07/03/2026
Graeme Hebley has been driving the same 1993 Toyota Corolla station wagon since 2000 — and has put over 2 million kilometers, roughly 1.2 million miles, on it without ever replacing the engine or transmission.
He drives almost 5,000 kilometers per week for his job as a newspaper delivery contractor, making the roughly four-hour round trip between Wellington and New Plymouth six days a week.
His mechanic John Sherman of Guthrie’s Auto Care, who has serviced the car every two weeks for over 20 years, confirmed the car still runs on its completely original engine and transmission.
“If I hadn’t worked on it, I wouldn’t believe it. I wouldn’t believe it could do two million without something going wrong,” Sherman said.
Hebley credits the car’s longevity to a combination of Toyota’s engineering and his commitment to regular maintenance.
“That era of Toyota has such built-in reliability. But if it wasn’t so frequently serviced, it just wouldn’t work,” he said. ·
At 72 years old, Hebley has no plans to retire the car or himself: “As long as it keeps going, so will I"
In a culture obsessed with upgrading and replacing everything the moment something newer exists, this man and his Corolla are a reminder that consistency and care will always outlast novelty.
