200,000 miles is in fact rare, only 1% of vehicles reach it

[SevenBizzos]

I do not understand this survey at all. Help me out.

Well, the people over at iSeeCars.com gathered up the mileage listed on 11.8 million used cars traded in during 2020 and started tallying them up. And guess what? Big SUVs rule!

“They analyzed over 11.8 million Pre-Owned cars sold in 2020, models that were not in production as a 2021 model year,” said iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer. “Every time those cars change hands, there's a record kept of everything: price, location, etc. And one of those things is current mileage. So I could see the mileage on those 11.8 million sold cars in 2020.”

So which number are they looking at? What's the percentage of 200k+ cars that were traded in and resold in the same year? How the heck is that a representation of real number of vehicles on the roads that are > 200k miles?

Most people (like 99% of them) that own a 200k+ vehicle keep them until it's time to retire them. I'm sure there are millions of cars out there with > 200k miles. Only 118,000 of them were traded in and/or resold in 2020. Sorry, but that tells me nothing.

 

[benjy]

todays cars are more complicated + generally less reliable IMO as most want the latest unnecessary trinkets!! my port injected 2001 jetta port injected + upgraded to 275 tq + hp with only a touch of surface rust where the mudflaps rubbed the paint off was running great at 200 thou when traded + i live in the RUST belt but VW's fully galvanized body stood the test of over 10 years of salty Pa roads!!

 

[Gimpy1]

I'm curious where they are getting this info, since when I worked in insurance claims I saw many vehicles over 200k from all makes. Even in the rust belt.

Ive seen that too especially in non standard insurance. Those vehicles are from tote-the-note lots and totaled out with a bumper replacement and headlamp damage. I hated those claims because after the deductible folks still owed a ton of money and I had to issue payment to joes rip-u-off used car lot.

 

[JC1]

I wonder how many of those that cross 200k are run to over 250-400 miles.

I know up here in Canada that most people get rid of vehicles with over 200k kms (120k miles). I think many people worry about the car being worn out at that point or costing too much money to repair.

I had an accord with over 240k miles on it. Was still running well. Got rid of it when I bought the Sienna. Only issue was a hair line crack in the block that was a known defect near the exhaust manifold bolt hole.

 

[wpod]

The article should say only 3.4% of people put lots on miles on their vehicles . The numbers are very close. The article seems like marketing .

 

[buster]

6 Toyotas...wow.

 

[pbm]

6 Toyotas...wow.

Probably because Toyotas are traded in with over 200k because they still have value.

 

[BigCahuna]

You can keep a car forever if you want to keep throwing money at it. My '02 for explorer has about 240k on it and the way I look at it is. only a major motor or trans failure would make me get rid of it. A simple repair will generally cost less then a bunch of monthly car payments.,,,

 

[sloinker]

VW testified and the courts concurred that 150k miles was the established lifespan of a passenger vehicle.

 

[vw7674]

VW testified and the courts concurred that 150k miles was the established lifespan of a passenger vehicle.

Toyota & Honda Motor Corp.: ' ........ hold my sushi.'

 

[CharlieJ]

At my current average miles per year rate, my Mazda3 will be 32 years old when it theoretically reaches 200k miles. I doubt it will be on the road in 2039. Some people get rid of cars because they are bored of them, accidents, the car no longer fit their needs, interiors break down, or other costly repairs come up that people would rather not put into the car.
Just because people are not keeping their car 200K+ miles does not mean they are not maintaining them.

 

[sloinker]

Toyota & Honda Motor Corp.: ' ........ hold my sushi.'

YRMV

 

[Leo99]

At my current average miles per year rate, my Mazda3 will be 32 years old when it theoretically reaches 200k miles. I doubt it will be on the road in 2039. Some people get rid of cars because they are bored of them, accidents, the car no longer fit their needs, interiors break down, or other costly repairs come up that people would rather not put into the car.
Just because people are not keeping their car 200K+ miles does not mean they are not maintaining them.

This is one of the paradoxes I see on BITOG. People will ask questions like what oil to use or OCI for a vehicle the drive 4000 miles per year. In 30 years it will have only 120,000 miles on it and any oil choice or OCI will very most likely have no impact on the engine's condition at that time.

 

[Burt]

Fun with numbers. Remember the commercial about "90+% of the chevies built in the last 15 years are still on the road"? Yeah that's because 99.9% built last year are still on the road, 99.7% the year before ... so by the 15th year over half are gone, but the average looks impressive.

The typical car is probably traded in 3-4 times in its life, so as pointed out, just because it's traded in doesn't mean its end of life. And if trade in value of a 200,000 mile car is only a few hundred dollars, it make sense to sell privately.

 

[Bobaloo22]

My 2004 Colorado is way past 200k and "they" said it was junk.

 

[Kestas]

I believe they are saying only 1% of new car buyers keep their cars until 200K. This would make the most sense. They are likely ignoring the secondary and tertiary markets.

 

[Nick1994]

Not a realistic survey to say which vehicles hit 200k most likely.

Traded in vehicles are pretty irrelevant. Obviously I'm not going to trade in my old beater Camry. I might have to pay for them to get rid of it.

 

[Tjbouwhu]

200,000 miles is in fact rare, only 1% of vehicles reach it...​

Makes sense,
1) First, not sure there are a high percentage of people taking good car of their cars?
2) Here in Michigan, with road salt, a vehicle would need to last 13 - 15 years in order to reach 200,000 miles.

 

[97prizm]

My 1997 Geo prizm had 246,000 when the harmonic balancer sheared off the crankshaft. I wonder if this will change with the used car prices becoming so expensive

 

[jayjr1105]

How is Civic, Corolla, Camry, etc not on that list. Someone pulled that thing out of their rear end.