Robert Allen Mair kidnapped a woman, took her to the countryside and raped her.

After kidnapping a woman, driving her to the countryside and sexually violating her, Robert Allen Mair made a startling comment.

"So I take it that makes me a rapist now."

The only person there to hear his words was his victim, who suffered an hours-long ordeal at Mair's hands.

Kidnapped at knifepoint, stuffed in the footwell and boot of her own car, the saga took her from a Palmerston North shopping mall to Whanganui and back, with terrifying crimes committed against her along the way.

Little did she know, Mair already had a history of similar violent sexual offending.

He was found guilty in 2003 of eight charges of sexual violation, two of assault and one of threatening to kill, in Waikato.

This time, Mair pleaded guilty in the Palmerston North District Court on Thursday to various crimes, including rape and kidnapping, related to the November 27 incident in Manawatū.

He went to the Pak 'n Save in Palmerston North just before 11am and found a woman in a car on her own.

He got in the front passenger seat, showed her he had a knife and told her to drive. She refused, yelling "no" until Mair left.

He then went to The Plaza shopping mall's car park, finding a woman in a car on the second level. She tried to escape when he got in the car, but he kept her in the car and made her drive. He told her he wanted to let her go, that he was not a rapist and only wanted her car.

They drove towards Massey University, during which they went through roadworks. She drove on the wrong side of the road to try to get the workers to stop her, but they signalled for her to go in the correct lane. She pulled over near Tennent Drive, got out of the car and told Mair to take it.

He got out and ordered her into the front passenger seat, before shoving her into the footwell and locking the door. She repeatedly tried to get up, but Mair pushed her head down.

She managed to get the door unlocked and open at one stage, and tried to jump out of the moving vehicle, but Mair held her in.

They pulled over again at one point, and he put the woman in the boot before covering her with clothes.

He pulled into a Turakina petrol station about midday, telling the woman to be quiet or he would kill her. Fearful for the lives of herself and the sole petrol station attendant, she complied.

After carrying on, he asked her if she would do anything to live. She said she would.

He made her perform a sex act in the car, before pulling over in a secluded area.

He told her she needed to do what he said or he would kill her before raping her, after which he said, "so I take it that makes me a rapist now".

He drove her to Whanganui before heading back to Palmerston North, stopping at a park and running off.

He admitted everything when arrested.

Judge Jim Large said the case may need to be referred to the High Court, with Sergeant Ollie Outtrim noting the Crown would likely look at doing so because of Mair's previous convictions.

The judge gave Mair a warning under the three-strikes legislation and remanded him in custody until April for sentencing. However, he noted the sentencing may not go ahead if the case is promoted to the High Court.

District Court judges cannot consider offenders for the open-ended preventive detention sentence – reserved for the most violent and recidivist criminals – but High Court judges can.