High mileage

[Jim Bell]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Depends on the car.  Personally, for a dailly runner, I'd rather have something thats been used dailly for 265,000 miles over something thats done 100 miles in the last ten years.

[dollywobbler]

The Nippa has only 26k on the clock but has been surprisingly good. I'm usually wary of low mileage too, but aside from a seized wiper wheel box, it's been fine.

[rml2345]

Condition over mileage every time. Then again, sometimes I don't pay attention to that either...

Incidentally, I was on one of the CityXpress Scania coaches that Bruce's of Salsburgh have been using on the M8. Ex National Express work with Two million kilometres on and they feel a bit baggy even as a passenger.

[Pillock]

You lot have clearly never owned a PSA 1.6 diesel close to 100k.

If I was buying an car that had a ticking time bomb engine like that, low mileage every time and start planning on when to move it on.

 

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

[stripped fred]

I prefer high mileage cars. My mr2 is on about 150k and my 406 has 185k. My previous A4 went to 200k. Yes, things wear out but as long as the previous owners haven't neglected things a lot of the parts would already have been replaced. One thing to watch is suspension. If that is worn out then it's usually uneconomic to replace it all. Poor suspension detracts a lot from the ownership experience in my opinion. Another thing is to check the common faults with each model and what mileages they can achieve. For instance, 406's are known to often get to high mileages. Cars often used as taxi's are a good bet. Also, older tech diesels without dmf, dpf etc

[Junkman]

If a car has 397253 miles on it, I bloody well know, that it's a good car.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have 397253 miles on it.

[warren t claim]

I've driven a few trucks that have done more miles than Alan Whicker with a couple of million kilometres on the clock. Always fun to pay for diesel using a fuel card and watching the attendant trying to type 2,637,439 into the payment machine.

[JohnK]

Overall condition over mileage every time. I bought an E39 528i with 212k on the clock from its 2nd owner of 10 years. Piles of history and drove like a dream. She's still about and has close to 270k now.

 

My E38 is on 105k, which is low mileage for its age. It seems to have spent the last few years doing very little, but it still drives well.

 

In comparison, the blue E38 I bought last summer had 55k on it which, the limited history did suggest was genuine, as did the interior condition. The car itself was a bag of shit and riddled with issues though, which soon became apparent. The higher mileage one I have now is a better car in every respect.

[overrun]

I sold my last car with 145K on it, bought this one at 4.5 years old with 142K on it. Now it is on 170k and is fine.

 

I owned an RS1600i that had been around the clock twice. Impressive for many reasons imo.

 

It doesn't bother me at all.

[fordperv]

Didn't the rs1600i also have almost 20 previous owners as well?

[overrun]

Didn't the rs1600i also have almost 20 previous owners as well?

Yeah lol. I was number 18, iirc.

She's still going strong, too.

 

I have a 90 Spec RST on the way in a few weeks, so you will be getting a few reassembly PM's from me, if you don't mind, mate!

[fordperv]

Oooh cool, Yeah no problem I'll help you as much as I can the mrs car has the management now. Bloody hell what a difference that makes on driveability

[stephen01]

Wanted to look at a 320k Porsche Caynee 4x4 the other week, couldn't help but have nightmares about the bills

[forddeliveryboy]

I'd love a low mileage car, but can't afford one. Not sure I'd really want one, though. Often the case that under 160k all the things which weren't right to begin with make themselves known, so summit with under 100k will need as many bits as many with 200k+.

 

Don't like this modern idea of self-destructing flywheels, self-borking diesel injectors/pumps and general crap-ness. More than makes up for 70s and 80s rot.

 

Buy something like a Xantia, 405/6, Owd80/100/earlyA6 and miles are almost totally irrelevant, if running well and the owner's half-human. Too few in Ingleland bother to look after cars well enough for MB124s to last as long as they can when serviced by dedicated little workshops - property prices (=hourly rates) mean machinery is rarely well looked after today. There are plenty of Unos still in southern Italy with 300k+ km on the clock, helped by low garage rates and a lack of rot.

[Jerzy Woking]

Most of the cars I have owned in the last few years have had high mileage-at least 200k

 

Likewise a number of my motor bikes too-a Fireblade I purchased at 85,000 I took to over 110,000 in two years. I'd still have it now if it wasn't written off in an unfortunate collision. I did have an early GSX-R 750 that had 180k on it when it was killed in a crash. By then it was totally worn out, and with enormous electrical problems, and getting it to 200k would have needed massive and expensive surgery.

 

My current commuters (a CBR600 and an SV650) have both done over 60k and are still running perfectly-a knackered fuel pump being the only issue on the CBR in 20k. To the trade both are worthless, as the trade hate anything that has more than 20k on the clock. As an example friend of a friend has a 3 year old Honda NX700 (basically half of a Jazz engine) with 73,000 on the clock. Trader offered him £600 for it against a new bike, so he is keeping it. I can see that easily doing 150k without any issues. Maybe I should offer him a grand for it

[xtriple]

Never owned a really high mileage car or bike. About 140K is about the highest when sold and that was a Merc SE V8 so was fine. Was offered a swap for a really nice BMW 635 for a crappy old Sierra I had. I chickened out when I saw it had 280K in the clock.

 

I am a chicken!

 

I suppose having been in the trade, I always have half an eye on re-sale and down here, anything with more than about 40K is hard to sell for decent coin. Alright, that's an exaggeration but passed a 100 and they are sticky!

[Andrew353w]

I sold my Skoda Fun with 173,000 miles on it and I know it's still going strong. My current Citroen Xantia has 179,000 & is behaving likewise. As I'm sure all Autoshiters would agree, caring for the car is what counts. My mileage is stratospherically high, but it's almost all done on motorways, at a steady speed, with minimal braking and steering, so the car's aren't really stressed. I change the oil at half the recommended mileage and put everything right the car needs, because I need it to get me to work!

 

Contrast this to a car driven around town, on short trips, that never really warms up nor has a good run along a fast road or Motorway, which clips the kerb and is rammed from 1st to reverse every time it's parked...I'd have the high mileage one anytime! 

[hairnet]

high miles no prob

 

13 plate bike ive just bought has done 18k in 2.5 years

 

05 plate bike i have has done 24k in 10 years which ive done 5k in 4 months

 

sold a kawasaki in 2013 in the 2 years i had it did 40k

 

guy has had it two years and only done 10k

 

its not the miles its how its done them

 

avg bike miles is 3-4k a year - i do upwards of 12

[forddeliveryboy]

If there's one car which has impressed me with its ability to carry on going with little needed well beyond 200k, it's Xantias. Way better built than any VW of similar age (or younger).

[robinmasters]

Most recent purchase: Renault 1.9dCi, 215,000; I bought on condition and service history (fucked and none, respectively).

[Andrew353w]

If there's one car which has impressed me with its ability to carry on going with little needed well beyond 200k, it's Xantias. Way better built than any VW of similar age (or younger).

 

As he says, they're bulletproof!

[Danblez]

My high mileage concerns have changed somewhat over the years, I always felt over 100K was starting to get on a bit but then had a micra with almost 140k on the clock which was mechanically sound. I now drive a focus with 172k miles which once again is mechanically spot on and feels much much younger.

 

What I am interested in which I havent yet sussed out is when is a good time to buy? i.e. what is the cycle for the expensive bits needing replacing, which I suppose changes from car to car. My focus had a new turbo at 100k and a new clutch and DMF at 125k which are the only expensive things its needed but I would be pretty pissed off I I had bought it at 100k and had to fork out for those repairs within the first couple of years.

 

When looking for a new motor now which is going to be a keeper 5+ years I limit myself to 100k. Maybe I should be upping that a bit though to 120k and hope that most of the expensive bits have already failed and been replaced. Obviously nothing better than a decent history to tell you all this I suppose.

[Angry Sheep]

I used to be of the opinion that mileage was irrelevant, but looking at the cars I've owned, there's definitely a correlation between mileage and cars fucking up.

 

Two of my cars had over 170k, and the head gasket went on both of those (5 Series and MX-5). My 145k Puma felt like it was falling apart around me.

 

My Metro's done about 46k and the engine feels very sweet (despite a life of elderly lady ownership). I wouldn't be put off a car with high miles in the future, but I'd definitely prefer a car with lower mileage.

[castros_bro]

879471km the usual intergalactic African merc diesel taxi

 

[beko1987]

I'm nearly on 284k.

 

When I bought it, the clutch, cambelt, waterpump, coolant and thermostat were all under 8 months old.

 

I didn't ask the mileage until we were handing money over tbh.

 

I want it to hit 300k, then it can die and I won't hold it against it!

[320touring]

I'm nearly on 284k.

 

When I bought it, the clutch, cambelt, waterpump, coolant and thermostat were all under 8 months old.

 

I didn't ask the mileage until we were handing money over tbh.

 

I want it to hit 300k, then it can die and I won't hold it against it!

Come and visit my xud- should see you 1k closer:)

[Urko]

Doesn't put me off - it can be a good thing as it puts some people off. Had some good, some bad, high and low miles cars.

[SiC]

For me it depends entirely on the age and type of car. Smaller cars struggle more on higher milers and they are generally used for town+city driving, which is tough on all the parts. I generally try and get something with an annual mileage of around 10-25k. This way its not sat idle all the time, but also not worn out.

 

As my main, reliable driver I like to keep it under and around 100k - but then I usually go for cars 4-5 years old max for this car. My current main car (2007 Civic - bought at 80k) in nearly 4 years & 45k has only need a clutch (and usual consumables like tyres+pads+discs+oils+filters).

 

On older, really low mileage cars, I have noticed that once you start doing proper miles in them, everything then starts to go at once. Our Astra G is a perfect example of this. It was my other halfs grandads car. He bought it with 47k on the clock, 10 years later (and garaged the whole time), he'd done 59k in it and every year serviced by a family friend who is a mechanic.

 

Then we acquired it. For the first 1k, the back tyres needed changing (according to the date code on them, original ones with the car - so 13 years old), rear spring cracked (£50 part+labour to change), the rear drums were sticking (I gave good blast with brake cleaner and lubed the moving parts which seemed to fix it) and the thermostat was stuck open (£10 part, easily changed as mounted on the top of the engine). By 2k, one of the rusty rear shocks decided to start leaking through that rust (!) (£50 for 2 shocks and 2 bolts to remove to get each changed), the radiator started weeping (£25 new part for an eBay special, £20 of coolant and 3 hours of my time) and for its MOT it decided it needed a new spring (£50 part+labour)...

 

However we've now used it nearly 5k miles in 9 months and for the last 3k, nothing else has been a problem. In fact my mechanic at the MOT remarked its the cleanest mechanically Astra G he's seen in a long while - partly down to the fact it was garaged I suspect. The rubbery bits look in better condition than my Civic!

 

If her granddad was still doing 1k per year, it probably wouldn't have had these issues for a long time. But then with the radiator leak, he probably wouldn't have noticed it and killed it...

 

I feel always the biggest risk of a high miler is that all the other bits, like suspension and bushes are the bits that wear out, making it a bit of a limp drive. Also that it could be getting to the point that everything is about to fail all together (which is my experience of jap cars - reliable until things go wrong and are at the end of their life). Down here, high milers are worth SFA and damn hard to sell. So even if you want to flog it as spares+repairs, in reality, no one wants it.

[stripped fred]

For me it depends entirely on the age and type of car. Smaller cars struggle more on higher milers and they are generally used for town+city driving, which is tough on all the parts. I generally try and get something with an annual mileage of around 10-25k. This way its not sat idle all the time, but also not worn out.

 

As my main, reliable driver I like to keep it under and around 100k - but then I usually go for cars 4-5 years old max for this car. My current main car (2007 Civic - bought at 80k) in nearly 4 years & 45k has only need a clutch (and usual consumables like tyres+pads+discs+oils+filters).

 

On older, really low mileage cars, I have noticed that once you start doing proper miles in them, everything then starts to go at once. Our Astra G is a perfect example of this. It was my other halfs grandads car. He bought it with 47k on the clock, 10 years later (and garaged the whole time), he'd done 59k in it and every year serviced by a family friend who is a mechanic.

 

Then we acquired it. For the first 1k, the back tyres needed changing (according to the date code on them, original ones with the car - so 13 years old), rear spring cracked (£50 part+labour to change), the rear drums were sticking (I gave good blast with brake cleaner and lubed the moving parts which seemed to fix it) and the thermostat was stuck open (£10 part, easily changed as mounted on the top of the engine). By 2k, one of the rusty rear shocks decided to start leaking through that rust (!) (£50 for 2 shocks and 2 bolts to remove to get each changed), the radiator started weeping (£25 new part for an eBay special, £20 of coolant and 3 hours of my time) and for its MOT it decided it needed a new spring (£50 part+labour)...

 

However we've now used it nearly 5k miles in 9 months and for the last 3k, nothing else has been a problem. In fact my mechanic at the MOT remarked its the cleanest mechanically Astra G he's seen in a long while - partly down to the fact it was garaged I suspect. The rubbery bits look in better condition than my Civic!

 

If her granddad was still doing 1k per year, it probably wouldn't have had these issues for a long time. But then with the radiator leak, he probably wouldn't have noticed it and killed it...

 

I feel always the biggest risk of a high miler is that all the other bits, like suspension and bushes are the bits that wear out, making it a bit of a limp drive. Also that it could be getting to the point that everything is about to fail all together (which is my experience of jap cars - reliable until things go wrong and are at the end of their life). Down here, high milers are worth SFA and damn hard to sell. So even if you want to flog it as spares+repairs, in reality, no one wants it.

That's another reason to consider a high mileage car. Lots of other people will be put off so it should be cheaper.

[Spottedlaurel]

1973 Datsun 1200 Estate (B110) Daily Mail 1/6/74 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

This is an article I’ve had for some years but it was only at the weekend that I put the reg into DVLA. Was impressed to see it listed at all, they said it came off the road in 1982. Nine years may not sound that good, but most 1970s Datsuns were in yards by 10 years irrespective of mileage. My mechanically identical 2dr version of this model is a willing little thing and the engine rev’s nicely, but in no way is it a car I’d want to do 2,000 miles a week in! I doubt it was used quite so intensively over the remainder of its life, but it clearly did it no harm.