normal*](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/36834/i-spent-three-months-and-hundreds-of-dollars-chasing-a-20-minute-fix-on-my-1966-ford-dump-truck>) car on this website is the one that's been on a Formula One track. Go figure.

![message-editor%2F1601607627029-40761\_791317117083\_5075013\_n.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1601607627029-40761_791317117083_5075013_n.jpg>)
*My red Lancer, ten years ago today., *Stef Schrader**

![message-editor%2F1601607656349-63329\_791330699863\_2044621\_n.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1601607656349-63329_791330699863_2044621_n.jpg>)
*Stef Schrader*

![message-editor%2F1601607664829-46287\_791599730723\_2505678\_n.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1601607664829-46287_791599730723_2505678_n.jpg>)
*Stef Schrader*

I'm pretty sure beating *Jalopnik's* then-editor-in-chief Matt Hardigree in a "[rental car deathmatch](<https://jalopnik.com/i-got-this-job-after-beating-matt-hardigree-in-a-rental-1785229687>)" at Harris Hill led to my first automotive writing job. That's what I'm claiming, anyway.

I've used it to [move](<https://jalopnik.com/filling-your-car-with-stuff-may-prove-that-you-dont-nee-1825842059#sby37dx98>) a few times, filling up the car with everything from dirty car parts to multiple car-loads of every little thing that I didn't want to pay movers to haul.

Then there's its existing mileage—over 171,000 miles—which was helped along by a [cross-country trip](<https://jalopnik.com/how-to-cross-the-country-in-your-daily-driver-1627374520>) up for my ten-year high school reunion earlier this decade. It went down most of the [Pacific Coast Highway](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/12642/top-road-trips>) and over the tallest pass over the Continental Divide. Most recently, it [forded a river](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/35588/ive-been-having-too-much-fun-to-bother-modifying-my-car>) for laughs.

![message-editor%2F1601607775848-ndhzicn8m2rhclskerxu.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1601607775848-ndhzicn8m2rhclskerxu.jpg>)
*In the garage for its first track day at COTA. , *Stef Schrader**

The goal is to do as much as I can with this car that wouldn't need any major modifications or a roll cage precisely because this car is *there*. It exists. It runs. It's around. This car is worth far more to me than it would be to anyone else. Aside from being hit a few times, it's only ever had minor issues that were pretty easy to fix. It is the ultimate regular car and has the [*Regular Car Reviews*](<https://jalopnik.com/i-scared-mr-regular-in-my-mitsubishi-lancer-gts-on-a-r-1827289883>) episode to prove it, but I love using it to do unusual or unexpected things.

I have a short list of ideas of what to do next. It was supposed to go drag racing for a *Jalopnik*

[video](<https://jalopnik.com/i-took-my-mom-drag-racing-and-now-shes-writing-me-out-o-1818998684>) the week my dad died, and I still haven't checked that off the list. The oh-so-sketchy [Mt. Washington Auto Road](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/1896/the-story-behind-mt-washingtons-bizarre-list-of-banned-cars>) in New Hampshire is on there, too.

![message-editor%2F1601607922241-lancer-ftw-big.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1601607922241-lancer-ftw-big.jpg>)
*Just normal Lancer things., *Thomas Endesfelder**

It's never been out of the country, and it was only about a couple thousand bucks to ship it to Europe and back the last time I looked, so why not send it to another continent? Could I actually return *with* my car after a long cross-continent rally unlike [certain other writers](<https://jalopnik.com/why-we-abandoned-a-car-after-a-3-700-mile-drive-from-eu-1734666659>) on this website? Who knows?

Surely there are some other absurd automotive bucket-list items I should do with my beloved, paid-for Lancer that I don't know about. Let me know in the comments. I've got a running list for when things get back to normal.

![message-editor%2F1601608483546-img\_1923a-sm.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1601608483546-img_1923a-sm.jpg>)
**Stef Schrader**

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## Author
Stef Schrader is a former senior staff writer for The Drive. She started writing about cars in 2013 after meeting Jalopnik's editor-in-chief at a race track, where Stef can be found at every available opportunity.

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefschrader/>)  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/stefthepef>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/stefthepef>)