10 Cars That People Keep for 15 Years or More

Craig Johnson | January 27th, 2021

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If you’re thinking about buying a car, there may be several models that interest you. But to be a smart buyer, one of the key things to consider is how long the vehicle will last.

Car search engine iSeeCars recently analyzed and ranked the cars that people keep 15 years or more. For its report, iSeeCars looked at 660,000 vehicles to determine which models are most likely to be kept the longest by their original owners.

Cars That Owners Keep the Longest

The vehicles, all 1981-2005 models that were sold in 2020, offer a great opportunity for prospective car buyers to see which cars have the potential to give them the most miles for their money.

Here are some key findings from the report:

Toyota Prius has the top spot with 13.7% of its models being kept a long time by original owners.
The entire top 10 list is made up of Japanese cars.
Seven of the 10 vehicles are from the same company: Toyota.

Money expert Clark Howard says keeping a vehicle for a long time is one of the best ways you can offset the sticker price.

“The only way it works for you as a consumer is that you keep that vehicle for a very long time, because vehicles depreciate quicker based on model year than they do based on the mileage on the odometer,” he says.

Let’s look at the list of vehicles that iSeeCars says original owners have kept the longest.

Top 10 Vehicles Owners Keep for 15 Years or Longer

Rank	Vehicles	% Kept by Original Owners	Compared to Average
1.	Toyota Prius	13.7%	2.2x
2.	Toyota Highlander	12.4%	2.0x
3.	Toyota Tacoma	11.6%	1.9x
4.	Toyota Sienna	11.5%	1.9x
5.	Toyota Tundra	11.3%	1.8x
6.	Honda CR-V	10.7%	1.8x
7.	Honda Pilot	10.4%	1.7x
8.	Subaru Forester	9.8%	1.6x
9.	Toyota 4Runner	9.4%	1.5x
10.	Toyota Sequoia	9.1%	1.5x
Overall Average		6.1%

Read the complete iSeeCars report here.

“Japanese vehicles, especially Toyota and Honda, are known for their reliability and durability and attract practical consumers who want vehicles that can be kept on the road as long as possible,” said iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer. “Drivers are more likely to hold onto cars that they know they can rely on and don’t require a great deal of expensive maintenance.”

Are you looking to buy a reliable car? Here are some money-saving steps to follow.