mileage for a used car

tribalboy

Hi,

What kind of mileage is considered decent and acceptable when buying a used diesel car. Is there a certain range than can be worth spending some money or is it entirely dependant on the car. I was particularly keen on getting a skoda fabia and was considering mileage upto 48k.

I have heard that diesels engines are good for way more than a petrol, is this true.

*Kat*

it's like 10,000 miles per year is good, I think x

forgotmyname

Newer diesels cost a fortune to repair, Commom rail injectors costing £150+ each. Dual mass flywheels add £200+ onto a clutch change.

Unless you cover a lot of miles a petrol car will be cheaper to maintain when you take fuel costs into account.

bigjl

Agreed, when a new diesel goes wrong it can cost a fortune, hence why a 5 yr old Mondeo with a diesel pump and injector problem will get scrapped, could cost a couple of grand to fix.

I would rather have a small petrol car, as they aren't that much worse on fuel and there is less to go wrong.

As an example look at the Vauxhall Zafira, when the diesel go wrong, and they do regularly, they will cost you an arm and a leg.

Most problems on the petrol models are sensor related, and much cheaper to fix.

Hammyman

tribalboy wrote: »

Hi,

What kind of mileage is considered decent and acceptable when buying a used diesel car. Is there a certain range than can be worth spending some money or is it entirely dependant on the car. I was particularly keen on getting a skoda fabia and was considering mileage upto 48k.

I have heard that diesels engines are good for way more than a petrol, is this true.

I bought my MK3 Mondeo TDCi at 3 years old with 90,000 on the clock. One company owner and full main dealer service history. No signs of wear and its obviously been a 6th gear motorway tramper - the kind of journeys diesels like.

Only fault I've had in the 53,000 I've put on it in the last 3 years myself is an alternator bearing and subframe bushes. Its only just coming up to needing a change of brake pads! No DMF issues, no injector issues, everything still works apart from one LED which failed last week on the instrument binnacle which illuminates the odometer so no big loss there.

BUT unless you're doing well over 12k a year and intend to keep it for more than a few years, the additional cost of buying a diesel (typicall £1k more than the petrol equivalent) outweighs the savings in fuel. I do 18k a year and I intend to keep the car to at least 200,000 miles so for me its worth it.

benham3160

A 250,000 car that's been well thrashed and serviced is always a better proposition than a 30k that's been "pootled" about.

However, finding one that's been correctly looked after is a challenge.

I've owned them, best cars ever..... No question.

Regards,
Andy

mikey72

Bought our diesel at 90,000+ miles, it's now past 130,000.

Kilty_2

I'd rather have a 3 year old 100,000 diesel than an older, lower mileage one that'd cost the same.

Triskaidekaphobia

Kilty wrote: »

I'd rather have a 3 year old 100,000 diesel than an older, lower mileage one that'd cost the same.

So you'd rather a 3 year old 100,000 mile car than a 4 year old 40,000 mile car that cost the same?

Hammyman

Yep. It'll have spent most of its life sat in top gear on a motorway with the engine ticking over. Lots of things fail around 60-70,000 miles (brake pads/discs, wheel bearings etc) so would have been replaced and actually have done less mileage than the one on 40,000. In fact on some cars 40,000 was a danger mileage. On the MK1 and MK2 Mondeo for example, the spark plug leads packed up every 40k and so did the front track control arm bushes. On some cars 40k is only a year or twos worth of motoring from a £200 cambelt change.

inmypocketnottheirs

Hammyman wrote: »

Yep. It'll have spent most of its life sat in top gear on a motorway with the engine ticking over. Lots of things fail around 60-70,000 miles (brake pads/discs, wheel bearings etc) so would have been replaced and actually have done less mileage than the one on 40,000. In fact on some cars 40,000 was a danger mileage. On the MK1 and MK2 Mondeo for example, the spark plug leads packed up every 40k and so did the front track control arm bushes. On some cars 40k is only a year or twos worth of motoring from a £200 cambelt change.

Me too.

Also I would rather drive a diesel than a petrol equivalent. Better performance, more torque and better economy. Just regular oil and filter changes, in addition to consumables like tyres, battery, exhaust etc.

In the last 10 years between the DW and myself, have had a Citroen Synergie, Vauxhall Omega, Ford Focus, Peugeot 406, Volvo V70, Saab 9-5, Mondeo, Mercedes E300 and Volvo S60, all diesels.

There is no way I would consider a petrol engine car.