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I am glad to report that my lowly Expedition is beating the Tundra by 10 spots. Toyotas have garnered this "forever cars" title but the data shows there are others. If 2.9% of the registered Tundras
have 200,000+miles on them, what happened to the other 97.1%?
I've gotten 215K and 16 years on my 2005 Expedition - even with the 5.4L 3V Triton engine.
In another life I worked in auto shop. The vehicles with the most mileage were full size Big 3 cars & trucks, small Toyota & Nissan trucks, small & midsize Toyota cars, and the king of all were Mercedes diesel cars.
Don't ignore Volkswagen diesels, especially the 1998-2003 Golf and Jetta TDIs. Lots of those still on the road with 300k, 400k, 500k miles or more. A few have gone over one million miles, and at least a couple with 800k+ miles that are aiming for one million.
Some are rusty beaters. Others have been well cared for. Resale prices for them have been creeping up, approaching the value of the newer and more complex 2009-2014 TDI models.
The notion of "lasting forever" may apply to the drivetrain but not the body, seats, headliner, trims etc. etc. Some cars and trucks hold up well but others fall apart even if they run.
These lists skew towards later-model vehicles that have seen high-intensity usage over their relatively brief lives.
There's another huge flaw in this list of "forever" vehicles: just because a car was sold with over 200k miles it means nothing. It doesn't tell you if that 200k car was sold with the original motor and transmission or not. That old Ford Expedition with 250k miles, how many head gaskets has it been through? That old Tacoma, did it go to the body shop to have the rusted out chassis repaired (older Toyota trucks had a premature frame rust problem)?
Cheap but reliable econo-boxes will never make this list because once they get 100k miles the cost to repair is higher than blue book so they end up in the junkyard. Here in California the state will pay $1,000 to buy any old car ($1,500 to low income persons).
What we really need to see are a list of 200k vehicles with verified maintenance records to see which ones can make it that far with the least amount of repairs.
Last edited by Elliott_CA; 04-10-2021 at 08:41 AM..
I wonder who would by any of these with over 200k miles on them.
2 years ago I bought my 2005 Honda Accord with 165k miles for $4000
Today, it has almost 190k miles and it drives as smooth as any car with 50-80k miles.
If you offer me $4000 today for it, I wouldn't sell it.
I am glad to report that my lowly Expedition is beating the Tundra by 10 spots. Toyotas have garnered this "forever cars" title but the data shows there are others. If 2.9% of the registered Tundras
have 200,000+miles on them, what happened to the other 97.1%?
What happened to the other 97.1%?
Think about how they are compiling this data. The vehicle needs to have over 200,000 miles AND be resold with the mileage recorded in that transaction. Could it be that people are less likely to resell certain vehicles?
Was happy to see my Land Cruiser at #1 even though I think the methodology is a bit dubious.
Seems to me the list is mostly populated with vehicles that do not have a turbo charger and have transmissions that actually change gears. That's no surprise, of course. Replacing a turbo charger is so expensive that I expect it is rarely done. CVT transmissions get repaired, of course, but at great expense.
I am driving 2 vehicles that are too old to be on the list - at least in their current form. 90 GMC 4X4 and 08 CRV. 400,000 miles and 180,000 miles.
Location: Unlike most on CD, I'm not afraid to give my location: Milwaukee, WI.
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People have always talked up Ford Escorts, so I bought a used Mercury Tracer (twin of Escort) with about 100k on it. Was a crap car with numerous probs over the 2 years I owned it.
On the other hand, I bought a 2002 Hyundai Sonata with 70k on it, and usually had some repair on it every 12-16 months; timing belt 3 times(routine thing), water pump, radiator, alternator, and various other little things. Car was still going at over 250k, though running rough and starting to burn oil. A few months ago wife had a minor accident that did enough damage to grille, one headlight, and bent hood, that I just scrapped it out for $150.. Really loved that car though.
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I've gotten 215K and 16 years on my 2005 Expedition - even with the 5.4L 3V Triton engine.
