TOYOTA (including its fellow traveller, Lexus) has once more confirmed its reputation as the maker of the most durable cars in the world based on data from North America gathered by ISeeCars.com. But Honda and Subaru are not that far behind.
ISeeCars is an online automotive search engine and research website which helps users find and compare up to four million cars for sale using a proprietary computer algorithm.
A scan of 8.3 million vehicles on its database shows that of the top 24 most durable cars (measuring the average lifespan in distance for each model) travel more than 300,000km. Of these, nine are Toyota/Lexus, six are Honda/Acura and four are Subarus. All 19 are Japanese OEMs.
Lexus RX350
The remainder are two Fords, two Chevrolets and a Mazda (CX-9)
The award for most durable vehicle was the Honda Ridgeline pick-up with an average of 392,000km. Four Toyotas were next; followed by the Honda Pilot and Honda’s Acura MDX. They averaged between 385,000km and 355,000km.
One surprise was the short lives of sports cars, three of which are sold in Australia. The lowest lifespan in distance was the Chevrolet Camaro (137,000km) followed by the Mazda MX-5/Miata (168,000km). The Ford Mustang fared somewhat better but still had an average distance lifespan of 226,000km.
Subaru Outback
Overall, sports car durability had an average distance lifespan of half (at 163,000km) of that of the most durable category, mid-sized trucks, at 332,000km. This means owners of sports cars in North America get short-changed by an average of 168,000km compared with truck owners although trucks are heavyweight workhorses built tough and sports cars are light and lithe and somewhat stretched by their owners.
Also of note is that small cars achieved about 48,000km less lifetime distance travelled than medium cars.
Top 24 Vehicles – lifetime by average distance travelled – by make/model
Avg. km
| Honda Ridgeline | 391,924 |
| Toyota Tacoma | 384,835 |
| Toyota 4Runner | 371,784 |
| Toyota Sequoia | 364,715 |
| Toyota Tundra | 363,912 |
| Honda Pilot | 356,325 |
| Acura MDX | 354,752 |
| Lexus GX460 | 353,760 |
| Honda CR-V | 353,409 |
| Toyota Highlander Hybrid | 349,893 |
| Mazda CX-9 | 348,125 |
| Honda Accord | 340,953 |
| Toyota Prius | 337,841 |
| Ford Expedition | 327,778 |
| Subaru Outback | 325,273 |
| Toyota Camry | 324,647 |
| Lexus RX350 | 323,898 |
| Chevrolet Silverado 1500 | 321,266 |
| Subaru Impreza | 318,075 |
| Ford Edge | 314,187 |
| Subaru Forester | 313,388 |
| Chevrolet Tahoe | 312,240 |
| Subaru Legacy | 305,261 |
| Honda Civic | 300,787 |
Source: ISeeCars.com
Ford Edge
Top 24 Vehicles – lifetime by average distance travelled by market segment
Avg. km
| Midsize Truck Average | 332,013 | |
| Full-Size Truck Average | 301,859 | |
| Midsize SUV Average | 289,309 | |
| Large SUV Average | 285,986 | |
| Midsize Car Average | 282,447 | |
| Small SUV Average | 280,022 | |
| Minivan Average | 278,773 | |
| Small Car Average | 234,764 | |
| Sports Car Average | 163,455 | |
Source: ISeeCars.com
By John Mellor
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