Toyota tops iSeeCars list of brands likely to reach 250,000 miles

An iSeeCars study of nearly 400 million vehicles found that only four car brands give owners better-than-average odds of driving past 250,000 miles: Toyota, Lexus, Honda and Acura. All four are Japanese. Every other brand on the market, including luxury names built around performance, falls below the industry baseline.

• Toyota: 17.8% chance, 3.7 times the average brand
• Lexus: 12.8% chance, 2.7 times the average
• Honda: 10.8% chance, 2.3 times the average
• Acura: 7.2% chance, 1.5 times the average

The average car has just a 4.8% chance of reaching 250,000 miles, according to iSeeCars, which has run the analysis since 2013. That single figure is why the four Japanese brands stand apart from the field. Clearing the average at all puts a brand in thin company, and these are the only four makes that manage it. The rest of the industry trails behind, some of it by a wide margin.

Why Toyota sits at the top

Toyota holds 10 of the top 25 positions in the study, more than any other manufacturer. Its brand-wide rate of 17.8% runs nearly four times the industry average. The company's luxury division, Lexus, ranks second among all brands, followed by Honda and Honda's premium label, Acura, which fills the fourth and final above-average slot.

The single most durable model is the Toyota Sequoia, a full-size SUV carrying a 39.1% predicted chance of reaching the mark. That is more than eight times the average vehicle's odds. SlashGear, drawing on the same report, put the Sequoia's potential lifespan at around 296,000 miles, and cited CarEdge data showing only a 3% chance of major repairs after the first five years, with maintenance costs below the segment average.

Trucks feature heavily near the top of the list. The Toyota Tundra has a 30.0% predicted chance of reaching 250,000 miles, 6.3 times the average. iSeeCars puts its average lifespan at 205,284 miles, or 14.8 years on the road.

The engineering behind the numbers

Toyota's approach to the Tundra explains much of that record. The truck arrived in 1999 as the first full-size pickup built in North America by a Japanese automaker, following the smaller T100. The 5.7-liter V8 that carried it from 2007 to 2021 used sequential port injection rather than direct injection, and a forged steel crankshaft.

The 4.0-liter V6 that powered the 4Runner from 2010 to 2024 is among the longest-running engines Toyota has built, and owners of well-kept examples report 300,000 miles and more. The redesigned 2025 4Runner moved to Toyota's TNGA-F body-on-frame platform, shared with the Tundra, Sequoia and Tacoma, and dropped the V6 for a 2.4-liter turbo four and a hybrid. J.D. Power scored the 2025 model 83 out of 100 overall, a rating it bands as "Great," and third in the upper-midsize SUV segment.

Hybrids are climbing the rankings quickly. Five hybrid models made the top 25 in the 2025 study, up from three a year earlier and none in 2023. The Toyota Highlander Hybrid carries a 31.0% predicted chance of reaching 250,000 miles, third among all models.

Lexus carries the luxury side of the argument. The brand posts a 12.8% chance across its full lineup, which iSeeCars calls the most durable luxury maker in the study, roughly four times more likely to reach 250,000 miles than the typical premium brand. Four Lexus models sit in the top 25, behind only Toyota's 10 models and Honda's five, a striking result for a maker known for comfort rather than ruggedness.

How the models stack up

The rankings within each brand show where the durability concentrates. Full-size SUVs and pickups take most of the top spots, though a handful of sedans and hybrids appear too. SUVs alone fill nearly half of the top 25, and seven sedans from the same four brands make up the second most common body style. The figures below come from the iSeeCars study and its related model breakdowns.

The Lexus IS is the standout sedan, ranked fifth overall and first among passenger cars, with a 27.5% predicted chance of reaching 250,000 miles. That is 5.7 times the all-vehicle average and more than twice the Toyota Prius, which landed 15th overall at 12.2%.

The Lexus GX ranks eighth overall and fourth among SUVs at 18.3%, trailing only three Toyota relatives. The 2026 GX550 makes 349 horsepower from a 3.4-liter twin-turbo V6 and can tow up to 9,096 pounds. The RX Hybrid, at 17%, shows luxury hybrids can last.

Honda places five models in the top 25. The Ridgeline midsize pickup has a 14.7% predicted chance of reaching 250,000 miles, the Pilot crossover 13.1%, the Odyssey minivan 13.0% and the Civic 10.9%. The three larger models share one unibody platform.

The Accord sits lower than its reputation suggests, ninth among passenger cars at 8.8%, behind the Civic. Acura, Honda's luxury division, rounds out the four above-average brands at 7.2%, or 1.5 times the average.

What the durability costs upfront

Longevity is priced into these cars from the start. CarPro noted that Toyota and Honda hold strong resale value partly because the market recognizes their staying power, so buyers pay more up front but recover value later. The Sequoia's maintenance costs run below its segment average, and its odds of a major repair stay low.

iSeeCars does not attribute the gap to engineering. Brauer said the weaker showing among luxury brands "is more a reflection on how their owners use them, which is less aggressively than mainstream vehicles, versus being a reflection on how well they are, or aren't, built." What the data does show is consistency: Toyota and Honda rank at the top alongside their luxury divisions, across very different price points.

A study of nearly 400 million cars

iSeeCars built the ranking by analyzing odometer readings across almost 400 million vehicles, one of the largest studies of its kind in the industry. It calculates the share of each model still on the road at 250,000 miles, then compares that with the 4.8% average. The analysis has run since 2013 and is now among the most detailed in the automotive field.

The top-ranked Toyota Sequoia is truly impressive. With a 39.1% predicted chance to reach 250,000 miles, the Sequoia is more than eight times as likely to hit that milestone as the average vehicle.

Brauer tied the findings to prices. High costs for new and used cars can discourage shoppers, he said, but a careful choice can return a lot of years and miles from a single purchase.

What keeps these cars running

Reaching 250,000 miles still comes down to upkeep. TopSpeed reported that with regular oil changes and basic servicing, Toyota owners treat passing 250,000 miles as more of a milestone than a challenge. The engineering sets the ceiling, but neglected maintenance can pull any car well below it, regardless of the badge on the hood or the figures in a survival study.

Honda's Maintenance Minder system schedules service by measured oil life rather than fixed mileage. Its main codes and intervals, from Honda's own maintenance schedule, are below.

• Code A signals an oil change when oil life reaches 15%
• Code B adds an oil filter change and a general inspection
• Tire rotation is sub-code 1, not part of code B
• Brake fluid needs replacing every three years, regardless of mileage

The brake fluid interval is not tied to any dashboard alert, which is why it is the item most often missed on high-mileage cars.

Where the odds are lowest

At the other end of the scale, several brands rarely get close. iSeeCars shows Jaguar, Mini and Maserati at less than 0.1%, with Land Rover at 0.1%. Ram sits at 0.7 times the average. Its Ram 3500 tops the truck table at 39.7%, but that figure comes from a separate heavy-duty ranking that the brand number excludes.