Is low mileage on a secind hand diesel a bad thing?

Looking at second hand cars, wondering if really low mileage on a diesel is a cause for concern? For example, a 2009 with less than 30,000 miles. Does that sort of use made it more, or less desirable?

More for me, as long as it’s got decent history.

It won’t have done some of the parts much good, but how much does servicing/replacing them cost vs the higher mileage wear on other components?

Car by car basis…had a look at a 2010 Yeti at the start of the year with 11k miles: the wear and tear to interior/exterior suggested many many short journeys and poorly cared for so it was a no from me. Also, id be wondering if itd had any decent length drives for the sake of the dpf/egr. Yeti i ended up with had five times the mileage but was spotless and with good history…only time will tell though

I wouldn’t be massively worried about low mileage but I wouldn’t like to see dormancy; have you checked the milage history? 30000 miles in 2 years then 4 years in the garden would be worse news than 5000 miles a year for 6 years.

THe other thing is it can mess with values; some people will overvalue it thinking “it’s barely used”. I’d want to see a lower price but that won’t always happen.

Less for me.

Engines and turbos are quite pricey and low milage /short journeys does them no favours.

jeesh, cars are sensitive little things aren’t they!

DrP

They are, and they’re really not my area of expertise.

For balance, my Mum’s little diesel Pug is an 07 and has only got 40k on it. She uses it most days, but doesn’t go far.

As long as you can see a mileage ‘history’, ie yearly services and/or MOT’s and it’s consistent then shouldn’t be an issue.

I’m not sure when DPFs came in – probably c2010 – so a 2009 might be, and a 2007 almost certainly will be, pre- DPF, so it may not be that big a problem.

DPF’s were a standard component of BMW diesels from 2007.

I’d see if you can gauge the type of use it’s had, and what sort of DPF system. Twice a week run down the motorway to visit grandkids, excellent. Every day 22mph to post office, chemist, Spar and home again, avoid.

Our SMax was ex Motability, 10 months old with 1900 miles. Not long after we got it the DPF started showing fault codes, took three trips back to Ford main dealers to sort it, fortunately under warranty.

I reckon dpfs will be around 2007-9 for most manufacturers, didn’t they arrive as a feature of Euro V, which must have been about then.

To be honest as a long term ownership prospect I find the whole idea of modern second hand diesels pretty scarey. Alright if you chop and change every 2-3 years but if like me you keep cars 5years+ my feeling is you are going to get stuffed, the only question is how many times. Unless someone can convince me I’m wrong about dpfs having a sub 100k typical shelf life

Civic 2.2 deisel has no dpf, should do 200k with no trouble.

It can tell you nothing. It might do 100 miles a week, but over a weekend when they use it to go mountain biking, and during the week they don’t use it as commute by car.

Or, it does 100 miles a week and they commute 10 miles, twice a day for 5 days.

Same mileage, but different use.

DPF’s were from around 2001 but not common.
My 2006 Mazda 6 has one its over 100,000 miles and as long as you give it a 1/2 hr good steady above 2000rpm run every other month its fine.
Honda 2.2iCDTI has no DPF. 2.2iDTECs have them.

Low mileage on a diesel car is not usually a good thing. It can indicate that it has been used as a local shopping/drive to the station car which is really bad for a diesel. It could also only be used one day a week for longer journeys which is not such a bad thing. You really need to find out how the previous owner used it which can be difficult when buying from a dealer or a lying toe rag of a private seller.

I certainly wouldn’t pay a premium on a low-mileage diesel for the reasons above.
You might be on original tyres which will be subject to aging and cracking. Mild steel exhausts might not have been run for long enough to dry out internally and will be rusting inside-out. Both items may be excluded from a warranty

I’d also be a little concerned regarding the EGRs, which if not given a good blast tend to clog up.