Car mileage

tasticz

What is the highest car mileage you would consider buying?

Is there a point when you tell yourself this car has run too much? If so throw a figure please

Thanks

JonathanA

It all depends on how the car has been used / maintained. I've just sold a car with 125k that needed quite a bit spending on it, but replaced it with a higher mileage car, but which has spent all its life on the motorway cruising, with a full history to back it up.

Ultrasonic

Price is pretty crucial too. I'd consider a car with 400k miles of it for £50 but not £5,000. Another key factor is how happy you are to accept that the car will likely have some faults that need fixing while you own the car.

I bought my current car at about 65k miles. It's now done about 90k miles but I have no intention of selling it any time soon. Here's a similar model with about 240k miles on it, and there are higher mileage examples on the road:

http://www2.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201309098693860/sort/default/usedcars/price-to/5000/transmission/manual/maximum-age/up_to_10_years_old/maximum-mileage/over_100000_miles/engine-size-cars/1-7l_to_1-9l/fuel-type/diesel/model/octavia/make/skoda/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/2/radius/1501/postcode/pe39gz?logcode=p

Edit: although I'm not sure I'd be willing to pay £1,500 for that example, I just put that link in to give you an idea of the sort of mileages some cars get to.

anotherbaldrick

my problem is the opposite, car is 4 years old and only done 10,000 miles. but on trade in I am only being offered average mileage book price, "People do not want to pay more to get low mileage car sir ".

skivenov

Depends on what it's been used for. Minicab that's been abused 24 hours a day, vs a car that's been used for long distance commutes.

We used to have an old LDV 400 which was known affectionately as "The Enterprise" because it'd done well over 500k, mostly on regular runs to Glasgow. However, it had the thickest, most comprehensive, service history you've ever seen, and it drove better than a lot vans that had done a quarter of the mileage.

bodgerx

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

my problem is the opposite, car is 4 years old and only done 10,000 miles. but on trade in I am only being offered average mileage book price, "People do not want to pay more to get low mileage car sir ".

Crazy isn't it? The reverse argument will be used when the dealer comes to sell it.

Avoid the silliness and sell privately.

bodgerx

tasticz wrote: »

What is the highest car mileage you would consider buying?

Is there a point when you tell yourself this car has run too much? If so throw a figure please

Thanks

Condition first, age second, mileage third.

I really only go for lower mileage cars because I think about resale - by the time I sell it in three years it maybe easier to sell with less than 100k.

Personally, if that wasn't an issue, mileage wouldn't be a big deal.

silverwhistle

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

"People do not want to pay more to get low mileage car sir ".

"So why is that low mileage one over there that you are selling so expensive and advertised as low mileage?"

I recently bought a second hand car privately and certainly looked at the mileage and the mileage adjustments in the price book before making my offer..

spacey2012

Modern Turbo Diesels, well bar the odd exception, they are usually goosed around 120-140k as they are pressured to get the power up, the engine units are almost designed as a throw away package and hard to repair.
The bits that fail are all the emissions sensors and add ons.

scheming_gypsy

It'd depend on cost and what car.
If a car has done galactic miles then there's a pretty good chance it's been well looked after.

My current car had 121k on the clock when I bought it, but it's a Volvo and as long as they're looked after, they'll do double that - and more. I'm looking for a cheap car to run over winter and as long as it's priced right I don't care how many miles it's done.

only_mee

spacey2012 wrote: »

Modern Turbo Diesels, well bar the odd exception, they are usually goosed around 120-140k as they are pressured to get the power up, the engine units are almost designed as a throw away package and hard to repair.
The bits that fail are all the emissions sensors and add ons.

My A3 170 07 plate is on 156k FASH purrs like a kitten and flies when asked. Great mpg too.