Study reveals cars most likely to be kept
Survey at the intersection of reliability and quality sees Toyotas take top spots
A new study naming the top 15 cars most likely to be kept by their original owners for 15 years or longer has almost all the top spots taken by Toyota products.
Online automotive search company iSeeCars’ survey looks like a paid endorsement for the brand, but the research firm came by the stats honestly, analyzing more than 750,000 cars from the 1981 to 2003 model years that were sold in 2018.
All 15 spots were snagged by Japanese automakers, with Toyota taking 10 of them, including the top three, which went to its Highlander (first), Prius (second) and Sienna (third).
The automaker in second place is Honda, with three vehicles in the top 15 (four if you count the Acura MDX). Its Pilot, Odyssey and CR-V all ranked within the top 10.
Just one hybrid made the list — the Prius.
The list of 15 vehicles:
Toyota Highlander
Toyota Prius
Toyota Sienna
Honda Pilot
Toyota Tundra
Toyota Sequoia
Toyota Tacoma
Honda Odyssey
Honda CR-V
Subaru Forester
Toyota RAV4
Toyota Camry
Acura MDX
Toyota 4Runner
Toyota Avalon
The study also focused on the most popular SUVs to keep around for 15 or more years and found that, similarly, it was the Japanese brands that tended to stand the test of time. In this segment, a few other nations were represented on the list: the Kia Sorento, GMC Yukon XL and Chevrolet Suburban rounded out the list in 9th, 10th and 12th spots, respectively.
The top three, meanwhile, were dominated by the Highlander, Pilot and Sequoia, in that order.