It’s difficult to get a clear picture of just how reliable a vehicle is when its compared to others. When you spend thousands of dollars on something like a car, you want to know its longevity. While there are countless industry awards for dependability automakers love parade during commercials, the average consumer knows little of the criteria deciding which make and model is more reliable than others. That’s where a new study from iSeeCars.com comes into play, which looks at vehicles that have reached 200,000 miles or more on the odometer. And GM has four vehicles that made the top ten—the Chevrolet Suburban and Chevrolet Tahoe, as well as their GMC equivalents: the Yukon and Yukon XL.
The study analyzed 13.8 million pre-owned vehicles sold in 2018, from model years 1981 through 2018, that have 200,000 miles or more racked up on the odometer. The study determined the percentage of vehicles with 200,000 miles. While GM didn’t get top honors—that went to Toyota and its Sequoia SUV—it did have two vehicles in the top six. The Chevrolet Suburban took second place in the study with 5 percent of Suburbans sold in 2018 having 200,00 miles or more. The Tahoe took sixth with 3.8 percent of models sold in 2018 having 200,000 miles or more. The Sequoia had 7.5 percent of all models sold last year with at least 200,000 miles.
The study also looked at how these cars were grouped geographically, looking at the longest-lasting vehicle in the top 25 most populous cities. In Detroit, for example, the Suburban made up 7.5 percent of all cars with over 200,000 miles. Detroit was the only city where Chevrolet had a vehicle that was the top longest-lasting car.
Vehicle dependability is huge when buying a car. Next to a house, a vehicle is one of the most important and expensive purchases a person can make. It’s an investment even if its value depreciates by half when you stare at it for too long. What if you’re looking for a car that’ll last beyond 200,00 miles. Well, the study also looked at the percentage of vehicles with 200,000 miles that could reach 300,000 miles, and the pool is small. For example, only 0.2 percent of Chevy Suburbans will likely reach 300,000 miles.Â
Comments
I have owned 1 Suburban, 2 K5 Blazer’s, 4 Tahoe’s and 1 Yukon. I still own 4 of them now! ALL of them have been driven over 200,000 with the exception of the current Tahoe which sits at 130,000 miles. ALL had or still has the original engine . One Blazer and one Tahoe was wrecked while they were still daily drivers. 213,000 and 202,000 respectively when that happened. We towed with them, hauled with them, just drove them all the time. Did not baby them, change oil very 5,000-6,000 miles and rotated tires, flushed the coolant when we thought of it and they just keep going! I drive one every day! I actually like my Tahoe better than my pickup!
“Ford example”…?
The Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe, and GMC Yukon/Yukon XL are family SUVs made to last, no matter what generation of SUVs they are. The current generation GM SUVs have proven to be very reliable in my book, and I have high expectations for the all-new 2020 models being unveiled possibly next month at the NY Auto Show. Fingers crossed.
GM is superior to all others i have a 2001 tahoe wiht 330,000 on it and a 1999 chevy silverado with 288.879 on it and still rolling along no issues except normal repair
Your Tahoe and Silverado don’t have their original fuel pumps (not asking, stating a fact), replacement necessitates dropping the fuel tank = not a “normal repair” that would be required for Toyota to reach those kind of miles.
You’ve never even heard of a Ship of Theseus.
Get over yourself.
Really. This is newsworthy. 200,000 plus is the new normal for any vehicle that has had reasonable care and not abused.
My 88′ Chevy 2500 has over 200,000 and my 98′ S-10 has over 235,000. Both with original engines & transmissions.
A friend’s 2002 Miata has over 240,000 and still runs strong.
Most Lexus LS400’s, and later iterations, easily approach 4-500,000 miles, and some a lot more.
Vehicles are just that good now.
My 2003 Suburban 1500 LT has nearly 340,000 miles on it, original 5.3. I’ve changed two water pumps in all that time, which took me no more than an hour each time to change. I had to replace one throttle body, which took me no more than 40 minutes. Other than that, ONE set of iridium spark plugs @185,000, (that’s ALL it has needed), & one alternator. Replaced the serpentine, A/C belt, and both idler assemblies just this last fall. The idlers I replaced had been original. ALL else on the engine is original. I consider the LS-series engines easier to work on than the traditional (1955-early 1999) small block Chevies. I blew the 4L60-E transmission at 299,000 miles under normal use, took me a week in my spare time to rebuild it. I consider all of this normal attrition, no biggie. I’m planning on keeping this old tub for a winter vehicle and driving it until it has over 500,000 miles.
I have a 2007 suburban with 138000 on it it. Running great. Still have original fuel pump & exhaust. Which is saying alot for going through that many Cleveland winter’s. Plan on running it another 12 years. Pops worked at GM for 28 years. Uncle was there 40. Will not drive anything but GM. Keep up the good work. Say a prayer for the Lord’s town plant that just closed. Get those people back to work please GM.
Our 2003 Suburban had only one problem in 134,000 miles. It had something to do with the instrument panel and it cost around $100 to have it fixed. Our 2007 Suburban had one problem in 152,000 miles, an oil pressure sensor. Our 2013 has not had any problems yet, in almost 96,000 miles. It’s still like new. However, I always get my service from an authorized Chevrolet dealer. In my opinion, these guys have the most and best experience. Since I’m coming up on 85 in a few months, I’ve no idea if I’ll be around to have another ‘Burb. But, in my opinion, they’re the best drive around. They carry us and our trikes to the various bike trails and give us a good view of he road, making us and others, safer.
I have an 89 Suburban that still has the original 5.7 and 700R4. Love this beast. The body is starting to show it’s age (spent most of it’s life North of the Salt Belt), but it’s sitting at 467k (200k myself) miles and still going strong. Routine maintenance and replacing accessories on the engine are all that I’ve had to do in the past 5 years. While I love my Suburban it is true that most cars built today easily last until 200k. I would love to see a study on the cars that are over 400-500k.
PLEASE boast your high mileage GMs. It appears the import demographic mostly treats their cars with more care and are ready to tell you at any moment how many miles are on their car. American cars can certainly do the miles too, I have a 90 Deville that I drove as a teen has been raced chased crashed and it still kicking 188k miles original engine and it runs perfect. Ok I murdered the transmission but I take full responsibility for that. Either way it still lives.
Still running a 2001 Yukon with 321K miles on the same engine and tranny. That replaced a 1989 K-Blazer that I turned in with 263K miles. I needed a bigger rig for two additional kids back then, but I’d buy that truck again today with modern guts.
I had no real issues with my GM. Despite my main job is biology questions at https://studyhippo.com/campbell-chapter-10-mastering-biology-questions-flash-cards/ I dare to say that I prefer domestic cars over Japanese. Some folks would not understand this statement.
2002 chevy tahoe LT. 4WD
Had serious braking issues, scarie serious
195k major engine trouble
Very very heartbroken love interior
Pitiful no $$$$ to replace or rebuild
Dont understand why mine is toast
Any insight?
Yesterday we crossed 400,000 miles on our Green Beast, as our family calls it – our 2001 Suburban 1500. Bought it new. Have loved it everyday. Have taken good care of it and it has given back. I too wonder what percentage of Suburbans make it to this level of high mileage.
I have a 2002 Chevy Tahoe with over 340,000 miles on it. It still starts right up and has over 40psi oil pressure. No major issues.
I currently own a 2001 gmc yukon 5.3l with 260k on the odometer got it at 221k it was from an auction it had paint damage it runs so smooth you can hardly tell it’s even on oil pressure stays above 40 even at idle some idiot merged into me at 70 on the interstate so besides it being a bit beat up it’s in great shape I live in the dang thing it gets me to the odd jobs I can find I change the fluids religiously if I made more money I’d fix it up love it I’ll update you in about 6 months to let u know if it made over 300k I’m sure it will