Camry is the car most frequently traded in for Malibu

Today I went to get a smog check at a "Test Only" smog station in California. After ten years, you often get a renewal notice that directs you to a "Test Only" station where the smog check is more thorough (they claim 15% of vehicles are selected at random), but I've been one of the unlucky few twice in a row!). I noticed that all the other vehicles waiting to be smogged were Toyotas (there was a long wait because this station had just had a coupon offer of $39.75 which is very cheap for a test-only smog check).

I asked the technician about why Toyotas seemed to be singled out for this unwanted special treatment, and he said that few other vehicles last long enough to require a smog check at a test-only station!

Fortunately, there's a Taiwanese snack food/pearl tea drink place across the street from the station, so I could enjoy some fried squid and a pearl drink while I was waiting.

Of course an alternate explanation is that the vehicles selected are not selected at random, and the CARB is aware that Toyotas turn into a smoke pollution belching heaps after ten years, so they selectively target them.....I know not true, but just as valid as claiming that Toyota's are the only vehicles that last long enough for the ten year smog check.

I'll wager you this - if you set at the intersection of Glenwood and Wade in Raleigh NC, and count ten year old vehicles for a week, you will count far more 10 year old Crown Vics than ten year old Camrys, despite the fact that in 1998 Camrys probably outsold Crown Vics 10 to 1 in Raleigh. I see very few 10 year old Camry's around here and most of the ones I do see aren't anything I'd be interested in driving. I did see one thing that surprised me twice this week on the drive to work - an original Honda Accord hatchback in cherry condition. It looked exactly like the 1980 Accord my sister owned, well except it didn't have any rust holes, it wasn't smoking, and the muffler was actually off the ground. I was very impressed. I have no idea how the car was kept in such good condition. I thought they all rusted away

If you could actually afford to pay for the data, RL Polk probably could tell you the percentage of ten year old vehicles of each model that are still on the road. Nobody publishes this data for free (at least as far as I can find). One interesting tidbit I saw on the RL Polk Website is that GM (as a corporation) has much better brand loyalty than Toyota (as a corporation). Toyota as a brand does better than any single GM brand, but not as an overall manufacturer.

Ed

LOL, I guess Raleigh is _very_ different than California. Sometimes my kids and I trick my wife by walking up to an identical Camry that's not ours. There's just a gazillion third generation Camrys around (1992-1996). They last forever, unlike Hondas the paint doesn't fall off after eight years, and cars don't rust out here of course. The emissions results after 12 years were still very low. 1/6th to 1/5th the maximum levels. No special treatment, just oil changes every 5K. Average yearly non-scheduled maintenance of about $75 per year over the last 12 years, with $800 of the $900 for shocks and struts earlier this year. They could send the Camry into battle as a tank.

I don't know about Crown Vics. Except for police cars, I've never seen one privately owned out here.