Farrah Haines Drove Her Hyundai Elantra 1 MILLION MILES in Just 5 Years!
Automologist ATHERTON brings us this charming little story of a not-so-little achievement.
It’s not every day that you hear of drivers hitting a million miles on their odometer. But what makes this story even more special is that other vehicles took decades to hit the millionth-mile mark—Farrah Haines did that in her Hyundai Elantra in just 5 years!
The closest to that I know of is Hugh and Tammy Pennington, who took six years to cover 1 million miles in their 2006 Chevrolet Silverado.
Farrah is a delivery driver from Olathe, Kansas, who delivers auto parts and other things, seven days a week; so, the number on her odometer makes sense. To put things in perspective, that’s 200,000 miles (321,868 kilometres) per year! Broken down further, that’s about 548 miles (881 kilometres) per day. The average American driver does just 14,000 miles per year. I’m gobsmacked.
“I figured I love to drive, so I might as well turn it into a career,” she said.
She keeps her car in good condition, including getting an oil change every two weeks. And Hyundai claims that the Elantra is still on its original powertrain.
As her 2013 Elantra approached the million number, she got in touch with Hyundai to let them know about the milestone. Because the car’s digital odometer only goes up to six digits, Hyundai made a small “1M” badge to be added to the front of the odometer, to ensure it reflects the actual mileage.
That automaker said it had verified the Elantra’s odometer reading by investigating various data, including Haines’ service records, VIN report, and mileage records, and by inspecting the car’s wiring harness, motor mounts and engine casting numbers.
“This is not only a milestone for Farrah, but also for Hyundai and the quality of our vehicles. Reaching one million miles with the original powertrain in just five years is an extremely rare and incredible achievement,“ said Dean Evans, CMO, Hyundai Motor America.
Hyundai Motor America went even further by gifting her a brand new 2019 Hyundai Elantra. What a nice Christmas gift. Class!
Images : Hyundai Media Center