Which vehicle has the longest expected life

[Pardus]

If you were to buy a car today, new or used, car or suv, which one would you get that would have the longest expected life with the least amount of repairs.

Let's just say you do all the required maintenance and don't abuse the car, (use it as a taxi), which vehicle could go 200,000 miles without having to spend 1000's in repairs.

I'm not talking about keeping a car for 5 to 10 years and having to replace/rebuild the transmission, engine, etc so the parts are new.

There are so many complaints about chevy's and ford's that literally fell apart at 50,000 miles from these websites:
http://www.carcomplaints.com/
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchVehicles

Been leaning towards Subaru or Nissan. Thanks.

 

[Midwayman]

I'd say Toyota/Lexus would be #1 from what I've heard. Toyota, Honda, and Subaru tend to be in the top couple, but probably swap places by model and year.

 

[chucky2]

Find a lightly used Crown Vic. If you can find a lightly used CV that has the PI package that'd be even more long term durable. I've talked to several cabbies in Chicago and the trans seem to need a rebuild around 300-350kmi, the engines are good to around 500kmi.

You aren't going to find something with so much utility that will put in that many trouble free miles. Maybe a 4 cyl Honda...but you'll be stuck in a 4 cyl Honda (only desirable if mpg and/or parking space is a concern).

Chuck

 

[Zenmervolt]

Maintain it properly without abusing it? Pretty much any car for sale today should go 200,000 miles easily. My parents have hit the 200,000+ mark with Fords, Nissans, Hondas, Volvos and Toyotas without needing terribly expensive repairs.

Of course, age is just as big a factor as mileage. My father's 2009 Honda Pilot has over 180,000 miles on it now and it's never needed anything beyond normal maintenance. But a good part of that reason is because even with the high mileage the vehicle is only just barely 4 years old. Before that he had an '04 Pilot that eclipsed 200,000 miles without issue (despite having the fragile transmission and being used to tow his boat), and before that a '98 Explorer that surpassed 200,000 miles without problems. Had a '91 Explorer that went beyond 200,000 miles without trouble as well.

Frankly, I'm pretty convinced that getting a car that has substantial issues before it's 10 years old is largely an issue of bad luck. Yes, there are some cars with known issues, but those tend to be rare in practice.

Once you get past about 10 years old though, age starts to become a factor regardless of mileage and it's irrational to expect that you'll never have to deviate from scheduled maintenance.

ZV

 

[JCH13]

find a lightly used crown vic. If you can find a lightly used cv that has the pi package that'd be even more long term durable. I've talked to several cabbies in chicago and the trans seem to need a rebuild around 300-350kmi, the engines are good to around 500kmi.

You aren't going to find something with so much utility that will put in that many trouble free miles. Maybe a 4 cyl honda...but you'll be stuck in a 4 cyl honda (only desirable if mpg and/or parking space is a concern).

Chuck

x2

maintain it properly without abusing it? Pretty much any car for sale today should go 200,000 miles easily. My parents have hit the 200,000+ mark with fords, nissans, hondas, volvos and toyotas without needing terribly expensive repairs.

Of course, age is just as big a factor as mileage. My father's 2009 honda pilot has over 180,000 miles on it now and it's never needed anything beyond normal maintenance. But a good part of that reason is because even with the high mileage the vehicle is only just barely 4 years old. Before that he had an '04 pilot that eclipsed 200,000 miles without issue (despite having the fragile transmission and being used to tow his boat), and before that a '98 explorer that surpassed 200,000 miles without problems. Had a '91 explorer that went beyond 200,000 miles without trouble as well.

Frankly, i'm pretty convinced that getting a car that has substantial issues before it's 10 years old is largely an issue of bad luck. Yes, there are some cars with known issues, but those tend to be rare in practice.

Once you get past about 10 years old though, age starts to become a factor regardless of mileage and it's irrational to expect that you'll never have to deviate from scheduled maintenance.

Zv

x2

Anecdotally, I've been in a couple Crown Victoria cabs that were 400-500k miles in NYC driving. Nothing outside of routine maintenance, but the cars were only 2-3 years old. My Crown Victoria was disposed of around 190k miles, but had experienced some more serious issues being an older New England car.

 

[desy]

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/12/monday-mileage-champion-the-year-in-review/



He has a weekly count from the used auctions they go to, basically from all the data they collect it boils down to Toyonda anything, Ford and Chev trucks, V6 Vulcan Tauri 2000 up, 3800 Chev cars and Panther chassis crown vics, town cars etc.

However my best car has been a Chev Corsica, my worst a Toyota the Civic I didn't keep long enough to find out and currently own a Flex and a Altima.
Almost every car since mid 2000's is going to last a long time

 

[manimal]

VW bug. If something goes wrong you go to the junkyard and pull a cylinder off a engine that didnt run for 20 years and it will have compression.

 

[halik]

diesel benzes?

 

[PricklyPete]

I would never buy it, but a Toyota corolla would probably be your best bet.

 

[thedarkwolf]

everything
The last two cars I've bought had 200k miles on them when I bought them. One was a pontiac vibe with 195k miles on it that was beat to crap and still ran and drove perfect and my current 04 vw jetta TDI with 218k miles on it and also awesome.

 

[manimal]

diesel benzes?

this too

 

[pauldun170]

If you were to buy a car today, new or used, car or suv, which one would you get that would have the longest expected life with the least amount of repairs.

Let's just say you do all the required maintenance and don't abuse the car, (use it as a taxi), which vehicle could go 200,000 miles without having to spend 1000's in repairs.

I'm not talking about keeping a car for 5 to 10 years and having to replace/rebuild the transmission, engine, etc so the parts are new.

There are so many complaints about chevy's and ford's that literally fell apart at 50,000 miles from these websites:
http://www.carcomplaints.com/
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchVehicles

Been leaning towards Subaru or Nissan. Thanks.

The first link shows that the Ford Explorer and Honda Accord are the worst vehicles.
The trends aren't exactly condemning Chevy or Ford nor are they "falling apart"

 

[theknight571]

According to "NatGeo" (http://natgeotv.com/ca/megafactories/rolls-royce): "Approximately 65 percent of all Rolls-Royce motorcars ever built are still on the road today."

That seems pretty good.

More realistically my dad's last 2 Buick Park Avenues went 300,000+ miles each. The first one needed to be replaced at that point, but the second one was still going strong when he got the new car itch.

 

[JCH13]

Forgot to mention Volvo, an average road life of something around 17-19 years in north america. Luxury maintenance, but they keep going and going...

 

[Pardus]

I'd say Toyota/Lexus would be #1 from what I've heard. Toyota, Honda, and Subaru tend to be in the top couple, but probably swap places by model and year.

noted.

I would never buy it, but a Toyota corolla would probably be your best bet.

i never buy a corolla either.

The first link shows that the Ford Explorer and Honda Accord are the worst vehicles.
The trends aren't exactly condemning Chevy or Ford nor are they "falling apart"

no, 1st link shows 2002 explorer and 2003 accord as worst vehicles, not the entire lineup. older model fords and chevys have huge mechanical failure rate.

According to "NatGeo" (http://natgeotv.com/ca/megafactories/rolls-royce): "Approximately 65 percent of all Rolls-Royce motorcars ever built are still on the road today."

rolls royce? no

 

[Vdubchaos]

diesel benzes?

x2 80s to be exact

 

[Jimzz]

Maintain it properly without abusing it? Pretty much any car for sale today should go 200,000 miles easily. My parents have hit the 200,000+ mark with Fords, Nissans, Hondas, Volvos and Toyotas without needing terribly expensive repairs.


ZV

Yea I say most American or Asian cars today can do that easy.
European cars can also but many have electrical issues or other things that can cost more to keep up. The engine will still be there after 200k but many other items around it maybe not so much.

 

[Jimzz]

noted.



i never buy a corolla either.



no, 1st link shows 2002 explorer and 2003 accord as worst vehicles, not the entire lineup. older model fords and chevys have huge mechanical failure rate.



rolls royce? no

Got something to back that up? I call BS on that.

 

[jaedaliu]

honda civic CNG. The engine is actually rated to go 1 million miles.

 

[DVad3r]

Toyota.

My dad's 1992 Toyota Camry had 552,000 km and was still going when he sold it. It had the I4 engine. Friend has a Corolla with almost 500 k km as well. My Lexus has been bullet proof so far and has like 225 k km.

Honda's are pretty good too but not as long lasting as Toyota.

 

[JulesMaximus]

diesel benzes?

God I hate those. I wish we could just wipe them all from the planet. They always spew black sooty smoke and smell like a big rig just floored and the exhaust from that when right into your vents.

 

[Greenman]

I've never had a car not go 200k without major repairs.

The inline 6 they used to use in the F150 was bulletproof. I've seen some of those with half a million miles on them.

 

[SyndromeOCZ]

God I hate those. I wish we could just wipe them all from the planet. They always spew black sooty smoke and smell like a big rig just floored and the exhaust from that when right into your vents.

Black sooty smoke isn't as bad for the environment as most people seem to think. Though I understand some people not liking the smell. IMO, if a diesel doesn't soot then it isn't a proper diesel.

I've had pretty good luck with my 2001 Buick Regal so far. Its up to 175k miles, though I've done some front end parts on it, but those are expected to wear out at around 100k I believe.

And there is also this:
http://content.usatoday.com/communi...-closing-in-on-3-million-miles/1#.UUEuXRybPW8

 

[wirednuts]

i would actually look into buick too. those are simply great cars. they dont skimp on metal and they look and drive great.

 

[tracerbullet]

I'd find a Consumer Reports auto issue, flip through the back, consider cars that are full of red dots, ignore cars full of black dots. Go from there. It's not an enthusiasts mag, obviously but if you want to know about reliability you'll do well. Info for consideration if nothing else.

Also FWIW keep in mind there's a difference between frequency of repair and cost of repair. My Ford Ranger is well over 100,000 miles and has needed very little work. Maybe not Corolla little, but not a lot. Anyhow anything it does need parts-wise is dirt cheap, even from the dealer. And it's just been stupid little stuff, it's never left me stranded.