Are you looking for a used vehicle that stands a good chance of sticking around for a while. Say, maybe for one million miles? You might want to consider the Lexus CT 200h, a hybrid hatchback that Lexus offered for one generation in North America, from 2011 to 2017.
Why do we pick out that particular model, and that particular distance. Because one owner of such a car has just passed the million-mile mark, which means he’s driven it 1.6 million km. In just 10 years.
How’s that? The vehicle’s owner, Texas resident Nader Assaad, makes long-distance deliveries every day, and regularly covers the equivalent of 500 km a day, and sometimes 800. He chose the CT 200h not only for its practicality, but also because of its hybrid configuration, which reduces fuel consumption. It's easy to maintain an average of between 5.0L and 5.5L/100 km with this vehicle.
One particularly interesting element that relates to the hybrid powertrain, is that the engine cuts in and out frequently, making its durability all the more remarkable. It's often said that Toyota's hybrid technology is the most proven on the market. Here's the proof.
One particularly interesting element that relates to the hybrid powertrain, is that the engine cuts in and out frequently, making its durability all the more remarkable. It's often said that Toyota's hybrid technology is the most proven on the market. Here's the proof.
Assaad shared his maintenance program and the repairs carried out on his vehicle on a Facebook group dedicated to vehicles with higher-than-normal mileage.
We learn from that that he regularly rotates tires, changes fluids and replaces the air filter and spark plugs at the intervals recommended by his local Lexus dealership in Houston, Texas.
And the hybrid system's battery? It's been replaced once, which isn't too bad. The cylinder head gaskets have also been changed, twice in 10 years. The water pump, thermostat, front left wheel ball bearing, oil filter housing and shock absorbers have all also been changed twice.
The only thing that no longer works is the odometer, which stopped at 999,999 miles. According to the Lexus dealer, it needs to be reprogrammed to return to zero.
Otherwise, we don't know how many thousands or millions of miles Nader Assaad intends to cover with his CT200h, but at the rate things are going, we could be talking about a two-million-mile model in 10 years' time.
