Does it even matter? Thinking of getting a high mileage car - 50k or thereabouts - to get a better spec. As long as it continues to be serviced, surely its (a diesel) only just run in...?
Even in the old days that was 5 years? Easy to do that in a couple of years. Depends more on the kind of miles really
High milage on young car probably indicates motorway miles, long journeys. Less wear on clutch, suspension etc on those trips, engine always run hot.
Low mileage on old car probably indicates short journeys, maybe town driving, more wear on clutches and gearboxes, more potholes, often on a cold engine.
Go with service history rather than mileage (50k isn't a lot, lowest I've ever bought was 79, still going strong 6yrs later)
50k miles?! That's youthful! However.. 50k of 1 mile city journeys is very different to 50k of motorway cruising.
I'm on 156k, and still runs sweet, handles great and after 800 miles last week, not a single rattle, squeak or creak.
Buy off condition, service history and of you can get a truthful story... its usage.
I bought my VW Caddy Highline at less than 3yrs old with 110,000 miles on it, it was previously used as a VW service parts van between dealers (lookers) and I’d rather have high mileage/long journeys on a diesel than low mileage city driving.
IMO how the miles are done is more important than how many.
low miles, 5 miles at a time while riding clutch on way to pick up pension = dpf, dmf, egr, turbo issues.
boy racer thrashed over every speed bump, from cold to 5000rpm = turbo issues, suspension and wheel bearing on way out.
Sales rep doing motorway miles one up, leased and maintained, at 25k+ a year = should be ok
(generalisations now end)
50k is ok.
80-100k you're in clutch/timing belt/bits wearing out territory. Careful how much you pay.
100k+ = cheap car, but accept more bills.
Motorway miles are better for a number of reasons, easier on every part of the car, but still working the engine hard enough to get it hot.
engines that get ‘babied’ don’t tend to run that well, this is based on the last 4 diesel cars I’ve owned, they all ran better, and ‘seemed’ smoother and more powerful/quieter when they had had a long run and a bit of a workout.
look at the amount of old volvo/bmw/mercedes on autotrader that have 2-300,000 miles on them, 50k motorway miles is literally barely run in these days.
most cars are changed because of fashion.
this is actually good for me, because I would never buy a new car again.
I'd agree with above around 50K of motorway miles being nothing. I've done 35K in 1 year of purely motorway driving, the car went back pristine and scarcely run in.
I think the notes of caution I'd sound with "high mileage" these days are that
1) even with a good motorway life you are taking a bit of a punt on DPF life (post acquisition)
2) a lot of the mechanical parts seem to be more effective but more complex to maintain (e.g. think multi link suspension vs. trailing arm or torsion bar) and so wear and tear can be more expensive and regular; and
3) I am not convinced that new electronically complex cars will produce the same number of awesome moon and back cars that the early 2000s did.
I wouldn't say 50k is especially high mileage though. For me 40-60k miles has usually been about my purchase point in a 4 year old car. The problem is you can get some of the mileage oriented stuff come round quick - latest car was a cambelt after a year and some suspension bushes.
I may lease next time as I've had a couple of expensive/irritating surprises on the current one but I do 20k a year so this stuff can come round quicker than average. My view is probably a bit biased by the last one being the ultra reliable mega miler.
Garage dweller, id agree, especially on 3.
I think it can depend on the manufacturer to an extent too. The wife's Fiat felt shot at 45000. My 3 series feels tight at 117000. To be fair my BMW was trotting up and down the motorway mostly for it's first 100000.
Seems some wear their miles better than others.
The number of miles is irrelevant, it's the type of miles. The limo company my company uses have cars that do nothing but go up and down the motorways between airports. All MB E-Class and they clock up nearly a million miles before they palm them off, and I've been driven in several that have done well over 500k miles and they are like brand new...tight as a drum, no rattles or squeaks, engines sound brand new, suspension feels like new. They're obviously fastidiously serviced and want for nothing from a maintenance perspective, and all dealt with through the dealer. I always ask how and where they palm them off to when they've finished with them, but it seems to be a very closely guarded secret. Even the drivers don't know as they are always looking to buy one once the company finishes with them.
Yep id agree with that too.
ive driven older audis that got used as pool cars, 300,000 miles+ and i can assure you they didn’t get an easy life in any way, and the only obvious signs were a slightly sloppy gearchange, and wear on the gear lever.
This would be a C Class or 3 series diesel estate. Was looking at BuyaCar but am now reading some horror stories. It’s looked good to be able to pick the car, decent finance rates and delivery to the door but there’s lot of horror stories online...
Too good to be true, obvs.
Depends on the car, the 'type of miles', and how it's been treated. Cars can feel really tired and sloppy at 50K, even when they have been well looked after. Just as important is the expectations of the owner, and how sensitive they are to such changes. Plenty of people won't care or be able to tell the difference, while it's night and day to others.
My old Ibiza (03 plate) was on 287k miles when i got rid of it in early 2016 & it still drove fine.
Current Ibiza is a 12 plate (2 litre diesel) and on 86k miles. Still feels like nice & new apart from an annoying seat squeak.
But, it mainly gets driven on fast A-roads and the 4 lane stretch of the A1 so ideal conditions for a diesel. It should have had the VAG emissions 'fix' but after seeing lots of problems around clogged EGR valves, reduced performance & a more rattly engine note at low revs we decided to give that a miss. If it ain't broke....
You can't really say low mileage is bad, It still depends how the miles are done. I only do about 7K in my car, but none of those miles are on short trips, all long enough to warm up the engine, certainly no 1 mile trip to the shops. Obviously it's hard to know how the miles are put on, so average or higher is usually better (plus condition).
It's always intrigued me that cars are the only piece of machinery where the usage timescale is recorded in miles which can be misleading as well noted above.
Pretty much everything else is measured in the number of hours it has run which probably gives a better indication.
A car can be crawling through traffic for two hours and cover just 20 miles while a motorway cruiser can easily knock up 100 miles in the same time and probably incur less wear.
All larger outboard boat engines since about 2000 can be interrogated to see running hours and the actual usage in various rpm ranges to give a clear indication of its history.
Seems odd that we can't easily do this when buying a car.
I class over 150,000 as high now.. Although with my Mondeo on 125,000 and driving perfectly nicely along with costing me very little in upkeep in the last 2 years i've owned it, i'm not sure that even 150,000 is a massive problem these days. Mine cost me new rubber and pads/discs all round, but i had stuck on 45,000 since i bought it, so consumables are going to happen. Other than that, it's cost me nothign other than a quick service.
but there’s lot of horror stories online…
Too good to be true, obvs.
A small minority can make a big noise. No one goes online to complain their car didn’t fail.
Depends where you are comfortable with risk vs reward.
Personally I wouldn't buy a car with over 100K on, but that's just my little 'thing'. I bought a Passat 1.9 Tdi with 92K on & sold it at 235K. It was running perfectly but needed niggly stuff doing for an MOT.
Got my current 2.0 Mondeo with 69K on the clock & I've just changed the timing belt at 125K. It's still running nicely.
Don't get sucked into STW logic. Contrary to what you read on here (usually cheapskates defending their purchase of a cheap high mileage vehicle), a low mileage vehicle is usually a much lower risk than a high mileage one. Yes, of course there are always exceptions. The type of miles are important, but how exactly can you guarantee how any second hand car has been used? Second hand car dealers are of course, well known for their honesty. I'm sure lots of people think they can judge how a second hand car has been used when they inspect it, but the truth is, very few really know what they are looking for beyond a few superficial tests.
Forget it just lease a new one.
Ignore anyone that says 120k miles is just run in for any engine.
And that completes the full round up of opinions I think.
BINGO
It’s always intrigued me that cars are the only piece of machinery where the usage timescale is recorded in miles which can be misleading as well noted above.
Pretty much everything else is measured in the number of hours it has run which probably gives a better indication.
The age of the car is usually prominently disclosed 🙂
Talking to a private taxi bloke the other day, those guys swap cars at 300,000. Lots of short journeys and town driving. The magic number of 100,000 miles is from the 70s - 80s and no longer relevant.
Forget it just lease a new one.
Not specific enough. Just lease a new Berlingo.
"The age of the car is usually prominently disclosed "j
What's that got to do with the number of hours the engines been running ?
Nah no one leases berlingos with their own money. Motability have the market and keep the leases a rip off.
High mileage is a risk, but a calculated one I took on my current car.
Bought a V70 at 3yrs old with 100k on it.
Seeing similar but older cars with 2-300k on them gave me confidence that the car was capable of high mileage if looked after.
In 3yrs it is difficult to do 30+k per year just going to the shops in stop start traffic .
The drivers seat looked to be the only one that had ever been sat in regularly .
The Radio had pre programed local stations for the full length of the county.
There were business addresses in the sat nav and phone book for all the way between Aberdeen and Exeter
These gave me the confidence to risk a higher milage car as the cost savings , to me, made it worthwhile .
Nothing has gone wrong so far .
What’s that got to do with the number of hours the engines been running ?
Nothing directly, but the age of the car has quite big influence on the price of the vehicle (the magnitude of this influence varies depending if it is really new, or really old).
Indeed it does because there's no better way to determine its wear .
Bit like people who use oftsted reports to decide what school their kids go to.
If there was a better way im sure sure folks would use it .
Of course as you say it's all about having that magic number plate so everyone can see you have a near new car ......even if it has 200000 miles on the clocks
Depends on the car, the ‘type of miles’, and how it’s been treated.
I'd support this.
As an example my XC60 (2014, now replaced) had 74k on it.. lots of A1/A3/M3/M27 and the occasional whiz around Town and some to-fro'ing to the club and back and some surfing trips. Spotless and Volvo serviced regardless.. I'd say it was in better condition than the day I picked it up.. and the dealer when I chopped it in said "it's one of the best looking examples I've seen in years" but then I've no kids, I'm a finicky old git and I hate dirty vehicles. I reckon the person that bought mine would literally have been impressed with the condition, without the dealer spending any time on it cleaning it.
But as we all know, you like new cars and new bimmers.. so
Forget it just lease a new one.
This.
I think I've taken every car I've owned to the 140K miles mark (plus/minus 10k). Probably similar usage over all of them: a mixture of rural commuting; long motorway journeys and urban driving. My current car is on 136K and showing no major problems, at that sort of distance my 1980s Cavalier was on its last legs as was the Astra that replaced it.
Modern cars and particularly engines have moved on a couple of generations in the last thirty years, they are far more reliable. It's the newer features like reversing sensors that tend to go these days - our car's on its third set - they are at the same point in their life cycle as engines were in the 1980s. We got rid of the last car when the front suspension began playing up on an annual basis, at close to £1000 a time it wasn't worth keeping going.
Edit: those who like clean cars would have a heart attack at the state of ours 🙂 I can't remember the last time I cleaned a car - the garage will clean it when it goes for a service.
Forget it just lease a new one.
I've been doing some very specific numbers. What I'd like to do is get a Diesel car that if necessary I can give back in a couple of years should the market get into horror territory, but also that I haver the option to buy it.
My vision is that I can get a C Class estate now with 40-50k miles on it, add 30k in 3 years then carry on and own the vehicle which at the buyanycar.co.uk scenrio I'm looking at £70 a month cheaper than leasing, £90 a month cheaper than dealer PCP, and has a £7000 ballon yet only 3.7% interest. £7k for a 8yo C Class AMG Line with 80k miles which I can then keep on as a "Bangernomics" type vehicle feels right.
For my job I need a car that waft around M/Ways, but will also carry the bike(s) (Please do not bother with "what car" addendums to the thread), and this seems a decent way to finance a car which I can keep as the "works" car for a long period of time.
The same car on lease is £14k over 3 years but I'll not own it at the end. This one is £9k over the same period with the option to buy - 'cause of the miles of course.
I bought an ex-lease with 105k on the clock. 5 years and nothing but consumables later and I've been very happy.
Test drive a few though. I found a huge difference in feel between cars of the same age and mileage.
If ever there is a case of 'Analysis Paralysis' over just a blo*dy car, this has to be it.
As always, you're comparing apples & bananas - the cost of a out of warranty used car, Vs the cost of something new on lease.
And I thought I changed my mind a lot.
FWIW, I wouldn't class 50k as high miles, but I do think the middle ground of cars 4-8 years old can be a bit of a gamble. They hold their value still, and can still run up big bills. I had a F91 3 series that was 6 years old, and on ~100k at the point of selling, it was probably worth £7k still (well, it was as that's what I sold it for) it drove nicely, but I knew being an N47 engine, there was the risk of a timing chain issue - being endlessly paranoid about start up noise & listening for the death rattle, the rear shocks were just starting to knock & be a bit bouncy, and the clutch was starting to judder when pulling away. All big bill items.
On the face of it though, the car was mint, with a FSH.
I now have a 4 months old Skoda Superb Estate on a PCP deal, which when you consider depreciation, repair costs & running costs, as a PPM absolute, its actually not far from the BMW.
And it was new, with a 5 year warranty (negotiated). It's on a 3 year deal & will go back with 100k+ on it. If it proves reliable, i'm sure it would be a great purchase for someone. But I certainly wouldn't be buying it at ~£10/12k though.
£7k for a 8yo C Class AMG Line with 80k miles which I can then keep on as a “Bangernomics” type vehicle feels right
Im not sure your getting the bangernomics concept. I’ll probably have to pay someone to take my car away....
As always, you’re comparing apples & bananas – the cost of a out of warranty used car, Vs the cost of something new on lease.
I take a different view - the cost of owning a German barge over the next 4 years with minimal financial risk and with future buying potential, bearing in mind I work in a high risk job (sales).
Of course, the least risk is to buy outright the 5yo 38k miles 120d sitting in my garage with a pending end to its PCP - but thats another story.
If ever there is a case of ‘Analysis Paralysis’ over just a blo*dy car, this has to be it.
I like to cover all bases...
That to me is a high risk motor. Old but too expensive to walk away from
If you have to have the number plate on the carpark at work it's hard to see past leasing for me.....and I'm anti lease
zut alors - It's a car thread - I thought it was about Louise! 🙂
If the car has been serviced properly....then I would say150000 miles is high.
I'd have no problem with 50000 on the clock.
That to me is a high risk motor. Old but too expensive to walk away from
I started thinking exactly that, which is why I started the thread... My concern with lease is the bikes around it - batter the thing and its going to cost me a fortune with "Mr Dent Mobile"
Of course, the least risk is to buy outright the 5yo 38k miles 120d sitting in my garage with a pending end to its PCP – but thats another story.
Why don't you do that then ?
Why don’t you do that then ?
Its not the "future" car I want to own. Its not auto which in. modern day M25 is almost an essential, could do with being a bit bigger (kids/bikes a la your Mondeo), I wouldn't mid a few extra's, Nav for example.
Its not the end of the world to keep it though, beggars can't be choosers, but I'd still need to fund £10k to do so.
but I’d still need to fund £10k to do so.
But one way or another you''ll have to do so anyway to replace it no ?
P.s. If you like it so much, i'll swap you the Mondeo for it 😀
