Wow, that's a STEAL at 10 cents. Well worth it for a backup phone at that price.

As someone else mentioned, I'm wondering if your TracPhone is analog-only. When TracPhones first came out something like 10 years ago, they were solely analog, but that might have changed since then. You'll generally get analog cell reception at greater distances than digital signals.

The bummer--if you're going to make regular calls--is that the minutes expire. But actually, if you're ONLY going to make 911 calls, then I assume that the phone will work even with no active minutes available.

Eventually analog signals will be phased out completely but I've thought something like this Magnavox emergency phone makes sense as an emergency-only backup phone. It's analog-only and runs off AAA batteries. You don't even need to keep the batteries in the phone until you need it and they're dirt cheap to replace, unlike cell phone batteries. No need to buy minutes. I don't know if it can handle lithiums, but that would make a nice emergency phone. On the other hand, compared to having $20,000 worth of comm gear in your SUV...
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Yikes! I just took a closer look at that Magnavox emergency phone--$200 from the link I proved! That's pretty steep for an analog phone that only calls 911. Hmmm, 10 cents? Or $200? You be the judge. It's cheaper on Ebay--$140--but still...