If you ask our own Tommy Mica which vehicle you should buy if you wanted to keep it forever, he’d tell you to buy a Toyota Land Cruiser. There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence to back up the iconic SUV’s legendary reliability, but now iSeeCars.com published some new data to back that up. In their analysis, they looked at 15.8 million vehicles sold in 2019 to determine which are the most likely to make it beyond 200,000 miles.
Before getting into that, you may argue (and you’d be correct) that every modern car has the chance to make 200,000 miles. Modern vehicles are lasting longer than they used to, and proper maintenance can see you through many trouble-free years with most of them. On average, about 1 percent of a given model makes the milestone. However, these are the cars that go way beyond that, with some of them in double digits for beating the 200,000-mile mark.
The vehicles below are laid out by size and segment, such as compact SUVs or sports cars. The amount of particular vehicle models over 200,000 miles are compared to other models in their own segment, rather than against the entire pool of 15.8 million vehicles.
Top Hybrids: Toyota Prius / Toyota Highlander
Apart from their relatively bulletproof SUVs, another feather in Toyota’s cap is its refined hybrid technology. “Toyota is known for building reliable long-lasting vehicles with below-average ownership costs, which explaints why it is so well represented on the list across all vehicle types,” iSeeCars CEO Phong Ly points out. The Prius is Toyota’s most universally known hybrid, but it’s being usurped by the RAV4 Hybrid and indeed the Highlander Hybrid, since Americans are so crazy about SUVs.
Because the Prius is so fuel efficient, it makes sense that folks hang onto them for awhile. In fact, 2 percent of Prius models have over 200,000 miles. The Highlander Hybrid is more impressive, with 4.2 percent of models running past that milestone. Both models more or less doubled the average
Top Sedans: Honda Civic / Honda Accord / Toyota Avalon
Sedans aren’t nearly as popular as they used to be, but that doesn’t mean they no longer have a place in the automotive landscape. They’re often much cheaper than crossovers, they’re better to drive, and these sedans are more fuel efficient. On the smaller side, 2.3 percent of all Honda Civics made it past 200,000 miles. Stepping up to a midsize, the Honda Accord stood at 1.8 percent of examples beyond that point. For the larger sedans, the 2.6 percent of all Toyota Avalons made it past 200,000 miles.
Top SUVs: Honda CR-V / Toyota 4Runner/ Toyota Land Cruiser
Crossovers and SUVs are the most popular vehicles around, and Japanese automakers dominate across size segments. That said, when it comes to compact crossovers the Honda CR-V actually beat out the Toyota RAV4 in this study. According to iSeeCars’ findings, 1.1 percent of Honda CR-Vs among those analyzed made it past 200,000 miles. That’s 2.8 times higher than the average in the compact segment, since many owners trade in their small crossovers fairly often compared to more traditional SUVs.
Getting into those SUVs, though, is where Toyota handily smashes the rest of the competition. Despite their age, the 4Runner and Land Cruiser both stick with their owners for long periods and several hundred thousand miles. For its part, 3.9 percent of 4Runners in the study make it over 200,000 miles, or 3.9 times the segment average of 1 percent. The Land Cruiser blows other full-size SUVs out of the water, with a staggering 15.7 percent making it past that milestone. Most people tend to keep full-size SUVs longer, with the segment as a whole averaging 3.7 percent. Still, the Land Cruiser smashed that figure, but when you spend $85,000 on an SUV it makes good sense to keep it for a long time.
Top Luxury SUVs: BMW X3 / Acura MDX / Lincoln Navigator
If you drop the sort of money it takes to buy a luxury SUV, and you’ll probably want to stick with it for awhile. While a substantial portion of those shopping in the luxury segment lease their cars rather than buy, those who do buy the cars hang onto these three much longer than others.
The BMW X3 has the best representation at the compact end of the market. It’s a small margin, but it manages twice the average with 0.2 percent of models over 200,000 miles. The Acura MDX also tends to stay in owners’ hands longer, with 1.6 percent of examples making it past the threshold. Most significant of all, though, is the Lincoln Navigator. 2.6 percent of examples for that model rolled over 200,000 miles, or double the average compared to SUVs like the Cadillac Escalade and GMC Yukon.
Top Sports Car: Audi TT
It’s particularly strange to see any sports car crest 200,000 miles. However, the Audi TT seems most likely to do it according to iSeeCars’ data. It’s worth noting that the 4.1 percent figure they published is based on cars that made it to 150,000 miles. That’s still a remarkable distance for the small coupe, and iSeeCars pins that result on the TT’s robust, well-rounded nature. “The Audi TT is praised for its performance and fuel economy, which may encourage drivers to keep it on the road for longer,” said Ly.
Speaking of sports cars, the BMW M5, Ford Mustang and Mazda MX-5 Miata also beat the curve for cars that are likely to reach over 200,000 miles.
Top Minivan: Honda Odyssey
Like sedans, minivans have largely fallen out of favor as the larger market favors crossovers. However, they’re still the Swiss army knife many families actually buy, and Honda brings its A game with the Odyssey. It packs a good amount of space and functionality into its footprint, and it has a wide range of standard safety equipment. All in all, 2.7 percent of Honda Odysseys passed 200,000 miles, according to the data.
