If you hope to push a car to the outer limits of its lifespan, it’s important to purchase the right vehicle. Several car brands are more likely than others to last up to 250,000 miles, according to a recent iSeeCars study.
Japanese brands lead the way, with Toyotas having a 17.8% chance of lasting at least 250,000 miles. That handily beats the 5.1% average likelihood of a non-luxury — or “mainstream” — vehicle reaching the magic mileage mark, as well as the overall average of 4.8%.
With a 10.8% likelihood of reaching at least 250,000 miles, Honda is the only other mainstream brand to exceed the non-luxury average.
Among non-luxury vehicles, 15 brands fall below the 5.1% average likelihood of reaching 250,000 miles:
- GMC: 4.6%
- Chevrolet: 4.5%
- Mazda: 3.6%
- Ram: 3.5%
- Ford: 3.1%
- Dodge: 2.5%
- Nissan: 2.4%
- Subaru: 2.3%
- Jeep: 1.3%
- Mitsubishi: 1.1%
- Kia: 0.6%
- Hyundai: 0.6%
- Chrysler: 0.5%
- Volkswagen: 0.4%
- Mini: 0%
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In a summary of the iSeeCars findings, iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer emphasizes how difficult it remains to build a car capable of reaching 250,000 miles of service:
“While today’s design and engineering capabilities have extended the lifespan of every modern vehicle, producing cars capable of reaching a quarter-million miles remains a high bar for most automotive brands.”
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If you purchase a luxury vehicle, there is a 3.2% chance overall of reaching at least 250,000 miles. Five luxury brands exceed that mark:
- Lexus: 12.8%
- Acura: 7.2%
- Tesla: 4.6%
- Cadillac: 4.5%
- Lincoln: 3.4%
Ten luxury brands fail to meet the 3.2% average:
- Volvo: 2.2%
- Infiniti: 2.1%
- Mercedes-Benz: 1.7%
- Buick: 0.6%
- Porsche: 0.5%
- BMW: 0.4%
- Audi: 0.3%
- Land Rover: 0.1%
- Jaguar: 0%
- Maserati: 0%
Reflecting on the list of luxury cars, Brauer says:
“It should be noted that the reduced likelihood of a luxury car hitting 250,000 miles is more a reflection on how their owners use them, which is less aggressively than mainstream vehicles, versus being a reflection on how well they are, or aren’t, built.”
Brauer adds that because luxury vehicles are not driven as much as non-luxury vehicles, time — rather than mechanical failure — is the chief factor in ending a luxury vehicle’s lifespan.
In reaching its conclusions, iSeeCars analyzed information for more than 174 million cars, with odometer readings being calculated at each yearly age. An iSeeCars proprietary model created from these average mileages was then used to project the likelihood that a vehicle would make it to various mileage thresholds.
If you are in the market for a new vehicle, check out “25 New Car Models That Will Cling to Their Resale Value.”
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