The Longest-Lasting Cars, Trucks and SUVs To Reach 250,000 Miles and Beyond

Summary

• 10 of the 23 Longest-lasting vehicles are pickup trucks

• Toyota is the most prominent brand, making up 8 of the 23 longest-lasting models

• The Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota Sequoia and Honda Pilot are the longest-lasting SUVs

• Three passenger cars make the list: the Honda Accord, Toyota Avalon, and Toyota Camry

The average vehicle has only an 11.8 percent chance of lasting 250,000 miles, but the latest iSeeCars.com study identified the 23 longest-lasting models most likely to reach a quarter million miles or more.

iSeeCars.com established its industry-leading Longest-Lasting Cars study in 2013. This tenth anniversary study analyzed over 260 million cars sold between 2012 and 2022 to determine which cars were most likely to survive to high mileages. Trucks dominate the longest-lasting list, taking up 10 spots, while Toyota is the most prominent brand, with 8 models on the list. The most durable model, the Ford F-350 Super Duty, has a 49.1 percent chance of reaching 250,000-plus miles. 

“Vehicle lifespans continue to grow, with more than 20 cars now having a 20 percent or better chance of lasting at least a quarter million miles,” said iSeeCars.com Executive Analyst Karl Brauer. “For most of the automobile’s history, 100,000 miles was considered the maximum usable lifespan. Over the past 30 years we’ve watched an increasing number of cars reach 200,000-plus miles, and for our tenth Longest-Lasting Cars Study we’ve expanded our analysis to predict which vehicles have the greatest likelihood of reaching 250,000 miles or more.”

Top 23 Longest-Lasting Cars: Trucks and Toyotas Dominate the List

Trucks and Toyotas make up over half the spots on the overall longest-lasting cars list. SUVs are similarly well represented, with 8 models making the cut. Three sedans and one minivan also have a 20 percent or better chance of reaching a quarter million miles or more.

“It’s not surprising to see so many trucks, including heavy duty trucks, on this list,” said Brauer. “Trucks like the Ford F-Series Super Duty are work vehicles, often purchased by businesses to serve as a key resource driving a company’s success. We’ve also seen models like the Toyota Land Cruiser and Sequoia consistently displaying a long potential lifespan when looking at the market data.”

The spectrum of longest-lasting models means nearly every major vehicle category is represented. If you’re a shopper looking for a durable truck, SUV, car, or minivan, you can find at least one with a strong chance of reaching 250,000 miles. For consumers seeking vehicles with the strongest chance of lasting at least a quarter million miles, the top 10 cars have more than a 40 percent likelihood of reaching that number.

Longest-Lasting Pickup Trucks: Heavy Duty Models Lead the Way

The average truck has a 25.9 percent chance of making it to a quarter million miles or more, with nine models above that average. Most of the above-average trucks are heavy duty models, but the Toyota Tundra, Toyota Tacoma, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, and Chevrolet Avalanche also have a better-than-average chance of reaching 250,000 miles.

Longest-Lasting SUVs: 14 Models That Are Better Than the Average SUV

From the compact Honda Element to the large GMC Yukon XL, the diverse array of longest-lasting SUVs offers everything from fuel efficiency to off-road prowess to maximum passenger comfort. While Toyota is the most common brand to make the list, Acura, Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Honda, Nissan, and Subaru are also represented.

Longest-Lasting Cars: Compact, Midsize, Large, and Luxury Models

Unlike the more durable trucks and SUVs above, only 8.6 percent of cars will make it to 250,000 miles or more. But the spectrum of above-average models includes sedans and hatchbacks of every size and price range, along with a few luxury brands. Almost all of them come from Japanese brands, but two Volkswagens (the Golf and Jetta) have above-average durability. 

Longest-Lasting Minivans: Narrow List, Wide Range of Durability 

Despite only five minivans meeting the criteria for longest-lasting consideration, the chance of each model reaching 250,000 miles ranges from 23.3 percent for the Toyota Sienna to 3.5 percent for the Nissan Quest. The average minivan has just a 5.9 percent chance to last at least 250,000 miles, with only the Sienna, Honda Odyssey, and Chrysler Town & Country showing a better than average chance of getting there. 

The Longest-Lasting Auto Brands

At the brand level, nine automakers were more likely to last 250,000+ miles than the overall average. Led by Toyota and closely followed by Chevrolet and Honda, these brands offer solid choices when looking for long-lasting vehicles.

“The spectrum of long-lasting brands includes both luxury and mainstream nameplates, and within those brands every type of vehicle is available,” said Brauer. 

1

Toyota

19.5%

1.7x

2

Chevrolet

19.2%

1.6x

3

Honda

17.2%

1.5x

4

GMC

15.9%

1.3x

5

Ram

14.9%

1.3x

6

Acura

14.7%

1.2x

7

Ford

13.1%

1.1x

8

Subaru

12.9%

1.1x

9

Lexus

12.0%

1.0x

–

“The cost of new and used cars has never been higher, which means a long vehicle lifespan has never been more appealing to buyers on a budget,” said Brauer. “Looking though the study’s rankings confirms the many choices buyers have when seeking a longest-lasting car, truck or SUV.”

Methodology

iSeeCars.com analyzed data for over 260 million cars. The average odometer reading for each vehicle was calculated at each yearly age, and a proprietary model based on these average mileages was developed to estimate the probability that each vehicle would survive to various mileage thresholds. Heavy-duty vans and models with insufficient data were excluded from further analysis.

About the iSeeCars.com Longest-Lasting Cars Study

iSeeCars.com has been analyzing vehicle lifespans for over a decade to identify the longest-lasting models. For our tenth annual Longest-Lasting Cars Study, the vehicle lifespan standard was increased from 200,000 miles to 250,000 miles to reflect the increasing durability of today’s cars. We also refined our data science, building on observational measurements of high-mileage cars on the road to develop a more sophisticated algorithm for predicting a vehicle’s usable lifespan. 

About iSeeCars.com

With the price of cars these days, it makes sense to stretch the life of your wheels a little longer. 

Back in 1966, a guy named Irv Gordon paid about a year’s salary for a beautiful red sports car. He paid $4,150 for the Volvo 1800S, and kept the car for the rest of his life, driving it a record-breaking 3.2 million miles until he died in 2018.

The so-called 3 Million Mile Volvo is now owned by Volvo. The company purchased the car after Gordon died for its heritage collection, but also to study how the car was able to go so much further than any other car in the world.

Gordon had “a fanatical dedication to vehicle maintenance,” Volvo reported in a 2013 press release. 

“I bought my Volvo P1800 on a Friday and immediately fell in love,” Gordon was quoted in the press release that year when he passed his 3-million mile mark. 

The company also attributed the longevity of the little sports car to “an extraordinary demonstration of reliability, durability, safety and intelligent design” of their cars.

Irv Gordon reached the 3-million-mile mark in 2013 on a road trip to Alaska.

Volvo

Whether you’re the owner or the car maker, it’s an impressive achievement, and lots of people, whether for love or frugality, would like to make their cars last even a fraction of a million miles.

Car owners in the U.S. kept their vehicles an average 12.2 years in 2022. The average vehicle age in the U.S. has risen steadily since 2013.

The annual average mileage driven in the U.S. was 12,300 miles in 2021. That adds up to 150,060 miles over 12.2 years, less than 5% of the distance Irv Gordon drove his red Volvo.

AAA says that a 1991 Chevy Silverado lasted 1.29 million miles, and a 1956 Cadillac Fleetwood lasted more than a million miles. Long-distance drivers tend to be serious about maintenance, AAA says.

There’s different ways to find out which cars might last longest. Consumer Reports does a consumer satisfaction survey on over 300,000 vehicles over 22 years to determine the most reliable car brands. (Volvo ranks No. 14.) 

Data analysts at car search engine iSeeCars tried to determine which vehicles might have the longest lifespan by analyzing over two million cars produced and sold for at least 10 of the past 20 model years, then ranking each model by its highest mileage-achieving cars.

At least 2.5% of the top-ranking 20 models went over 200,000 miles, and the top 1% of these vehicles covered between 230,000 and 297,000 miles over the last two decades. For example, 1% of Toyota Sequoias on the road have at least 296,509 miles on the odometer.

The iSeeCars study isn’t reporting the maximum lifespan of these vehicles, but simply measuring current odometer readings. 

“Most of these cars are still in use and going strong,” said Karl Brauer, iSeeCars executive analyst. “What we see is a list of highly-durable vehicles, capable of more than a quarter-million miles of use if properly maintained.”

There's that maintenance thing again. 

Here are the cars, trucks, SUVs and minivans with the longest potential lifespan:

Toyota

1. Toyota Sequoia

Potential lifespan: 296,509 miles

In a separate study, iSeeCars.com analyzed over 260 million cars sold between 2012 and 2022 to find the probability that a vehicle would make it more than 250,000 miles. They calculated average odometer readings for each vehicle at each yearly age to estimate the chances that a vehicle would last that long. The Sequoia came in with a 47.1% chance of going a quarter million miles.

Toyota

2. Toyota Land Cruiser

Potential lifespan: 280,236 miles

The Land Cruiser indicated a 47.9% chance of lasting 250,000+ miles.

Chevrolet

3. Chevrolet Suburban

Potential lifespan: 265,732 miles

Toyota

4. Toyota Tundra

Potential lifespan: 256,022 miles

The Tundra indicated a 47.9% chance of lasting 250,000+ miles.

GMC

5. GMC Yukon XL

Potential lifespan: 252,360 miles

Chance of lasting 250,000+ miles: 21.3%

Toyota

6. Toyota Prius

Potential lifespan: 250,601 miles

Chevrolet

7. Chevrolet Tahoe

Potential lifespan: 250,338 miles

Honda

8. Honda Ridgeline

Potential lifespan: 248,669 miles

Toyota

9. Toyota Avalon

Potential lifespan: 245,710 miles

Chance of lasting 250,000+ miles: 33.1%

Toyota

10. Toyota Highlander Hybrid

Potential lifespan: 244,994 miles

Ford

11. Ford Expedition

Potential lifespan: 244,682 miles

Chance of lasting 250,000+ miles: 19.9%

Toyota

12. Toyota 4Runner

Potential lifespan: 244,665 miles

Chance of lasting 250,000+ miles: 41%

Toyota

13. Toyota Sienna

Potential lifespan: 239,607 miles

Chance of lasting 250,000+ miles: 23.3%

GMC

14. GMC Yukon

Potential lifespan: 238,956 miles

Honda

15. Honda Pilot

Potential lifespan: 236,807 miles

Chance of lasting 250,000+ miles: 42.7%

Honda

16. Honda Odyssey

Potential lifespan: 235,852 miles

Chance of lasting 250,000+ miles: 13.8%

Toyota

17. Toyota Tacoma

Potential lifespan: 235,070 miles

Chance of lasting 250,000+ miles: 41.7%

Nissan

18. Nissan Titan

Potential lifespan: 233,295 miles

Ford

19. Ford F-150

Potential lifespan: 232,650 miles

Chance of lasting 250,000+ miles: 19%

Toyota

20. Toyota Camry Hybrid

Potential lifespan: 230,547 miles

Chevrolet

21. Chevrolet Silverado 1500

Potential lifespan: 230,515 miles

Chance of lasting 250,000+ miles: 31%

Acura

22. Acura MDX

Potential lifespan: 228,472 miles

Chance of lasting 250,000+ miles: 29.2%

Cadillac

23. Cadillac Escalade ESV

Potential lifespan: 228,449 miles

Chance of lasting 250,000+ miles: 12.5%

The ESV is the stretch-length Cadillac Escalade. The regular Escalade's potential lifespan is 224,782 miles.

Honda

24. Honda Accord

Potential lifespan: 226,168 miles

Chance of lasting 250,000+ miles: 27.1%

Toyota

25. Toyota Camry

Potential lifespan: 223,249 miles

Chance of lasting 250,000+ miles: 20.4%

GMC

26. GMC Sierra 1500

Potential lifespan: 222,691 miles

Chance of lasting 250,000+ miles: 18.3%

Ford

27. Ford Ranger

Potential lifespan: 220,980 miles

Chance of lasting 250,000+ miles: 14.1%

Lincoln

28. Lincoln Navigator

Potential lifespan: 220,319 miles

Nissan

29. Nissan Armada

Potential lifespan: 220,172 miles

Toyota

30. Toyota Highlander

Potential lifespan: 218,075 miles

Chance of lasting 250,000+ miles: 17.5%

Read more about this study at iSeeCars.com.