Maximum millage? for buying second hand car ? what should it be ?

scheming_gypsy

Apart from the whiney wheel bearing, the 126k Passat I bought last week, drives like it's just rolled off the production line.

mcjordi

lowest mileage was a diesel xsara 1999 T reg with 53k ish on the clock.. needed allsorts cambelt/wishbones/droplinks/brakes..

highest mileage was another xsara diesel on a s reg with 140k on it needed a new adjuster for handbrake and a set of pads in its entire life i had it.

low mileage isnt everything.. but i buy cheap enough so when/if something major needs replacing i can scrap it and get another one without loosing anything

bigjl

snowcat75 wrote: »

My wife's on our third Subaru Impreza first was bought at 80K and sold with 200K, generally they only ever need oil filters and lots of brake parts... Latest one was new, but only because I managed to get a grey Import from Cyprus for the same amount of cash as the S/Hs we were looking at.....

Subarus can certainly take the miles if given regular oil and filter changes. Maybe the odd front wishbone bush and brakes to be done but sometimes those hard plastics the middle class motoring press winge about make perfect sense.

A mates son also bought one of those Cyprus imports, from Motorpoint i think he said, back in 07/08 i think he bought his. Around £16k for a 2.5 WRX he optioned airbags as they weren't standard and they fitted a normal leather wheel not a Momo which was the only issue.

Thanks for now reminding me i need another Subaru in my life............:D

snowcat75

bigjl wrote: »

Subarus can certainly take the miles if given regular oil and filter changes. Maybe the odd front wishbone bush and brakes to be done but sometimes those hard plastics the middle class motoring press winge about make perfect sense.

A mates son also bought one of those Cyprus imports, from Motorpoint i think he said, back in 07/08 i think he bought his. Around £16k for a 2.5 WRX he optioned airbags as they weren't standard and they fitted a normal leather wheel not a Momo which was the only issue.

Thanks for now reminding me i need another Subaru in my life............:D

Now you mention it I did do some wishbone bushes on the old bug eyed sports wagon I had, inexpensive IIRC and no bother to fit, think I changed the shocks on that one as well as they had started to weep, think Id put it through a couple of MOTs by wiping them with a rag;)..

My Cyprus one came from Motor point in 09, 6K under what the plate glass dealers wanted for one. Iv heard US built ones are to avoid don't know the truth on this tho.

bigjl

Yes the US built ones have problems from what I have heard also.

Engine related failures and head gasket problems.

Not sure if they make any RHD models, I think all the RHD come from Japan, certainly my 04 WRX was made in Japan as was my 04 Legacy.

If I get another Scoob it will get fully polybushed, Powerflex do a full compliment of bushes for most Subarus and even a special lower wishbone bush that allows extra camber adjustment(from memory)

jimjames

Karen_taris wrote: »

This is a debatable topic.

What is the highest millage car you guys have purchased ?

and did that high a millage car give you any problems?

Until now my highest mileage car was bought at 140k and sold at 190k. I never expected to buy a car with higher mileage but just got one with 240k. One owner FSH.

Previously had ones 178k, 165k and 142k, all running fine when I sold so I have no issues with high mileage at all.

Ebe_Scrooge

A mate of mine has his own minicab business. He runs a fleet of Rovers ( yes, snigger snigger ), buys them with 100K on the clock and runs them till they die. Then strips them for spares ( he has his own full-time mechanic ) to keep the others on the road. He says most of them go on till at least 250k before he retires them - and that's driving all day round town, which has got to be the worst thing out for a car. Ok, most of us don't have a full-time mechanic to keep them going, but he says mostly it's just simple replacements parts that are needed, until the one big thing goes that means it's time to be stripped and scrapped.

bigjl

Last four vehicles i have bought have had 91k, 83k, 101k and 87k on them. Oldest was 3 1/2 yrs old and youngest 22 months old.

All with full main dealer history.

The simple fact is all most cars need for the first part of their life is oil and filters and a bit of lube here and their.

Cars used for long distances on motorway or dual carraigeways/main roads have little or no wear on suspension, brakes and transmission.

Any car used round town or city will have much more wear and tear.

Small cars tend to hold value better. Family hatchbacks tend to hold value worse.

That is why so many buy a three or four yr old high miles commuter or sales rep car.

Lots of miles, big drop in value. Big value.

My V50 2.0d had 101k and i will be honest in saying it drove pretty much like a new car.

I would still have it if i didn't need a different vehicle for work reasons.

New owner got a bargain.

scaredofdebt

Research the make/model you are buying, some are known to be good for high miles.

Also look for service history and some kind of indication as to what life the car has been through, generally speaking lots of previous owners isn't a good sign and motorway miles are less wear and tear than around town.

However, luck plays a part, I am generally lucky with cars.

I bought a 3 year old, petrol Nova with 66k on the clock, ran it for 7 years until it had done 220k and then gave it to my brother who is a mechanic. He said it needed some new cams as they were round with the wear but he then ran it for another few months. All it needed was tyres and a new exhaust every couple of years, I rarely serviced it.

Bought a Rover 215 SLI with 114k on the clock, absolute waste of time, needed a new CHG pretty soon after getting it so I got rid.

Then had a Corsa 1.0 with 10k on the clock, got rid of that with 36k as the timing belt snapped! Luckily Vauxhall agreed to pay most of the repair costs so I wasnt stung too badly.

Next was a Mondeo, I was the 9th owner, bought with 96k on the clock, ran it up to 205k.

Then a Pug 306TD with 98k, ran that for 6 months up to 116k, paid £500 sold for £200.

I have a theory that cars tend to be relatively cheap with around 100k on the clock as people are worried once a car gets near to this "magical" figure, so try looking for that mileage to see if you can get a bargain.

So, in summary, I bought the Corsa and Rover with very little research and paid the price, the other cars were researched and I got good value out of them. The Nova, was my first "expensive" car and my Dad gave me the tip to buy that one, he's a driving instructor so knows a bit about cars.

jimjames

scaredofdebt wrote: »

Research the make/model you are buying, some are known to be good for high miles.

I have a theory that cars tend to be relatively cheap with around 100k on the clock as people are worried once a car gets near to this "magical" figure, so try looking for that mileage to see if you can get a bargain.

I think that's a really good point. There seems to be this magical 100k number that maybe historically mean that a car was past it but these days it could be done in a couple of years of motorway driving. I bought a Passat that was 2.5 years old with 110k on the clock. Paid 1/3 of the new price and after 4 years have had no major mechanical issues. If anything I would much prefer a car that has been run in on a motorway with regular servicing and any faults fixed under warranty than a low miler just used to go to the shops that never gets warmed up.

The reality is that with routine servicing a car, particularly diesels, should be able to go several hundred thousand miles without too much problem so it is good to be able to take advantage of other people's reservations about high mileage and bag a bargain!