Toyota Dominates Study of Long-Lasting Reliability
Photo: Toyota
In the latest study of the vehicles most likely to reach 200,000 miles or more, Toyota dominated the competition. The brand accounted for six of the top 10 vehicles, with the Land Cruiser and Sequoia far ahead of every other nameplate.
The results are not a surprise. After all, Toyota has long had a stellar reputation for reliability — but reputation and reality can be at odds with each other, and it can take time for public perception to catch up when a brand’s quality starts to drop.
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In this case, however, we can safely say that Toyota’s reputation for reliability is totally in line with the reality. Last year, iSeeCars found that the automaker also made the longest-lasting hybrid cars; and in its annual auto reliability survey, Consumer Reports ranked Lexus, Toyota’s luxury arm, as the top brand, while Toyota itself was ranked third overall, consistent with past performances.
According to iSeeCars, only 1.2 percent of all vehicles reach 200,000 miles. If all vehicles were Toyotas, that average would be way up. A whopping 18.2 percent of Land Cruisers hit that high milestone, and 14.2 percent of Sequoia SUVs — making them more than twice more likely to do so than the next best nameplate.
Photo: Toyota
“The iconic and indestructible Toyota Land Cruiser is engineered to last at least 25 years, even under the harshest of driving conditions, as it is relied upon in many developing countries where off-road driving is the norm,” said iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer.
The research firm’s top 15 list featured primarily full-size SUVs but, thanks to Toyota, a few other vehicles were represented as well. The only midsize SUVs, hybrid vehicles, and sedans on the list were Toyota badged. And the Toyota Sienna, along with the Honda Odyssey, was the only minivan to make an appearance.
If long-lasting durability and reliability are among your top criteria when searching for a new or used vehicles, there’s not a better brand to buy than Toyota. It’s easy to say it has a good reputation, but when that reputation is backed by hard data, it becomes harder to say anything else.
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.