There was some discussion among the commenters about the over-representation of trucks and commercial vehicles in my first post. The reason for the preponderance of trucks in high mileage vehicles boils down to mission: The purpose of a truck is to carry stuff, while the purpose of a car is to carry people. A high mileage truck is simply more capable of fulfilling its intended function so long as it runs than a high mileage automobile.
But we are not here to talk about trucks today. JP Cavanaugh among others pointed out the lack of American cars on my first list, so armed only with a web browser I decided to seek out the highest mileage American branded cars for sale in the US. While these posts are fun to read and write , I believe that there are deeper truths that can be gleaned from these geriatric cars, especially if we are looking to get a car for ourselves with the highest potential for maximum life.
Take this Focus: As a model, it represents the tail end of the first-generation Focus. This seems to be a common characteristic of high-mileage cars I have seen: They are often from late in the production run, when most of the issues have been sorted out. Several other cars on this list are from late in their production runs. In researching this post, I have come away impressed with just how durable the interiors of modern vehicles are.
Sure, these high mileage cars are dirty and worn, but seldom do I see a torn seat, broken hardware, a sagging headliner, or other signs of aging that were common a generation ago. It is amazing what a good detailing and a wide camera shot will do to a car.
Heck, it could be mistaken for brand new! Or is it? I often wonder what kind of logic goes into pricing the ultra-high mileage cars. Maybe the reasoning it that because it has survived this long that it has somehow developed some sort of immunity to failure? If so, then this is flawed logic. Any financial advisor will tell you that past performance is no indication of future gain.
