These Are The Cars You'd Buy Today To Last 250,000 Miles

If i could pick ANY car i would pick the lucid air because that car is freakin sweet and drving that for 250,000 miles sounds amazing. If i had to pick any car i could actually afford I would pick a prius or lexus ux hybrid.

Suggested by bassracerx

Any car can last 250k miles, it just depends on how much you’re willing to spend on maintenance. You see a lot of old german cars still on the road not because of their ‘reliability,’ but because of their desireability, people like them and are willing to put up with their bullshit and spend money to keep them running. If it were me, I’d buy an S-Class, lightly used to avoid worst depreciation. It will hold value and make it worthwile to keep it going, it has a lot of amenities and is very safe so you won’t feel like you absolutely need to upgrade, its a nice car to drive, decently cool, and a conservative design that means they don’t change that much year over year, it still will fit in at a nice restaurant or neighborhood whether it’s 15 or 50 years old.

Suggested by Schem

I bought a Ford Maverick Hybrid last May and I’m on track to put 15,000 miles on it in the first year. There’s a decent chance I’ll need to replace the hybrid battery before 250,000 miles, but with that I’m confident I could get 300,000 miles out of it over 20 years.

Suggested by Erik Maas

Volvo V60 Cross Country. Super comfortable, powerful enough, handles pretty well for a tall heavy wagon, looks great, and easily gets me pretty far off the beaten path, along with our dog, our friend and our stuff. Have taken my 2021 on many road trips over the past 2 years, and racked up just about 50k miles so far, so hitting 250k before I finally go electric is not out of the question.

That said, I wouldn’t buy anything today that I would want to own for 15-20 years, as I want to get off fossil fuels and an EV (or hydrogen) far sooner than that, but am not ready to pull the trigger on today’s offerings and infrastructure.

Suggested by Recovering Saabaholic

I trust that I’ll always be able to find parts for a Porsche — they bank on the fact that most of their cars ever built are still on the road — so that’s what I’ve done.

Suggested by TheSchrat

The short answer is, based on the way the question was asked. I would probably take a gamble on the Kia EV9 being good enough and go with it.

That decision is not because I think it’ll be amazingly reliable, it’s because it’s the only, or at least one of the only vehicles that I think would absolutely still be relevant on American roads and to me personally, and is from a company big enough and stable enough that I think they will definitely be around with good parts and service availability.

If we remove ‘what if I end up having like 4 kids’ as a concern, I’d go for the Ioniq 5 instead.

Suggested by Connor

Toyota Prius, there will be a battery change at some point though

Suggested by Scott the Stagehand

Honda Goldwing. Super reliable, already regularly make it to 250-300k, plenty of parts availability, and a great aftermarket. Plus, it’s a comfortable enough bike to be riding in 20 years when your joints are getting a little rough.

Suggested by BartyDeCanter

Entry level Mazda MX-5 equipped with manual transmission. Great reliability, tons of part/repair support for the DIY-ers, low cost of maintenance, and it’s always the answer. K.I.S.S principle.

Suggested by debo5709

Toyota Corolla hatchback.

Suggested by FriscoFairlane

2023 Chrysler 300C. It’s a bit low tech compared to newer cars (current gen dates back to 2015, which was a mild refresh of the 2011 redesign). Powertrain is proven, Uconnect is works well. Lots of parts availability.

My family has had some great high mileage cars from Mopar (whether owned by Chrysler, DiamlerChrysler, FCA, Stellantis). 1977 Dodge Aspen wagon (34 years, 360K miles), 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 (totaled via accident after 24 years and 460K miles), 2006 Dodge Magnum SRT8 (still going at 232K miles). Take care of them and they will last.

Suggested by Sucker for a ‘23 300C (formerly Magnum_SRT8)

2024 Honda Ridgeline. It’s a pretty good buy in today’s market, a great all-arounder that you’ll be happy living with day-to-day for the next 20 years, reliability to back up the longevity, great ride, decent mpg for what it is, one of the best for ice/snow conditions, one of the safest, etc.

Suggested by Grasscatcher2

Starting to shop around for a new car now, looks like I’ll end up settling on a Mazda CX-5 as the most tolerable option. No major problem areas, and nice enough I shouldn’t despise it in 10 or 15 years.

Suggested by Maymar

A Prevost XL chassis motor home with the Detroit series 60 which is a million mile chassis and engine.

Preferably a liberty coach that retains the bus air to keep everything cool/warm going down the road. no slide outs, riveted panels, Cruise air units below.

Suggested by ikaiyoo

Toyota/Lexus body on frame SUV. One of mine has 350,000, the other is at 200,000 and i have zero concerns about it making it to 250,000. Land Cruiser, GX, 4Runner, LX, etc. If its a model made in Japan, you can count on it going the distance. Tundra, Tacoma, sequoia and other American/Mexican made models come in second place.

Suggested by HammerheadFistpunch

The least mechanical complex and with the smallest number of electronic nannies possible. Less stuff to break down means more years of serviceability.

I’d go for a Lada Niva Legend. These things are tanks, are easy to service and easy to adapt pretty much any part to fit.

Suggested by edu-petrolhead

My dad has a mexican built Sentra and it has like 300k+ miles on it and has had few problems. I think maybe I would get a manual versa if you can still get them and if they are still made in mexico.

Suggested by zed-patrol