Longevity of vehicles.

There have been an investigation about the longevity of vehicle brands here in Sweden, and the list is as follows where the distance is the average lifespan of a vehicle of respective brand. The list is for gasoline engine vehicles.

 

Seems like Subies are holding together pretty well.

 

[font=Courier New][i]Saab[/i]    135600km[/font]
[font=Courier New][i]Volvo   [/i]128350km[/font]
[font=Courier New][i]Audi    [/i]114170km[/font]
[font=Courier New][i]Subaru  [/i]106630km[/font]
[font=Courier New][i]VW    [/i]  105300km[/font]

I'm curious how Saab got on top? Is it due to Saab having limited production past couple years? I thought Volvo was the brand to drive there? What criteria was used? Cars over five years from licensing records?

 

Isn't 100,000 kilometers only 62,000 miles? That isn't very long. Are roads that bad?

Those lives do seem pretty short! Any coincidence that Saab and Volvo are the top of the list? I remember reading that Saab got purchased by someone and was going to be all electric vehicles or something like that - have they started producing yet?

 

I think the sort of folks that bought vehicles would have a big impact - a different cross section of the population buys Saab, Volvo, etc. then say Hyundai, I would say!

It's average numbers collected by a used car sales outfit.

 

This means that there are cars that have over 20k on them as well as cars with a lot less.

It's average numbers collected by a used car sales outfit.

 

This means that there are cars that have over 20k on them as well as cars with a lot less.

 

So it's not really longevity of the cars as much as mileage at trade in. More of an owner loyalty thing than life of car.

To some extent. But it's also comparable to the longevity - a car that don't work won't sell.

I remember reading that Saab got purchased by someone and was going to be all electric vehicles or something like that - have they started producing yet?

Saab was bought by National Electric Vehicle Sweden and will resume full on production towards the end of the year, but they made a couple test 9-3s a few weeks ago just to make sure the assembly line was functioning properly. Vehicles won't be electric despite the name (yet.)

To some extent. But it's also comparable to the longevity - a car that don't work won't sell.

 

Could also be how the term is applied in sweden as opposed to US. We look at longevity as the useful life of the car. Most cars last about 8-15 years here and get about 150-250K miles. Thanks for sharing your info though ehnils.

It's average numbers collected by a used car sales outfit.

Well that makes a lot more sense! (and certainly explains why the regional brands have superior owner loyalty!)

Yeah this list has nothing to do with reliability. Average ownership length could only have an indirect link to longevity at best. More like loyalty or a lack of a maker to put out new models that convince current owners to trade up. Which would explain Saab being on top. If you love Saabs...kind of difficult to get a new one.

Yeah this list has nothing to do with reliability. Average ownership length could only have an indirect link to longevity at best. More like loyalty or a lack of a maker to put out new models that convince current owners to trade up. Which would explain Saab being on top. If you love Saabs...kind of difficult to get a new one.

Yeah, plus the fact you might as well keep it since most dealers won't give much for Saabs.

Thanks for this ehsnils...

 

This highlights - on top of many other things - a cultural understanding of car use...

 

Here in Japan, for example, I am approaching my first year with my DIT Wagon and I am just about to crest 9.000 kms... barely broken in IMO...

 

By my previous Canadian driving standards this is ridiculous as I used to put between 4,000 and 5,000 kms per month on my cars...

 

In Japan we not only have less roads (kms) to drive & a superior public transportation system, we also have a monetarily prohibitive vehicle inspection ( shaken ) which must be performed after the first 3 years of a vehicles registration and then every 2 years after...

 

The kicker is that this inspection ( which includes some license and pollution based taxes and basic but mandatory government liability insurance ) costs between 1,500 usd and 2,500 usd not counting any repairs that may be required to meet the standard...

 

Keep your car 10 years in Japan and even if you drive and maintain it well you will ned to factor in another 8,000 to 10,000 usd onto the cost over the car's lifetime...

 

This is one of the reasons you will find that if you visit Japan you will find that 90% of the cars you will see on the road are less than 5 years old...

 

This Shaken also includes a check of aftermarket products / modifications that, if a safety or pollution control item, must have a government approved standards certificate... ALL aftermarket exhaust systems must have a gov. issued inspection certificate - and ALL the makers do have such a designation - no non-certified axle backs make it through so this is the reason I have not ordered Nameless deletes for my wagon...

 

Brand Loyalty is BIG BIG BIG here for everything car related - - I am running Kuhmo tires on my TW because I could buy them for a RIDICULOUSLY low price as they are "Korean" made and very hard to even give away here even though they are highly reviewed / rated in the US - when Bridgestone, Dunlop, Yokohama are National "PRIDE" brands even Michelins are frowned upon...

 

I am interested to hear what others have to say about their country's or state's driving CULTURE... Feel free to add you perspectives - I am most interested...

The modern day car lasts 50 to 100% longer than ever. When I was a kid if a car had a 100k on it we junked it. The average mileage of a ZJ/WJ/WK Jeep Grand Cherokee rolling thru my shop is about 130,000 miles.

 

Volvo's and Saabs are at the top of the list for a few reasons. One is superior corrosion resistance of the unibody structures, solid components (example was the iron used in the B20-B230 series engines was a machinists wet dream), and the fact the typical Saab/Volvo owner is willing to invest more in a higher mileage car not to mention these people typically maintain a vehicle better.

There's no doubt regulations, tax, culture, and transport infrastructure affect travel. In 2011 the American Census Bureau found that over 75% of people drive to work alone by car and fewer than 10% carpool. Public transport made up only a small part of the leftover percentage. Cars are a massive part of American culture and the "freedom" to go anywhere and do anything. Also our public transport infrastructure lags far behind that of other prosperous countries, and outside of the major cities distances are quite long. The US has a population density of only something like 86 people per square mile across the entire country.

 

 

Sent from a box in my pocket.

The entire country of Japan is the size of, what, Los Angeles?

The entire country of Japan is the size of, what, Los Angeles?

Don't be a pinhead - the population is a bit more than a third of that of the united states (also - LA is about 500 square miles and Japan is about 146,000 square miles, so it's a little bigger...)

The reason they only last 66k miles is because we get bored and want the newer Subies