Is Toyota Sequoia the Most Reliable Vehicle Ever?

photo: Jason Lawrence

Everybody wants a vehicle that does its job, day in and day out. That's obvious. Nobody wants to be stuck on the shoulder trying to figure out why his car has stopped running. Drivers are fortunate because most vehicles built in the last 15 years or so are incredibly reliable up to about 100,000 miles. Only minor problems arise at fewer miles, typically, and they're often covered by a warranty.

It's when drivers go upwards of that 100K miles that reliability really becomes a question. A/C systems start failing, transmissions start slipping and eventually the engine itself gets damaged. If you want to delay major engine and transmission problems as long as possible, one study says you should consider driving a Toyota Sequoia.

A study by Consumer Reports found the vehicles that are most likely to reach 200K miles without the need for expensive repairs, but the study didn't mention how rarely this happens. We estimate, based on data found in other studies, that vehicles lasting 200K miles and never needing a major repair make up less than a half of a percent of all vehicles. You're just not likely to be that lucky.

For information that is a little more relevant, let's look at a ranking by iSeeCars. It simply lists the models that are most likely to still be on the road with 200K or more miles on their odometers. It turns out 6.6% of Toyota Sequoias on the road have reached that milestone. That rate is higher than any other vehicle. The list goes like this:

Toyota Sequoia: 6.6%
Ford Expedition: 5.4%
Chevrolet Suburban: 5.2%
Toyota 4Runner: 4.2%
GMC Yukon XL: 3.9%
Chevrolet Tahoe: 3.8%
GMC Yukon: 2.8%
Toyota Tacoma: 2.6%
Toyota Avalon: 2.4%
Honda Odyssey: 2.4%
Average for all models: 1.2%

As you can see, the average rate of reaching 200K is 1.2%. That means the Sequoia is more than 5 times as likely to reach it than the average vehicle. It's 22% more likely to reach 200K than the next-most-likely vehicle, the Ford Expedition.

What if you want a new, untested generation of Sequoia? You know that when automakers refresh their models, things can go wrong. That's a very valid point. It happened with the 2016 Toyota Tacoma. It happens a lot, but the Sequoia doesn't get updated much. Since 2000, there have only been two generations of it. The newest Sequoia received a "facelift" but no major changes to the engine, transmission or technology. It's fair to assume even the newer versions of this full-size SUV will last a long time, maybe even reach the 200K mile mark.

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