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Toyota hybrid owners keep their cars for a really long time, study shows

In general, owners of hybrid cars are 1.6 times more likely to keep their car for eight years. Tesla Model S owners also fall outside the norm.

Sean Szymkowski
It all started with Gran Turismo. From those early PlayStation days, Sean was drawn to anything with four wheels. Prior to joining the Roadshow team, he was a freelance contributor for Motor Authority, The Car Connection and Green Car Reports. As for what's in the garage, Sean owns a 2016 Chevrolet SS, and yes, it has Holden badges.
Sean Szymkowski
2 min read
2012 Toyota Prius
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2012 Toyota Prius

The love is strong with Toyota hybrids, clearly.

Toyota

Chances are better than average that if you spot an older hybrid vehicle, the original owner remains behind the wheel. At a time when swapping to and from leases and trading cars in early is common, the fact that Toyota owners hold onto their hybrids for a longer period of time is significant.

Where do we find this information? Thanks to a new study from iSeeCars, which looked at 900,000 used cars from the 2012 and 2013 model years sold this year, we know Toyota hybrid owners are much more likely to keep their cars. Of the 900,000 used cars sold this year, the study dug into specific hybrid and electric vehicles, and when it came to the Toyota Highlander Hybrid, the original owner sold a whopping 38% of them.

The love for Toyota hybrids flows through the next five cars on the list, too. The Avalon Hybrid places second with 36.5% of them sold by original owners, then the Camry Hybrid at 34.6%. The Lexus ES 300h (Toyota's luxury division) comes next at 31.1% and then it's back to Toyota proper with the at 30.5%. The streak ends with Lexus RX 450h with the first owners selling 29.8%.

To put those percentages into perspective, consider the Nissan Leaf. When perusing through all the data for the Leafs sold this year, only 7.3% of them came from the original owner. And overall, the average percentage of cars sold in 2020 by the original owner is just 16.8%. Clearly, Toyota hybrid owners commit for the long haul. That's not a bad thing since a hybrid continues to provide a greater return on investment (when it comes to fuel expenses) as time marches on. They're often pricier to start, but savings at the pump compound over time.

Aside from Toyota's near lock on the electrified cars list, the Tesla Model S also stuck out. Owners are 1.4 times more likely to be original owners when selling their luxury EV in 2020 with 23.6% of them coming from the first owner. It's no secret a lot of Tesla owners are big fans of their cars and the company they come from.

The 2020 Toyota Prius still looks like a spaceship

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Watch this: Take a look at the best electrified cars, from Prius to Model 3