Which cars do motorists keep the longest?
Despite the blandishments of new car ads, the most economical strategy is to keep your vehicle a long time -- well past the end of car payments.
So which vehicles do drivers tend to keep the longest? According to car research site iSeeCars.com, it's a tie between the big Ford Expedition SUV and the Chevrolet Corvette. Both were kept by owners an average of 9 years, compared with 7.4 years for all cars.
Although the Corvette's longevity might seem surprising, owners often treat the iconic sports car as a hobby and take terrific care of them.
The rest of the top 10 list contains four more SUVs, three sedans and one minivan.
"Many factors could contribute to a car's longevity, such as its function as shown by the dominance of family vehicles or because of a fondness for a timeless classic like the Chevrolet Corvette," Phong Ly, CEO of iSeeCars.com, said in an interview.
Following the top two are SUVs Toyota Sequoia and Toyota 4Runner, and the Toyota Avalon sedan. Then come two more SUVs -- the Ford Explorer and Chevrolet Suburban. Honda Accord and Ford Taurus, both sedans, rank No. 8 and No. 9, respectively, followed by the Honda Odyssey minivan.
"Similar to SUVs, minivans are the consummate family vehicle, and owners are likely to hold on to them until their children are grown," Ly said.
Owners keep all the vehicles in the the top 10 vehicles at least eight years.
While large family vehicles dominate, sedans also have their loyalists who keep them a long time. The study notes that the three sedans on the top 10 list -- Toyota Avalon, Honda Accord and Ford Taurus -- have spacious seating and ample cargo room.
These same three sedans also are among the cars most likely to reach 200,000 miles.
One notable absence from this buy and hold list is any luxury vehicle. In fact, luxury owners tend to the opposite extreme, with a high percentage of these cars leased for no more than three years.
To measure vehicle longevity, iSeeCars.com looked at 6 million vehicles five years old or older sold as used cars between Jan. 1, 2013 and Dec. 31, 2017. The average age of each model was measured from the date it first went on sale.
