Ranked: Cars New Buyers Keep the Longest

• Toyota owners keep their cars the longest, according to a new iSeeCars study.
• The study evaulated nearly 1 million cars kept by original owners for at least 15 years.
• The Toyota Highlander Hybrid ranks at the top as the most-loved car.

The average age of cars on the road keeps getting older. And if you pay attention, you might notice a bunch of them are Toyotas. We aren’t talking about two-year-old off-lease Toyotas, either. The latest study from iSeeCars shows Toyota owners keep their cars for a very long time.

The Japanese brand absolutely dominates the list of most-loved vehicles, which ranks 13 cars kept by the original owner for at least 15 years. Toyota (including Lexus) has eight vehicles in the ranking, including everything in the top five. Beyond that, Nissan, Subaru, and Honda also make the list. The only US-based brand represented is Ford, with the Escape Hybrid in seventh spot.

Here’s the full list, going from worst to first:

The original crossover SUV is revered by owners, with 5.5 percent of original buyers holding onto it for over a decade. Frankly, we’re surprised the Forester isn’t higher on this list, considering Subaru’s devoted following.

The first-generation Ridgeline launched for 2006, and 5.5 percent of those original owners still have the truck in their garage.

The Tundra wasn’t always as big as it is now. Owners of the older truck—5.5 percent to be exact—still drive one.

The first-generation Versa launched in 2006, and 5.7 percent of people who bought one still have it.

Landing in the US for the 2006 model year, 5.8 percent of the original buyers for The Lexus IS 350 still have it in the garage.

Today, the RAV4 is the best-selling SUV in America. But the old models are still coveted by 6.2 percent of original owners. We don’t blame them.

Say hello to the only non-Japanese vehicle on the list. The Escape Hybrid was among the earlier hybrids for the US market, and it’s still in use with 6.3 percent of original owners.

The older-generation CR-Vs are still favored by 6.3 percent of people who bought them new. We don’t see this car leaving the list any time soon, considering just how great the new version drives.

It’s entirely Toyota from here on out, starting with the Prius. The second-generation model arrived in 2004, cementing the Prius as the hybrid to beat. A whopping 6.3 percent of owners still love theirs.

Toyota was slow to evolve the Tacoma through the years, but why fix something that isn’t broken? These are still owned by 6.4 percent of original buyers.

The large Highlander arrived in the early 2000s to battle the Ford Explorer. It was a hit, and 6.6 percent of original buyers are still using them.

2: Toyota Camry Hybrid

The Camry doesn’t care how popular SUVs are. It was once the best-selling family vehicle in America, and in hybrid form, those older models are still loved by 6.9 percent of their original owners.

The popularity of the Prius encouraged Toyota to expand its hybrid offerings through the mid-2000s. Buyers vibed with the Highlander Hybrid in a major way, and over 15 years later, it tops this list of most-loved vehicles at 7.0 percent.

To determine this list, iSeeCars looked at over 929,000 cars from 1981 through 2009 that were sold from January through September of this year. Low-volume and heavy-duty vehicles—which are often kept longer simply by their nature—were excluded.

“Most consumers can’t commit to a single vehicle for more than a decade, but those that do save a lot of money on their vehicle costs,” said iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer. “Keeping a car for 15 years means no loan payment for most of that time, along with falling insurance and registration costs.”