An Ebay Study on Vehicle Make Longevity & Durability

[eskimo2]

An Ebay Study on Vehicle Make Longevity & Durability
(Or why Lincolns are 25 times better than Cadillacs)

I’ve been used car shopping lately, so I’ve been paying attention to older cars and how much life they have left in them.  I decided it would be interesting and perhaps valuable to compare cars listed on Ebay based on the percentage that have over 200,000 miles on them.  200 K seems like a good indicator of longevity that many cars are capable of hitting and yet still maintaining some value.  My method was simple: Ebay shows the total number of cars per make at the top of the page during a search.  After discounting the ridiculous mileage (such as 111,111,111 or 1,000,000 even) I counted the number of cars listed with 200,000 miles or more.  A little division yielded the percentage of cars per make with over 200,000 miles.  I predicted Mercedes, Volvo and Toyota would make the top three.  Volvo let me down; I did such a study once many years ago and Volvo stood out significantly above all other makes.  I’ve personally owned eight old Volvos and their mileage have ranged from 150,000 to 350,000.  Toyota and Mercedes did very well.  Lincoln and GMC surprised me; even though I drive my father-in-law’s Lincoln regularly I never have thought of it as a durable car.  I have to give my father-in-law credit; his other car is a Toyota: smart man.  

The results are listed in the table below; only makes with over 250 cars listed on Ebay were compared.  * indicates oodles of cars with ridiculous mileage.

[storch]

why would you want to buy a run out vehicle for?

[john9001]

but you only list cars that are for sale, what if a car has over 200,000 miles and is so good that the owner doesn't want to sell it?

also does not account for how many were built.

that will change your numbers.

[E25280]

I don't see Saturn on the list?

Only one explanation -- no one wants to give one up.  


Had 246K miles on my 1995 Saturn.  It ran great up until the cooling fan for the radiator decided to crap out while I was stuck in construction traffic on a bridge during the hottest day of the year.  One cracked head and warped block later . . . the poor thing is now in a junkyard.





Not that I am sentimental or anything.

[eskimo2]

Originally posted by storch
why would you want to buy a run out vehicle for?

You’re poor and in the market to buy a big old “luxury car” that you want to last 3 or 4 years.  You find a Lincoln and a Cadillac each with 150,000 miles on them.  Based on this study, which one would be the safer bet?

Why do people buy “run-out-vehicles”?  Because they are cheap and I is poor.  The last two Volvo’s I bought before my current one cost $850 and 800.  I/we drove both of them for 8 years.

[eskimo2]

Originally posted by john9001
but you only list cars that are for sale, what if a car has over 200,000 miles and is so good that the owner doesn't want to sell it?

also does not account for how many were built.

that will change your numbers.

Yea, this is far from exact and is only one indicator.  I’d like to see stats from insurance companies or the DMV that show average mileage per.  Cars for sale provide a reasonable indicator; far from complete but worthy of consideration. Generally, however, each make of cars have some loyal owners who buy a new car and drive it till its ready for the junk yard.  Each make also has buyers who buy a new one every year or two.  Roughly, it evens out.

It doesn’t matter how many were built, this is a percentage thing.

[eskimo2]

Originally posted by E25280
I don't see Saturn on the list?

 

Too few; only 165 listed: none with over 200K.

[DiabloTX]

Also consider the owner.  I knew people that could drive a Mercedes into in early grave at 50k but others that took care of their cars (no matter what the make) and had them last 200k+ miles.  The make does have something with longevity but IMHO the owner maintenance practices is far more important than the make.

[eskimo2]

Originally posted by DiabloTX
Also consider the owner.  I knew people that could drive a Mercedes into in early grave at 50k but others that took care of their cars (no matter what the make) and had them last 200k+ miles.  The make does have something with longevity but IMHO the owner maintenance practices is far more important than the make.

The only Mercedes I ever owned was a 1965 190 Diesel.  I bought it from the original owners with 500K on it!

[DiabloTX]

Not surprised.  Those older M-B diesels were/are pretty much bullet proof if taken care of properly.  We had plenty at my old shop over 200k with original owners still driving them.

[Chairboy]

Originally posted by storch
why would you want to buy a run out vehicle for?

Storch might also look at a medical study and say "What would I want with medicated lab mice?" or look at a history book and say "Why should I care about a bunch of dead people?"

[storch]

valid point eskimo, provided you can maintain them yourself.  the cost for repair on a run out vehicle is comparable to purchasing new unless you can perform the lion's share of the work yourself.  typically I buy a new car and drive it into the ground.  I usually pay cash for vehicles, this current one is the only car note I have had in 20+ years.  for me it is far more cost effective to buy the brand new car outright and know it's maintenance than to potentially buy someone else's headache.  but if that is your solution then by all means have at it and your approach is therefore logical.

[lasersailor184]

Originally posted by DiabloTX
Also consider the owner.  I knew people that could drive a Mercedes into in early grave at 50k but others that took care of their cars (no matter what the make) and had them last 200k+ miles.  The make does have something with longevity but IMHO the owner maintenance practices is far more important than the make.

Don't forget to consider the owner's age.


A cadillac from an old person might have 100k miles on it, but it's never been above 30 mph on the high way.

[Maverick]

I have over 537000 miles on my Volvo. It's just broken in now.

[Excel1]

Originally posted by storch
valid point eskimo, provided you can maintain them yourself.  the cost for repair on a run out vehicle is comparable to purchasing new unless you can perform the lion's share of the work yourself.

heh.. some how I don't think maintenance would be a big problem for some one who has owned and maintained a small fleet of Fiats