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Study on Best Long Lasting Cars and other Vehicles

After taking a look at 13 million vehicles on the road in a study by iseecars.com it was found that SUV's are by far the most likely to last and last. If you are looking to save money and buy a vehicle that will last a long time than you may want to look at buying an SUV.


The top seven vehicles most likely to last over 200 thousand miles are SUV's. The ford Expedition is 4.5 times more likely to go 200,000 plus miles than the average vehicle and 7 times more likely than the average car.

The study highlighted 14 vehicles that last the longest. The study focused only on cars, vans, trucks, and SUV's.  The first half of the top 14 are all SUV models. Four of the last seven are trucks and two are cars, and there is even one minivan.

The Japanese were the only manufacturers that were able to produce a car or minivan to make the list.

All 14 vehicles were at lease 1.5 times more likely to reach over 200 thousand miles than the average vehicle and were at least 2.5 times more likely than the average car.

If you exclude Trucks and SUV's and just focus on cars and minivans then you find that the Japanese automakers dominate the long lasting car list. The Japanese claim 11 out of the top 14. Leaving only 3 for the rest of the world. Dodge Chevy and Ford all have one. Mercedes has the number 15 slot.

The Toyota Avalon is the most likely to be a long lasting car. It is 3.25 times more likely to last 200 thousand plus miles.

I think it's worth noting that the Prius made the cut. Despite initial worries of how long the hybrid would be able to last it turns out that it's about 40% more likely to go the distance than the average car.

Trucks, as mentioned earlier, are just behind the SUV in terms of being long lasting vehicles. The Toyota Tacoma is the longest lasting truck. It is twice as likely to go two hundred thousand plus miles.

If you would like to see more details on the longest lasting vehicles then check out the top ten lists I posted.

Two Lists of Longest Lasting Vehicles

One of the best ways to improve your budget and personal finances is to have a car that will last a long time. There is no doubt that passing up the new sports car and electing to buy a used car that lasts will save you money.


To help you figure out what type, make, and model to look for I have made two lists of the top ten longest lasting vehicles and a list of the top ten longest lasting cars and minivans.

Top 10 Longest-Lasting Vehicles

This list is formed from the data gathered and analyzed by iseecars.com.

The cars are rated by the likeliness of a car going over 200,000 miles before they are retired. This is done by listing the percentage of the cars within a particular model's population that make it past 200 thousand miles.

The two lists are below

10 Longest-Lasting Vehicles - Trucks, Vans, SUV's, and Cars

This list analyzes which vehicle types last the longest; SUV's, Trucks, Vans, or Cars

Rank Model                    % of Cars Over 200k Miles

1 Ford Expedition                  5.7%
2 Toyota Sequoia                   5.6%
3 Chevrolet Suburban            4.8%
4 gToyota 4Runner                4.7%
5 GMC Yukon XL                 4.2%
6 Chevrolet Tahoe                 3.5%
7 GMC Yukon                       3.0%
8 Toyota Avalon                    2.6%
9 Toyota Tacoma                   2.5%
10 Honda Accord                 2.3%


Average for All Models                      1.3%

Top Ten List of Longest Lasting Cars - Van's and Cars

Rank Model               % of Cars Over 200k Miles

1 Toyota Avalon                     2.6%
2 Honda Accord                     2.3%
3 Honda Odyssey                   2.3%
4 Ford Taurus                         1.9%
5 Chevrolet Impala                1.5%
6 Toyota Camry                     1.5%
7 Nissan Maxima                   1.5%
8 Toyota Sienna                     1.4%
9 Honda Civic                        1.3%
10 Dodge Grand Caravan      1.3%


These charts represent the research of iSeeCars.com

Vehicle Most Likely to Last the Longest - Cars, Vans, Trucks, or SUVs - Analyzing Financial Value

One of the best ways to improve your budget and overall personal finances is to buy a used vehicle that lasts a long time. Long lasting vehicles will save you lots of money.

But which type of vehicle is most likely to last the longest? Do you look for an SUV, van, a truck, or just your standard car?

This post analyzes which type of vehicle lasts the longest.

Types of Vehicles Explored 

I looked at four types of vehicles.

Truck 

A truck is simply the vehicle with a comparatively large engine raised body, and of course, the most defining characteristic which is the storage bed.

SUV

An SUV is a vehicle that has a capacity to go off-road, typically larger than a car, has two to three sections of seating, and no bed like a truck. It will always have four full sizes doors at a minimum.

Van

A van is a vehicle made only for paved roads. It's defining characteristic and purpose is that it accommodates comparatively more passengers than any other standard vehicle and typically comes with a large sliding door.

Car

A car is the most common type of vehicle and like the van is only made for paved roads. Cars typically accommodate 2 to 4 passengers and have 2-4 doors. They are the smallest of all vehicles that are typically enclosed. This excludes motorcycles.

Rank of Vehicle Longevity by Type

The list below ranks the likeliness of the different types of vehicles to last over 200,000 miles.


SUV

The SUV is by far the most likely to give you 200 plus thousand miles. The FORD Expedition is the most likely to go the distance. It's about 4.5 times more likely to last over 200k miles than the average vehicle. The top 7 vehicles most likely to last over 200k miles are all SUVs

Truck

Trucks are the second most likely to last over 200,000 miles. If having the ability to haul items in a bed is more valuable than a few thousand extra miles and the ability to seat a few more passengers than this may be a good target vehicle type for you.

Tho the SUV does indeed dominate the top long-lasting vehicle list trucks definitely hold their own. There are four trucks that are 50%-80% more likely to go the long haul than the average vehicle.

The Toyota Tacoma is almost twice as likely to go further than 200k miles than the average vehicle. It is 3 times as likely as an Avg minivan or car.

Car

Cars on average are 1/3 less likely to last over 200,000 miles. Having said that there are some decent makes and models that have proven the ability to go the distance consistently. These cars are almost all made by Japanese makers. The top performer is the Toyota Avalon which is twice as likely to last over the 200 thousand mark than the average vehicle and outperforms the average car by three fold.

Van

Vans did not do so well. The only van to make the top performer list was the Honda Odessey which is about 75% more likely to hit 200 thousand then the average vehicle.

The data I used is from iseecars.com

Financial Assistance Request Package - SIMPLE Guide for Homeowners in Financial Hardship

Homeowners who find themselves no longer able to afford their monthly mortgage payments should reach out to their lender ASAP. The sooner a borrower can focus on finding a solution to their mortgage hardship the better the final outcome will be.

One of the first tasks that will be requested of the homeowner by the lender is to create and submit a financial package for mortgage assistance that details their financial situation and future expectations. The loss mitigation department needs this to access what type if mortgage assistance will best serve the borrowers situation.


No matter who your lender is, what program or type of mortgage assistance you are requesting, or who is negotiating on your behalf, your lender will need to obtain a completed financial package in order to provide you with any sort of mortgage solution or loss mitigation help.



Sell Yourself

You or any homeowner who needs debt help are competing with each other for such an opportunity. With this in mind, we would like you to think of your assistance request package as a pitch and presentation that demonstrates why allowing the opportunity for a mortgage solution is the right decision for your lender to make.

I have coined an Acronym to help drive home the key message.

"S.I.M.P.L.E."

SIMPLE - Sensible Intuitive and Measurable Presentations are Logical and Effective

SIMPLE is the best way to go about preparing a financial package for mortgage assistance.

Sensible

You want to send a sensible response to your lender's request for a financial package.

This means that grabbing a junk folder of various financial statements and receipts from the past 10 years and faxing your lender the resulting mess will not work. Try ever so hard to include all they ask for, but do so with the "less is more" mentality.

You must ensure that you have included all needed information.

Intuitive

The order and organization of all documents should be easily navigable and all documents should be easily identified at first glance.

Measurable

Your request for assistance will be judged on the old cost/benefit decision-making model. Thus your financials need to be measurable and they need to match the measure of your request.

The biggest point here is that your lender needs to be able to easily quantify factors such as income, expenses, and the like. This needs to be done by referencing the source documents such as your bank statements and not just an excel sheet that they must take your word on the accuracy.

Presentations

Though you are sending a package of requested documents that your lender needs you should do so in a manner that is appealing and more importantly in a manner that gives way to the desired decision. To put it simply; Sell It!

Logical

If you follow the first three steps then your package will have a logical prestige to it.

Effective

Thus your efforts will prove effective.

Inside the Financial Package

Cover Page

You should utilize a simple fax cover page template to add a sense of professionalism.

Hardship Letter

The hardship letter is extremely important and should be given considerable effort, time, and consideration before submitting. We highly recommend that you use a hardship letter template of some kind.

Primary Household and Applicable Resident(s) Statement

This just needs to be a simply typed statement that lists the name, age, and relation to all persons who reside at the property of interest. Everyone needs to sign the document.

Financial Budget

This should be a mirrored two-part monthly budget. One of the old budget and one of the new and optimized budget.

3 Months of Bank Statements

The most current statements available to you. They must be complete. Do not send only partials.

3 Months of Pay Stubs

If no pay stubs are obtainable then do whatever is the next best alternative available to you keeping in mind that you must show these are credible source documents.

Tax Permission Form

Last two years of tax returns is a common alternative.

Applicable Documents

Anything that is needed to properly support your lender or your unique needs and situation

Short (handwritten?) Note of Appreciation

This is a nice touch

Submit The Final Package to Your Lender

There is little worst then taking the time, care, and required efforts of completing a wonderful SIMPLE financial package and faxing it over to your lender to only find out a week later that they never received any sort of fax or another excuse such as that it did not come through legibly.

The most effective and reliable way to send the package is by creating a PDF and sending the document as an attachment in an email or sending it via email fax. This way the PDF can be printed and the only thing that could go wrong is that your lender's outdated fax machine dried up and printed a faded version.

Crucial Homeowner Tip and Reminder

It is vital that you are accommodating with your lender. This may sound a little backward at first. But think about the complexity of the loss mitigation function and process that the lender must carry out on a massive scale.

Remember that these loss mitigation operations and the surrounding environment are foreign territories that was unforeseen. To cope with complexity and tedious detail orientated work lenders have utilized a systematic dependent operations model to create as much efficiency as possible.

This is an important consideration for any homeowner who is seeking the help of such an operation. You want to "fall in line" as much as possible so that your file is processed as soon as possible.

This means that you should always check with your lender on the preferred method, organization, and instructions of pursuing whatever mortgage solution you are seeking.

Some lenders have their own specific budget worksheets that they want you to fill out. Other lenders will have customized instructions that were developed for their own specific purpose.

So this all boils down to the important task of asking and following specific submission guidelines.

Buy a Used Vehicle that Lasts - Smart Personal Finance - Auto Tips and Facts

The vehicle is one of the biggest components of the typical monthly budgets. And it is no wonder why. Cars are outright expensive! And that's before you consider the maintenance, insurance, gas, stuff, and more stuff that it takes to keep a car rolling.

The amount of money you spend on your vehicle has a big influence on the overall condition or health of your personal finances and budget. I wrote this post for that very reason.


I suggest that if you buy a used vehicle that lasts then you can have a lower vehicle cost and thus save more, pay off debt, or find some other beneficial use that would otherwise not be an option.

Now an obvious hurdle to buying a used automobile that is gonna last a lifetime is that you have no way of knowing how long any particular car, truck, or SUV is going to last. Though we don't have a crystal ball I do have some tips and facts that will help you pick a car that will run long enough to really get your money worth.

Before I get into how to pick the right car I want to focus on why we want a long lasting used car.

We want an "it will run forever" vehicle because it will save us unbelievable amounts of money. I have made a list of ways we save by going this route. I feel that people really need to work it out in order to really get the picture.

How a Used Long Lasting Vehicle Saves Money

Purchase Price

The price of a car with 75 k plus miles is far far less than a new or close to new car with less than 10,000 miles. It is impossible to pit any sort of generic number on the savings but I would say that a range of 6,000 to 12,000 is a very conservative figure the money saved by buying an older higher mileage car over a new to pretty much a new car.

Car Insurance

Another great way you will save money is through insurance. Because the car is older and valued considerably less than a new car the insurance company is taking less risk and thus you will have a much lower insurance cost then you would if you had a shiny new sports car. It's hard to say just how much you might save but I think $600 dollars annually is a pretty conservative figure.

Property Tax

Because the used car is valued so much less than a new car the property tax is also much less. This is because the property tax is calculated by taking a percentage of the car value.


Interest Expense from Car Loan 

Buying a new car for 18,000 - 40,000 thousand is most likely going to require a loan. Financing a car is normal. But it doesn't have to be. You can get a great car for 4,000 - 10,000 and that kinda money can be saved. Buying a car with cash will save thousands in interest and fees. I think a savings of 6,000 is conservative.

Opportunity Cost

With all the savings you realize through buying a cheaper used car that lasts you will realize even more savings through the availability of that money to invest or benefit your life in some other manner. Though I'm not going to assign a figure to this I think it is important to at least mention.



Last Updated - 4/23/17