Long Lasting Cars

[princessdi81]

I have a 2000 Honda Civic coupe with 145,000 miles on it - bought it brand new, and still runs like a million dollars. Loved that Civic so much that I purchased I 2010 Honda Accord in November - and KEPT my Civic, there was no reason to get rid of a perfectly good car!

We have a 1997 Honda del Sol (sports car) and a 2006 Honda Accord. IMO, you can't go wrong with a Honda!

 

[Pigeon]

Consumer Reports is based on year old data. Their advice is also widely viewed as suspect. Keep in mind that their original advice on CD players was they didn't sound better than records and the format wasn't going to last.

Check out recent relevant data at TrueDelta.com. Or use Edmunds.com.

"Widely viewed as suspect" means that US car makers don't like their findings.

"Year old data" would be perfectly acceptable for gathering information on the history of vehicle repairs for buying older cars (as the OP is looking for data on used vehicles).

They have a great deal of feedback from people who have owned the models in question, which, as far as I'm concerned, is useful information. I want to know if people would buy that particular car again.

 

[msmayor]

In reality, the longest lasting cars are the ones that are well-maintained by their owners.

Cars where owners don't balk at spending a few hundred dollars to service things that are regular wear items without worrying "My car is going bad now". No, its not. Its just that certain things are not designed to last forever.

Cars where owners change the oil every 3-5,000 miles without fail. Its the single greatest thing you can do to maintain your car for a long time.

Cars where owners take them in to the shop if they hear an odd noise, or notice a shimmy in the steering, or anything else that doesn't seem 'normal' without just continuing to drive them and 'hoping' it goes away on its own, because you don't want to spend money to fix anything.

Be kind to your car, it'll be kind to you.

Cars I've owned:

Ford Maverick: sold with 175,000 miles (remained on the road another two years)

Chrysler Turismo: 97,000 miles (would have been a lot more if a Jeep hadn't ran into the side of it and totaled it out)

Chrysler Reliant: 143,000 (remained on the road another three years as we gave it to our nephew)

Buick Regal: 190,000 (guessing here...given to us by my Mom with a stuck odometer that read 57,000; we drove it 7 more years about 20,000/year)

Volvo 740GLE Wagon: 160,000 miles (traded it when it needed a $2,000 engine computer)

Chrysler LHS: 165,000 miles and counting; husband still drives this car

Chrysler Pacifica: 87,000 miles and counting; this is my current car

 

[apnep]

I have a 1998 Honda Accord with 100,000 miles on it. We just took it in today to get a cv joint replaced. The service dept. said the engine looks good. We are hoping to keep it another year.

We also own a 2005 Toyota Sienna with 85,000 miles on it. We will have that until its not worth it anymore...

Ang

 

[okie from muskogee]

Drove a toyota tercel for 21 years. Now driving a 2004 pontiac vibe, 140 K miles, no problems so far.

 

[Sagginit]

another vote for honda! i bought an early 90s accord a few years ago, it was a bargain from a relative, and i planned on only having it for a year or two. now i dont want to part with it!

 

[ohlas]

Subaru Outbacks are great! I bought mine with 87,000 miles on it and my son still drives it years later. I had a Subaru sedan that lasted to 239,000 miles and was still running great and another that my son finally killed at around 200,000 miles.

I'm driving Hondas now and just bought an Accord for $5000. It's a 1990 model with 91,000 miles on it, but I think it will last us for a lot of miles.

Sheila

omg I know its crazy but i so want your car,,, I drove a 2008 limited addition outback for a trip to fla,,, This is the first car in long time that i have car lust over....if i had to buy a car now i would get that one,,, i want it so baddd, but new the price was like 32k

 

[Ka' eo]

Subaru Outbacks are great! I bought mine with 87,000 miles on it and my son still drives it years later. I had a Subaru sedan that lasted to 239,000 miles and was still running great and another that my son finally killed at around 200,000 miles.

I'm driving Hondas now and just bought an Accord for $5000. It's a 1990 model with 91,000 miles on it, but I think it will last us for a lot of miles.

Sheila

Ditto the Outback. I have to say, though, that we in my family have bought many used Saabs. My parents just bought a used Saab wagon for $6 k. It is deluxe! Leather, nav, sunroof. Just a gorgeous car. Saabs go into the several hundred thousand miles. The parts ARE more expensive, but these cars are so excellent. I am driving a 10 year old 900 I bought from my brother for 2K. I commute 80 miles rt to work in the tundra and have NO reservations about it, even though it now has 150k miles on it.

Good luck! I think you can find LOTS of great used cars. We also have a Honda Odyssey which is going strong at 100k plus. It has had a few issues, but it might just be our bad luck. Honda service is quite excellent.

 

[mel&me]

Any vehicle has the potential to be long lasting. If it is maintained regularly it can go a long way. People don't grease front end, then blame model of car for bad steering parts. Blow transmission, but have never once change the fluid. Blow engine but change oil when they happen to think about it, I have seen people go 6-7 thousand miles before a change, Break a shock or strut tower, but drove 4000 miles with bad shocks. Just about every vehile build in the last 15 years has the potential to be a 200,000 mile vehicle if you do regular maintenance. Some are better than others, but most all can last. Bad part about used vehicles is you don't know how previous owner maintained the vehicle, but simple inspection of things can give a real good idea.

 

[MMluvsWDW]

Thanks guys! We are on the hunt so it should be an interesting weekend!

 

[4mickey2]

honda's are definitely good vehicles. we had a crx, civic ex, & civic dx?

we have also had vw's. these are a step up from hondas also great vehicles but, will cost you more even used.

but another thought is a saturn. i have a vue (v6, awd). it is a 2004. being that they are not making them anymore the prices should be low for now. i have 60,000 miles on mine. i get an average of 23 mpg w/awd. they stopped making the polymere panels around 2005 or 2006. but, with those panels the vehicles side panels won't rust (not metal). the hood and roof are metal and tailgate (i believe).

also sometime between 2003-2006? i am not positive of the years but i think you could google this, the v6 saturn vue had the honda v6 from the honda pilot in it. this v6 was 10 hp higher than the one in the pilot. when we found this out, we bought my vue.

it runs great and is excellent in the snow. i know what i can get for my vehicle and there should be some good deals out there right now.

 

[QVCshopper]

We love Hondas. We have a Civic and CRV. Or Civic is a 1998 that we bought new when we first got married for $13K. It's still running great. Our last trip to the mechanic was less than $100 and it has about 125K miles. Or CRV is newer but doing great as well.

 

[Planogirl]

We've had two Mitsubishis, one we still have that is approaching 200K miles and another that we sold at 160K and it was still running fine. That's not to say that these results are necessarily typical but we're happy.

Good luck finding that perfect vehicle! You might to check out Carmax for the easiest way to shop.

 

[cheerforchelsea]

My BIL works on the assembly line at the Honda Plant in AL.....yet he drives a Chevrolet Celebrity that is OLD.....(still looks good and runs good - over 350K miles)....He can get a great discount on a new Honda - but says his next vehicle will be a CHEVROLET!!11