If you’re in the market for a new vehicle, a recent study reveals the cars and SUVs that owners are most likely to keep for the long haul.
Of course, money expert Clark Howard says the best thing for your wallet is to buy a car that’s a few years old and let the first owner eat the depreciation cost.
But some people just can't resist the new car smell, so that's why we're sharing the results of this iSeeCars.com study.
Which vehicles are kept the longest? To find out, iSeeCars analyzed more than six million used vehicles sold by their original owners to determine the longest kept new vehicles.
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iSeeCars.com report: Ford, Chevy, Toyota and Honda make the list of cars that owners keep the longest
Here are some of the key findings from the iSeeCars study:
- Five of the top 10 are SUVs with standard or optional seating capacity of at least seven passengers
- The next common vehicle type is sedans, which had three models
- The second-ranked Corvette was the only sports car to make the top 10 list
"While the average car buyer gets rid of their car 7.4 years after purchasing it new, there is a wide variety of cars that owners are more likely to keep for longer," said iSeeCars CEO Phong Ly. "Many factors could contribute to a car's longevity such as its function as shown by the dominance of family vehicles, or because of a fondness of a timeless classic like the Chevrolet Corvette."
The average length of ownership for the top 10 models ranges from 8.3 to 9.0 years — or 10.9% to 20.9% longer than the overall average of 7.4 years.