Ute clocks up 1.2m kms

Glenn Holmes has clocked up 1.2 million kilometres in his ute delivering newspapers around the Manawatu – the equivalent of driving around the world 42 times.

He has now sold the Toyota Hilux online with Turners with the auction closing at 8.58pm on July 27. The company believes it’s the highest-mileage car it has ever sold and the winning bid was $3,000.

“To be honest, it’s not that crazy for a vehicle to have done 1.2m kilometres,” says Turners consultant Micah Bremner. “It’s rare for one person in one vehicle to do all those ks.”

Holmes drove 300km a day when he delivered the Evening Standard around the Manawatu from 1993 until 2006, and says regular maintenance is the key to the ute’s survival. The average car sold by Turners has an odometer reading of 134,000km.

The listing attracted humorous comments with one person offering to trade in their camel for the Hilux prompting the auctioneers to reply, “please bring your ride into your nearest branch for an appraisal”. Another questioned how many possums the Hilux has run over. The answer was “unconfirmed”.

The Christchurch-assembled Hilux is still well short of an American who holds the Guinness World Record for the highest-mileage vehicle, which clocked up 4.89m kilometres.

According to Turners’ vehicle market report for June 2015, the original engine never had its head off, while the gearbox and differential have never come out. However, the radiator was replaced at about one million kilometres.

“Some might say this old Hilux has earned its retirement and it has,” states the report. “But retirement for a car means the scrap heap and surely it deserves better.

“So go on, buy this well-travelled old bugger and drive it with pride. Wear those 1.2m kilometres like a badge of honour and treat it like the champion that it is. And buy the original owner a beer while you’re at it. He’ll be thirsty after all that driving.”