KABUL, Afghanistan

Afghanistan, graveyard of empires -- and Toyota Corollas.

If this war-torn nation of 29 million is a magnet for foreign occupying forces that never seem to leave, it is also the land where old Corollas from across the globe come to die.

According to some car dealers in Kabul, 90 percent of passenger vehicles on the increasingly congested roads of the capital are Corollas, some more than 20 years old, with 200,000 miles on their odometers, still chugging along over rocky dirt roads.

"Here is the museum of old cars," snorted Abdul Qahar Nadi, managing director of Afghan Auto Limited, the country's only Toyota distributor authorized by the parent company in Japan to sell new models. Nadi has upped his sales from 64 vehicles in 2006 to 401 last year, but says it is hard to persuade Afghans to pay more when used models are ubiquitous.

Shipped from Japan, Germany, Canada and the United States, used Corollas pour through customs, mostly via Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, and wind up in used-car lots clustered in three hilly neighborhoods in Kabul's outskirts.

Ahmad Murid, 30, a dealer in the northern Kabul neighborhood of Khairkana, said buyers generally prefer German-manufactured Corollas, which supposedly get the best gas mileage. White Corollas, which show less dirt than dark-colored ones, fetch up to $1,500 more than an identical model in black, he said.

Drivers usually don't care about odometer readings because they are likely to replace most of the parts, anyway. Mr. Murid was selling a 1990 model with a dingy interior and 292,213 kilometers for $4,000. How long could someone expect to drive the clunker?

"Ten years," Mr. Murid suggested.

And after that?

"You can sell it back to me," he said with a grin.

The story of the Corolla's rise in Afghanistan mirrors the country's modern history, said Najeeb "Amiri" Ullah, head of a union that represents 130 dealers in Kabul.

When cars were introduced to Afghanistan 40 years ago, there were American Chevrolets, German Mercedes-Benzes and Russian Volgas, along with the Japanese Toyotas, Mr. Ullah said. But during the Soviet occupation of the 1980s, Afghans did not want to be seen driving Western cars and mostly stuck with Volgas, Japanese cars being an acceptable alternative.

The final consideration for a Corolla buyer in Afghanistan is how to set oneself apart in a sea of similar-looking cars. Some have done it by adding rear-window stickers with curious English slogans:

"Dare to Wear Black!" "No Time for Love." And: "In God We Trust."

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