High mileage

[sierraman]

How high a mileage would put you off a car if you were buying it? Myself I'd probably go up to 150k so long it had history.

[danthecapriman]

I couldn't care less about mileage. To me, condition is everything. You can have a car that's high miles but solid, rust free and runs well but then a car that's low miles could be rotten and full of problems due to lack of use.

[Lacquer Peel]

I owned Richard's old Volvo 945 TD for a while which had over 200k on the clock and drove well, I still see it about and it was up to 225k at the last MOT test.

I'm firmly of the opinion that a well-maintained high mileage car is a better bet than buying a low mileage car at any cost.

[garbaldy]

Mileage doesn't bother me at all,

I've had a Passat with 480 thousand on it and a 305 that had managed 800 thou.

[spike60]

Depends on price and age. I tend to buy on condtion against price, last I bought was 194k Merc 300se, 27 years old for £600. Before that, 233k BMW 530d Touring 16 year old, £500. Both needed work but now doing well.

[steveo3002]

condition for me 

 

genuinely rust free bodywork is the main thing and if it drives as it should then chances are it will keep on doing so

 

think how a school run car takes a massive beating on a few miles to school twice a day vs london to york can be 200 miles without changing gear or touching the brakes    

[meggersdog]

My Discovery has 226k miles on it so I'm not fussed about mileage .

[sierraman]

Completely agree about buying on condition. Cars these days rarely 'wear out' in the conventional sense like a Cortina did. By 100k the engine would be shot, the back axle singing like a canary, body coming to bits. Whereas now it's some big failure of something crucial like a DMF that sends it to the scrapyard. Likely has it that a car at 150k has had the clutch and the shockers etc replaced already.

[HMC]

I bought a very tired 365k Merc w124, which may have been £250 but was worn out in every conceivable way. Equally a 220k example that was probably the best driving one I'd ever had, the key difference being a thick wad of history, showing a series of caring owners versus a v5, a screwed up mot chit and nothing else.

 

So I just get a feel for the car by condition and the history and disregard what the odometer may say ( writes the man with 2 200k Alfa Romeos.....)

[Bren]

Saw lots of cars with high six figure mileages in excellent condition.

 

Saw lots of cars with four figure mileages that were utterly fucked.

 

Condition more important than age or mileage.

[steveo3002]

change an engine faster and cheaper than welding in inner and outer sills and arches and god knows what , then trying to paint it all so it matches

[MarvinsMom]

it would depend on-

 

how much was the car?

 

how much did i want the car?

 

and what condition is the bodywork it?

 

plus whether there was any history/receipts/handbooks etc. was with it.

 

i'd like to think that condition would be the decider for me also.

[fordperv]

For me it's condition over mileage, i believe mileage is a badge of honour that a well maintained car should wear with pride.

[bub2006]

High mileage not an issue to me. My low mileage cars have ben troublesome,everything over about 120k been great. The van is on 256k and its one of the best vehicles ive drove. Feels taught and not at all wooly or meh to drive

[EssDeeWon]

Service History Service History Service History !!!

[scaryoldcortina]

I've had people walk away from a clean MoTd cheap (under £200) car because "it has high miles".

 

Personally, I don't mind. If it works, it works.

[320touring]

I'd buy this..323k

 

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/185818/1998-audi-estate-surrey-london

[Tamworthbay]

I wouldn't buy a car with high mileage, there is less oxygen up there so it would have run lean and screwed the engine up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll get my coat...........

[Bren]

As stated earlier, something with 150k has got the t shirt - it's done it's job.

 

Something with 30k has plenty of opportunity to fuck up.

[beko1987]

My 283k zx flew through its mot. Would have been a clean sheet if a numberplate bulb didn't decide to not work the other day/week...

[spartacus]

Pretty much what steveo said. I bought a 240'000 mile hiace for work and it drives like it's done 70'000. Condition and signs it's been looked after, my usual indicator is at least two pairs of kwality tyres, all four the same and its a winner.

[Kiltox]

I'd buy this..323k

 

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/185818/1998-audi-estate-surrey-london

Seriously tempted by that myself

[egg]

My Fusion at 103k feels a bit tired. A lot of the cars mentioned above were originally designed as motorway cruisers after all.

[dean36014]

Years ago i bought a Renault 21, 2 litre gtx. It was obviously an ex taxi, and had been clocked. I brought it with 91k on the clock and assumed it was 191k, it was peanuts and in good condition so wasn't bothered. It didn't have the code for the radio so I rang the renault dealer who supplied it and quoted the reg, H131FVC to see if they had any history for it. As soon as I said the reg they quoted the car details to me and said it was a regular and did I know the mileage on it as it was famed in their workshops. Last time they serviced it it had 370k on the clock, and they supplied me the full service history. According to the history it had had a top end rebuild but no other engine work done to it. I ran it for 2 years and took the total mileage up to what I thing was around 430k. Eventually the rear suspension gave the ghost up due to the fact i was using it to drag a caravan around, torsion bars were so weak  if passengers sat in the back it used to bottom out. 

Since then mileage has never bothered me, always considered bodywork to be more important. Bought my Rover 75 with 160k on the clock, and had no problems. Another was an ex taxi Sierra diesel with the pug lump, that soldiered on to 250k before rot killed it. 

As an aside my 3 month old Daf CF truck has no hit 57k kilometers, or around 35k miles, so thats racking the miles up nicely.

[dollywobbler]

My 305,000-mile Citroen BX turbo diesel left nothing to the imagination when it came to its miles. It just felt utterly worn out in almost every way. Happily, a chap who owned it a few before me has bought it again and given it a total rebuild, and he overtook me in it leaving the NEC last year! 

 

Mind you, the Merc 300E (170k IIRC) still felt pretty tight, but a 170k-mile X300 Jag I drove a while back felt baggy and just awful. When I drove it again after a considerable suspension overhaul, it was truly delightful though. It really does come down to care, and not just the major things. Have door hinges been lubricated? Have locks been adjusted if they've needed it? Have bits of trim just worn out?

 

Last year, I got to drive a 2CV with fewer than 100,000 miles on it. I was forced to concede that it felt a lot nicer than my 200,000-mile, rebuilt twice example...

[FakeConcern]

I bought my C4 VTS with no service history & on about 95K, but just looking at it & driving it told of (2) careful owners. Now on 176500 and another careless owner, it still looks & drives fine.

[dollywobbler]

Also does depend on the car. A 150,000-mile Escort CVH would terrify me in a way a 150,000-mile XUD-engined car just wouldn't. 

[M'coli]

The 170000 mile Saab 900 that I bought from DW was sound, like the 170,000 mile B3 Passat that I owned - they were both one of the few cars I've owned that were not totally E.O.L. and actually sold on to someone else...

[HH-R]

Going to end up contradicting myself here, but I aim for between 30 and 70k on the clock, usually end up getting cars about 4-10 years old so it can range from low to exceptionally low mileage. Even though I know that low mileage can be worse than buying something with 100k+ on that has been used to go to the shops 2 miles away and never warms up vs a car that does 50 miles of motorway a day. Highest mileage car I've had was the Metro on 88k and it felt fucked. Ditto the Micra on 85 (I think) though they're small, cheap cars. I'd not really look at anything with 100k + on unless it was sub a grand, though the idea of having something mega mileage is appealing as a sort of badge of honour! I'd deffo not pay 5/6 grand for a car that has 110 on or something like that. It's still had an arse in the seat for a lot longer! The car I've got at the minute was 8 years old with 45 on the clock, I've taken it up to the heady* heights of 52 in 10 months.

[UltraWomble]

Condition & evidence of mechanical servicing - with that I'd buy a high mile car and smoke about in it without any concerns.

Highest mile cars I have bought - BX with 140K,  BX with 173K, Picasso with 140K, 

Admittedly the Picasso sharted itself, but hey, the BX's were great.

Ive rocked a Xanta up to just shy of 200k before the gearbox started to complain.

 

The oily bits are easy enough to replace or fix, the metal bits are a PITA so deffo condition for me.