Avoid These 7 Cars That Will Last You Only Half as Long as the Average Vehicle

Your car’s lifespan is affected by various factors, but, according to Progressive, conventionally lasts for 200,000 miles — and some can even last up to 300,000. However, some cars won’t even get you to 100,000 miles, costing you valuable time and money.

If you want the most bang for your buck, avoid these cars that last only half as long as the average vehicle.

Ranjeet Singh, the owner of Eco Autos, recommends steering clear of the Dodge Dart.

“Transmission issues are normally encountered in Dodge Darts among other engine and electric components faults. Being early occurring, these problems shorten their lifespan compared to those that are reliable,” Singh said.

CarLogos.org calls the Cruze “one of the worst vehicles ever made,” noting that one owner reported needing three automatic transmission replacements within just 70,000 miles.

The site said to avoid models from 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018.

“It’s adored for its unique design as well as handling, but Mini Cooper is infamous as far as high maintenance costs are concerned,” Singh said. “Problems like transmission failures or breakdowns of the cooling system or timing chain characterize it. This combination makes Minis shorter-lived.” 

CarLogos.org recommends avoiding the model years 2001 to 2012.

Fiat 500s have been known to suffer from engine explosions. The worst model years are 2012, 2014 and 2018, per CarLogos.org.

“The Fiat 500 is generally considered fashionable, but it has often had reliability-related problems, especially with its transmissions and electrical systems,” Singh said. “With parts wearing out faster, more frequent and costly repairs may frustrate the owner from going beyond 100,000 miles of driving the car.”

Altimas made before 2002 were high quality, but the quality has declined over the years, CarLogos.org reported. Common issues with newer models include blown head gaskets and a faulty automatic transmission.

“Considering that Nissan Altimas were once great, it’s doubly disappointing to see the decline in quality as a direct result of corporate greed and laziness,” the site states. “Nissan has already demonstrated that they know how to produce a quality vehicle and in these new-age models, they’re choosing not to.”

You might think a Jeep Wrangler can take some scrapes, but that’s not necessarily true.

“Jeep Wranglers often don’t make it past 100,000 miles,” said Ben Michael, director of Auto at Michael & Associates. “A big reason for this is because of the off-roading capabilities. It is certainly a great car for off-roading, but that doesn’t mean that kind of driving doesn’t affect the car. It can cause serious wear and tear that decreases its lifespan significantly.”

Different model years of the Chevrolet Colorado have been known to come with their own sets of issues.

The 2015 model has had issues including loss of power steering and engine misfires, Peddle.com reported. Models from 2004 to 2009 come with a laundry list of problems including engine stalling, contaminated power steering fluid, low fluid levels, damaged belts and power steering pumps, keys getting stuck in the ignition, braking problems and a faulty fuel level sensor.

Brooke Barley contributed to the reporting for this article.