While this number is influenced by many factors, there are some tried-and-true tactics to figure out the average lifespan of your vehicle. Here's what you need to know. HOW LONG DO CARS LAST? According to Consumer Reports, the average lifespan of today's cars is about eight years or 240,000 kilometres.
As a general rule, most cars over 300,000 kilometres aren't worth your time unless you have experience working on vehicles yourself and the price is tempting enough.
For many used vehicles you are wanting to look at cars under 200,000 kilometres. However you can find exceptional used cars on the market that have over 200,000 kilometres that is in excellent condition and has at least 5 years of roadworthiness left.
It is extremely unusual for cars to last over 500,000 miles (804,672 kilometers). It's less unusual for cars to go over 300,000 miles (482,803 kilometers) without encountering major repairs though.
If you find a car with more than 200,000 km on it, don't be too concerned. A vehicle that has gotten regular oil changes, tire rotations, tune-ups, and a little high-mileage maintenance, should still have some life left in it. Well-built trucks and large SUVs should last longer than other vehicles overall.
Whether a used car is considered high mileage or not depends largely on the year to mileage ratio. Take a five-year-old used vehicle with 100,000 kilometers (or just over 62,000 miles). That works out to 20,000 km per year on average, so not too bad.
Mileage is part of the puzzle – but it's not the “be-all-end-all” of used cars. There's no guarantee that a car that's only been driven for 20,000 kilometers is in great shape – and a car that's been driven for more than 150,000km can easily provide you with years of reliable performance.
Although few cars make it past 300,000 km, a dedicated car enthusiast may get their vehicle to 500,000 km. This lifespan will differ depending on the vehicle and how it's cared for.
Depending on how well you treat your car, you could potentially reach over 500,000 miles. In fact, there's a driver whose car reached even more than that.
Topping that list is the Toyota Sequoia, which has a potential lifespan of 296,509 miles, according to a new study from iSeeCars.com. The automotive research website analyzed more than 2 million cars to determine which last longest and found that 20 models are able to endure for more than 200,000 miles.
Generally, the fewer kms a car has driven, the better. But a used car that has higher kms can be a great buy if it has been maintained properly and driven sensibly. Like people, cars need tune-ups and checkups to stay high performance.
As a general rule, most vehicles begin to seriously degrade at around 150,000 miles. It is considered rare, and therefore outstanding longevity, if a car reaches 200,000 miles on the road. That said, there's more to identifying good versus bad mileage on a used car than just the odometer reading.
Average age of all vehicles registered in Australia was 10.1 years, unchanged since 2015. Tasmanian vehicles reported the oldest average age at 12.8 years, whilst the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory had the youngest fleet with an average age of 9.4 years.
A good rule of thumb is that a well-cared for car can run past the 100,000 mile (160,000 km) mark on the odometer. A new car should be more than a "want." Do you "need" it?
Although it may have been well maintained, the purchase of a vehicle with over 200,000 miles on the odometer might lead to significant maintenance costs. At this point, the car is likely nearing the end of its useful life, and you may soon need to either invest a significant sum in repairs or replace it entirely.
In a vacuum (and with infinite fuel), your engine would continue to run forever. But in reality, several things might occur if your car idles for too long. To avoid running your car for too long, you should only idle your vehicle for a few minutes at most before either moving your vehicle or turning the engine off.
The standard for a long time was 100,000 miles, but this is no longer the case. As technological advancements in the automotive industry continue to surge forward, so too does the limit of what our modern cars are capable of. Today, you can expect your vehicle to get on average 200,000 miles without major repairs.
Occasionally, you hear a story about an owner's vehicle reaching one million kilometres. It's not common but it happens. Rarer still is the vehicle that hits the million-mile mark, which works out to 1.6 million kilometers. However, it is truly a rare model that gets to 2 million km.
Any number of reasons can end a car's life before the million-mile mark, from crashes to terminal rust, to major repairs costing more than the car is worth. Still, it's possible to get your car to a million miles and beyond. The late Irv Gordon famously drove his 1966 Volvo P1800 past 3 million miles.
So, realistically, any mileage less than, say, 200,000km (which is 124,000-miles) would suggest that a car, any car, still has plenty of life left in it.
In retaining “like new” quality and inheriting a slower depreciation rate, the best used car age for buying is 2-3 years. In fact, Americans are saving up to $14,000 on a 3-year-old vehicle. For example, a car that may have cost you $30,000 when new would cost around $16,000 after just 3 years.
When buying a used car that's 10-years-old or older, your primary concerns are purchase price and reliability. Don't pay more than that 10-year-old car is worth. And, pick a car with a solid reputation for dependability. No car is really too old if you follow those rules.
A conventional car can last for 200,000 miles. Some well-maintained car models will reach 300,000 or more miles total. The average passenger car age is currently around 12 years in the United States. Choosing a well-built make and model can help extend your car's longevity.