Vehicle mileage

[Bren]

Looking around at secondhand cars it would appear that the mileage does not seem to be going down, despite the exorbitant cost of running a car.

 

I know that many cars are company vehicles, however despite there being a downturn in the economy there are tons of high mileage vehicles for sale.

 

Plenty of 5-6 year old cars with well over 100k on the clock. But not many bargains.

[Bobthebeard]

Mileage not as important on 'newer' cars as it used to be possibly? Most cars made after 1990 will handle high mileages better than older stuff. If they have been looked after of course.....Hence the values?

[Taff]

don't know if it helps you or not, but my old company car was a 59 plate Accord, top spec, went in P/X against my current car and the dealer gave us £7K for it with 110,000 miles and a dealer FSH.

 

Baring a little wear to the drivers seat bolster and a kerbed alloy, it looked as good as new after Ukarniancarwash.com had worked their magic on it

[Norbert]

That in itself could be a sign of the times of course. 2 possibilities:

 

1) People who do 20K/year and who previously would have got shot of a car at 3yrs/60K now hang on for 5yrs/100K+ and get out into a new car before their luck changes, having heard tales of OMGEverythingFailure past that mileage on modern stuff (particularly electronics or emissions-reducing shenanigans)

 

2) People who previously had a good job nice and locally get laid off and the only comparable jobs are bloomin' miles away. I commute 35 miles each way each day and I'm by no means the champion commuter in my place - in fact I'm probably mid-table at best - people are willing to travel insane distances for a decent position despite the previously-mentioned huge cost of getting anywhere.

[cms206]

My colleague bought a brand spanking new Aygo ten weeks ago and it's already at 3k miles; my 26 year old 740 is only on 152k, the 17 year old 940 on 128k.

 

I did put 58k on a brand new Focus 1.6 auto between 2004-7, but the two Fords that followed it left on 38k and 26k for the same period. Even Motability allow 20k a year on leasing deals.

[Bren]

That in itself could be a sign of the times of course. 2 possibilities:

 

1) People who do 20K/year and who previously would have got shot of a car at 3yrs/60K now hang on for 5yrs/100K+ and get out into a new car before their luck changes, having heard tales of OMGEverythingFailure past that mileage on modern stuff (particularly electronics or emissions-reducing shenanigans)

 

2) People who previously had a good job nice and locally get laid off and the only comparable jobs are bloomin' miles away. I commute 35 miles each way each day and I'm by no means the champion commuter in my place - in fact I'm probably mid-table at best - people are willing to travel insane distances for a decent position despite the previously-mentioned huge cost of getting anywhere.

 

I concur with number 2 - however generally wages have been hammered to the point where sometimes a modest commute simply is'nt worth it.

[Anglevan]

I do a fair bit of miles. Have a 63 plate focus that has 23,000 on that's 6 months old. My car tends to be swapped every 2 years and goes back with usually 90k on. In comparison my capri has done 6,000 in 12 years of my ownership and my wife's fiesta has done 3,000 in a year which is a record for her !

[plasticvandan]

I do 180 miles a week on a Honda c90,I can't afford to run a car doing that many miles

[lisbon_road]

I recently had to sell a VW Touran 54 plate 171K miles.  Very hard to sell.  It wasn't a good car, though it drove well and was very clean inside.  I could therefore advertise it honestly as blemished outside but otherwise ok.  It seemed to be wearing rear tyres on the inside and some other stuff I wasn't sure about.

 

My point?  The punters ringing up were not keen.  Just too high miles and too much risk so they all wanted a real bargain.

 

I agree with the jobs miles away stuff. I work 120 miles away so stay there during the week in a variety of digs.  Chance of a job 36 miles from home now, sigh, but have to take it if it is offered.  And cars are lasting longer than our old shite did.

 

Some people do well buying in professional auctions like Mannheim, where cars are graded and carry a very short guarantee.

[Hendry]

My cars a 59 plate reg'd 30.09.09 and had done 17,684 miles when I got it on 06.04.12 and I bought it over another car for its low mileage, its now done 45,250 which is about 18K below average for year but still seems high to me for a 59.

 

I remember with previous cars I deliberately used to try and and use them as little as possible so the mileage was low when I traded the car in so that it'd more likely be retailed by the garage I was trading into for a new car rather than auctioned so hopefully I'd get more for it, now I just think fuck it ill use it whenever I want otherwise Theres no point having a car, just as well as I now do a 35 mile round trip to work as opposed to 15 before.

[Pillock]

My 09 Focus is on 102k now, done 50k in 18 months.

 

Our company vehicles used to be on 2 year lease but now they get a replacement ordered at 85k which means they're normally about 90k on handover, it's just the 6-digits which seem to carry more of a stigma than age.

 

I don't relish the task of getting shot of mine when I've paid it off in 2 years time, nudging 200k.....

[mercrocker]

Lifestyles have changed and increased average mileages considerably.   Extended school runs to gain a "better" placement, extended families necessitating lengthy round trips between ex-partners with the kids and as mentioned above a changing job market.   The roads are  bloody chaos around my way just about all the time now and I rarely drive within a 5 mile radius preferring to walk or ride my treader.  

[Squire_Dawson]

I walk or cycle locally as and when poss., and use the car for the longer runs. We get people driving 1/4 mile up to the shop, madness.