How much do you love your car? Is it one of your most prized possessions or simply just a vehicle to get you from point A to B?
It's not easy to define "love" for a car, but when an original owner keeps a vehicle for 15 years or longer, it's safe to assume they're pretty happy with their ride. So, what are the cars that owners love most?
A study by iSeeCars analyzed over 929,000 cars to determine which ones have the highest percentage of original buyers who keep their cars 15 years or more, reflecting a high degree of satisfaction with quality, reliability and ownership costs.
The study looked at cars from model years 1981-2009 sold from January - September 2024. The percentage of cars sold by their original owners was calculated and used to rank each model. While the average length for new car ownership is approximately eight years, keeping a new vehicle for 15-plus years shows nearly double the devotion.
Among the top 13 models, Toyota accounts for seven – three of which are hybrids. Lexus, Toyota's luxury division, also makes an appearance on the list, giving the automaker a total of eight top-ranked cars.
"The functional, high-value nature of these models aligns with long-term ownership," iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer said in a statement. "If you're keeping a car for 15 or more years you want reliability, practicality and fuel efficiency, traits all of these cars offer."
These are the Most-Loved Cars in the U.S., along with the percentage of 15-plus years cars that are kept by the original owner:
1. Toyota Highlander Hybrid -- 7.0%
2. Toyota Camry Hybrid -- 6.9%
3. Toyota Highlander -- 6.6%
4. Toyota Tacoma -- 6.4%
5. Toyota Prius -- 6.3%
6. Honda CR-V -- 6.3%
7. Ford Escape Hybrid -- 6.3%
8. Toyota RAV4 -- 6.2%
9. Lexus IS 350 -- 5.8%
10. Nissan Versa -- 5.7%
11. Toyota Tundra -- 5.5%
12. Honda Ridgeline --5.5%
13. Subaru Forester -- 5.5%
The study also identified the "most-loved" or longest-kept auto brands -- and not one American brand made the list.
"Lexus is the only premium brand on the list, and only Asian brands appear on the list,” said Brauer. "As with the overall Most-Loved Vehicles list, these brands all represent high value and relatively low cost, with even Lexus offering models that undercut American and European luxury pricing."
These are the Most-Loved Car Brands in the U.S., along with the percentage of 15-plus years cars that are kept by the original owner:
1. Toyota -- 5.6%
2. Honda -- 5.3%
3. Lexus -- 4.4%
4. Mazda --4.3%
5. Hyundai -- 4.2%
6. Subaru -- 4.1%