Buying a car has started feeling pretty bad. It’s hard to find what you want, and when you do, there’s a great chance it’s not selling for the price you thought it would be. The least stressful way of coping with the situation is not to buy a new car, but how can you know how long your current ride will last? A recent study from iSeeCars found that some vehicles are prone to deliver many more miles of usable driving than others.
iSeeCars looked at more than 2 million cars. The mileage over which the top 1% of cars within each model obtained was calculated and used to rank models, and the study required that a vehicle be sold for at least 10 of the past 20 years to be included. Unsurprisingly, Toyota dominated the top-10 list, but most of the other models come from General Motors with one Honda thrown into the mix.
Ranked by mileage, the top-ten longest-lasting vehicles include:
- Toyota Highlander Hybrid: 244,94 miles
- Toyota Avalon: 245,710 miles
- Honda Ridgeline: 248,669 miles
- Chevrolet Tahoe: 250,338 miles
- Toyota Prius: 250,601 miles
- GMC Yukon XL: 252,360 miles
- Toyota Tundra: 256,022 miles
- Chevrolet Suburban: 265,732 miles
- Toyota Land Cruiser: 280,236 miles
- Toyota Sequoia: 295,509 miles
The iSeeCars study found that SUVs and trucks occupy 75 percent of the top 20 vehicles with the potential to last the longest, and Toyota alone accounts for half of the top 20. Interestingly, the Prius and Highlander Hybrid made the list, suggesting that automakers are getting better at making batteries last a long time.
"What we see is a list of highly-durable vehicles, capable of more than a quarter-million miles of use if properly maintained," said iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer. "And to be clear, this study isn’t reporting the maximum lifespan of these vehicles. This is simply a measure of current odometer readings. Most of these cars are still in use and going strong."
Of course, the longevity of a vehicle has a lot to do with how it’s treated and maintained over its lifetime. It’s easy to find stories of people nursing Toyota Tundras and other vehicles past a million miles, and there’s a 1960s Volvo with more than 3 million miles. Some vehicle types, particularly the largest SUVs, are often used as road-trip vehicles by large families, which means they tend to rack up big mileage. In most cases, buying and owning a higher-mileage car can be a risk, so it’s essential to get a pre-purchase inspection or regular maintenance if you already own one.
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