These cars log the most miles every year
Need to drive a lot of miles every year? Get a large SUV.
Auto research site iSeeCars.com looked at all 1.7 million 10-year-old vehicles sold between 2014 and 2017 to see which had the most miles on their odometers. The top three and five of the top 10 were large SUVs made by General Motors (GM). Nine of the top 10 were SUVs.
The top voyager, the Chevrolet Suburban, logged an average of 14,299 miles a year -- 25 percent more than the 11,518 miles for the average 10-year-old vehicle. Two versions of the GMC Yukon, the Chevrolet Tahoe and Toyota Sequoia rounded out the top five.
Why would long-haul drivers favor big SUVs? Their combination of seating for up to nine, capacious cargo space and strong towing capacity makes them perfect for long family road trips. And those same features also make them useful for some business uses, such as hauling construction crews.
Pickup trucks averaged slightly fewer miles than the big SUVs, suggesting that many owners kept their trucks on the job rather than using them for family travel.
Here are some other details from this study of high-mileage vehicles:
Minivans can also rack up the miles
The one minivan on the top 10 list, the Honda's (HMC) Odyssey, ranked sixth with an average of 13,282 miles per year. "Minivans are ideal for people who want extra cargo room and seating capacity for running errands around town but don't require a vehicle that performs like a truck," said Phong Ly, CEO of iSeeCars.com.
The same vehicles last longest
Of the top 10 highest annual mileage vehicles, eight also appear on a separate list of vehicles most likely to last 200,000 miles. "People who drive their cars the most are most likely to prolong the life of their vehicles with regular service and maintenance because these vehicles may be a large part of their livelihood," said Ly.
Sports cars get driven the least
At the other end of the spectrum, the study looked at the cars that averaged the fewest annual miles. Not surprisingly, these are sports cars that owners are likely to leave in the garage while they commute in something less glamorous. Chevrolet Corvette and Porsche 911 -- in both convertible and coupe versions --- lead the low-mileage list.
