When do cars die, and what kills them?

Over at TheTruthAboutCars.com, Steven Lang has posted an interesting analysis based on the percentage of trade-ins with over 150,000 miles on the clock. The assumption: the higher the percentage of trades with so many miles, the more durable the model.

A rough analysis, to be sure, but it does mean something that Hondas and Toyotas seem more likely to last so long. It doesn’t hurt these the brands retain their value better as very old cars, so it takes a more expensive problem to kill them. But how much is this a cause, and how much an effect?

On the flip side, a member reported today that he had junked a 2001 Chrysler minivan with 98,000 miles because it had problems that would cost too much to repair.

What we really want to know, of course, is how long a given car is likely to last, and perhaps what problem is most likely to finally kill it. Going further, perhaps also whether better maintenance would have extended the life of the car.

Here at TrueDelta, most of the cars in the panel are too young to answer this question. But an increasing number are older, and we’re getting to the point where this information might be provided.

So, look for some mortality stats in the future.