Cars most likely to be kept 10-plus years: Japanese, hybrids

Cars most likely to be kept 10-plus years: Japanese, hybrids

The top 10 models that owners are most likely to keep for 10 years or more are all Japanese and include three hybrids, according to a study by iSeeCars.com, a used-car search engine. The study is based on an analysis of more than 2.5 million MY 1981-2006 cars sold in 2016.

The top ranked vehicle is the Toyota Highlander Hybrid, which 32.1 percent of the original owners kept for more than 10 years. By comparison, the average for all cars is 12.9 percent. The rest of the top 10 are the Toyota Prius, Toyota Highlander, Toyota Sienna, Honda Pilot, Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Subaru Forester, Lexus RX hybrid and Honda Odyssey.

Nine of the top 10 vehicles are SUVs and minivans. –These kinds of cars tend to be used as family cars, so they might be expected to be kept for many years if theyêre bought just as their owners start their new families,” said Phong Ly, iSeeCars.com CEO.

As for the hybrids, –the savings from fuel costs accrue only after several years of ownership, so one reason owners may be keeping these vehicles is to offset the higher cost of a hybrid,” Ly said.