10 Overlooked American Cars That Were Built For Longevity – TopSpeed

American cars have often been criticized for their perceived lack of reliability, and for good reason during certain eras. Ford, for instance, earned the infamous ‘Found On Road Dead’ label due to issues like timing chain and transmission failures in some of their older models.

General Motors vehicles, while generally more reliable than their Ford counterparts, often faced criticism for their interiors, which were sometimes seen as lacking in style and quality. However, this is not to say that American cars of these decades were entirely without merit.

As you’ll find out in this article, there were certainly standout models from the 1990s that defied expectations. By the 2000s, American automakers began to significantly improve the reliability and overall quality of their vehicles. Despite these advancements, the reputation for unreliability can still linger, often hard to shake—even for brands like Land Rover, which, despite their strides, never fully regained public trust.

Related

The Best 5-Year-Old Mid-Size Sedans To Buy Ranked By Price

If you’re in the market for a used sedan, one of these five-year-old examples could work well for you.

10

2000 Saturn SL

Highest Mileage Recorded: 147,000 miles

Truthfully, there is nothing entirely remarkable about the Saturn SL series from a design standpoint. From a longevity point, however, it is a robust piece of machinery that will get you from A to B without a problem. According to RepairPal, it’s also incredibly frugal from a maintenance standpoint, with only $290 annually to speak of.

Performance Specifications

The SL came in several varieties and flavors to choose from, and even a wagon variant. It also came with either a five-speed manual transmission listed above or a four-speed automatic. It also has incredible fuel economy, with 29 miles per gallon in the city and 40 miles per gallon on the highway.

9

2004 Pontiac Bonneville

Highest Mileage Recorded: 167,383 miles

The Pontiac Bonneville was one of the longest-standing nameplates for the now-foregone General Motors brand. It unfortunately was discontinued before the brand collapsed in 2008. What started out life as a mid-size sedan eventually made its way to being a full-size family sedan.

Performance Specifications

The final generation had a dynamic, driver-focused cabin with a multi-functional steering wheel and a CD player. What made it so reliable is the sheer fact that it had a base engine featuring the almighty 3800 V-6 that could weather any storm.

8

2015 Chevrolet Malibu

Highest Mileage Recorded: 189,765 miles

The Chevrolet Malibu is the last Chevrolet sedan to make it to the production line, but is also a fairly iconic and longstanding nameplate. The 2015 model came with two four-cylinder engines with either a 2.0-liter or 2.5-liter displacement.

Performance Specifications

Because it is one of the more modern vehicles on this list, we were able to find that J.D. Power gave the 2015 Malibu an overall score of 84. It scored a whopping 92 out of 100 for quality and reliability. It also gets up to 36 miles per gallon on the highway.

Related

The Best 5-Year-Old Mid-Size Sedans To Buy Ranked By Price

If you’re in the market for a used sedan, one of these five-year-old examples could work well for you.

7

2003 Buick LeSabre

Highest Mileage Recorded: 216,000 miles

The final, eighth-generation Buick LeSabre is one for the history books. It was one of the first modern-day Buick’s to feature the Series II 3800. An iconic engine that is well known to stand the test of time and well past 250,000 miles.

Add TopSpeed to your Google News feed.

Performance Specifications

While the four-speed automatic transmission might not always be the smoothest, it is still a pretty reliable one. IIHS applauded the LeSabre for being an incredibly safe vehicle, as well as scoring “good” in almost every category.

6

2010 Ford Taurus

Highest Mileage Recorded: 205,000 miles

In another recent modern entry, we found a 2010 Ford Taurus with 205,000 miles on it. It’s powered by a 3.5-liter V-6 that achieves 18 miles per gallon in the city and 28 miles per gallon on the highway. It scored 84 out of 100 on J.D. Power’s reliability score as well.

Performance Specifications

Quality and reliability scored high too, with 85 out of 100. Not to mention, people loved to drive it, with 93 out of 100. From an annual maintenance standpoint, the Taurus comes in at a very reasonable $630 annually according to RepairPal.

5

1999 Mercury Grand Marquis

Highest Mileage Recorded: 300,000 miles

Although you might not be able to find these on the road much in comparison to the Ford Crown Victoria’s, the Mercury Grand Marquis are some of the most reliable out there. We found an earlier 1999 model with well over 300,000 miles.

Performance Specifications

Albeit a different generation, the 2007 Grand Marquis scored 81 out of 100 for overall reliability according to J.D. Power. According to RepairPal, it will cost you around $527 annually for maintenance. While subtly simple, the 1999 Grand Marquis’ interior does have an automatic climate control system.

Related

10 Underrated Luxury Sedans That Are Definitely Worth Buying

There are many popular luxury sedans in the market, but not all of them are popular. Here are 10 underrated sedans that deserve more attention.

4

1994 Chevrolet Caprice Classic

Highest Mileage Recorded: 300,000 miles

The 1994 Chevrolet Caprice Classic Wagon had two different powertrains to choose from, either a 4.3-liter or 5.7-liter V-8 that offered an astonishing 5,000 pounds of total towing capacity. According to RepairPal, it has a pretty high annual maintenance cost of around $1,300.

Performance Specifications

The Caprice has an incredibly spacious and comfortable interior, with either cloth or leather seat options. Because it is such a large car with an equally large V-8 engine, the Caprice did well in fuel economy. It scored 18 in the city and 26 on the highway.

3

1998 Dodge Neon

Highest Mileage Recorded: 446,000 miles

We were shocked to find that a Dodge Neon made it this far, as they were not always known for their longevity. We might guess that the one that lasted that long had the five-speed manual transmission as opposed to the three-speed automatic, as it wasn’t as doomed to fail.

Performance Specifications

Typically, smaller engines that are fuel efficient, like the Neon, are known to last longer too, as they are inexpensive to maintain and won’t suffer engine wear as easily. Unfortunately, according to IIHS, it’s not the safest when it comes to a crash.

2

2003 Ford Crown Victoria

Highest Mileage Recorded: 1 million miles

If there’s one thing about the Ford Crown Victoria’s, they were built to last. They had to be engineered to withstand long-term engine use, as they were predominately used as police cruisers in the early 2000s. This pushrod V-8 has an annual maintenance cost of $1,081.

Performance Specifications

The Ford Crown Victoria has an incredibly economical interior, but does sometimes feature an automatic climate control system. It came with either cloth or leather-trimmed seats and a CD player. It scored decently well with IIHS in terms of crash testing.

2:34

Related

Top 10 Used Powerful Sedans That Worth Every Penny Although Very Underrated

Combining speed, style and uniqueness here’s a look at ten underrated used sports sedans that deserve a second look.

1

1983 Lincoln Town Car

Highest Mileage Recorded: 1.5 million miles

One of the more classic features on this list also happens to be the one with the highest miles overall. The Lincoln Continental Town Car got its start in the late 1950s, with the 1981 generation starting to look more like the modern version.

Performance Specifications

This version still has specification numbers that mirror vehicles from the 1960s and 1970s, in terms of having less horsepower but more torque. The person who owned the vehicle is the only person that did for thirty years and individually put that many miles on the vehicle.