Is Buying a car with 164,000 asking for trouble?

tykesi

renfrew999 wrote: »

AlexLK, what's that based on?

Being ill informed and listening to the 'lower miles is better regardless of age' brigade?

AdrianC

renfrew999 wrote: »

AlexLK, what's that based on?

Sheer knee-jerk, rather than any sound logic.
<looks out window at 210k mile recent purchase - yes, nearing end-of-life, but not for mechanical reasons...>

AlexLK

renfrew999 wrote: »

AlexLK, what's that based on?

Based on the fact that there is 164,000 miles worth of wear on every component on the car that hasn't been replaced. When I buy cars I always try to buy an example with the lowest mileage (as a trade off I'm not bothered about age).

AlexLK

tykesi wrote: »

Being ill informed and listening to the 'lower miles is better regardless of age' brigade?

I am absolutely not "ill informed". My cars are all very low mileage examples and are maintained by myself. Still, they cost in the region of £500-600 per year to keep on the road and I dread to think how much more a vehicle with over 150,000 miles on the clock would cost in maintenance.

Putting logic to one side, I have no desire to sit in a 150,000 miles worn seat.

AdrianC wrote: »

Sheer knee-jerk, rather than any sound logic.
<looks out window at 210k mile recent purchase - yes, nearing end-of-life, but not for mechanical reasons...>

See above, not a knee-jerk reaction.

AdrianC

AlexLK wrote: »

My cars are all very low mileage examples and are maintained by myself. Still, they cost in the region of £500-600 per year to keep on the road and I dread to think how much more a vehicle with over 150,000 miles on the clock would cost in maintenance.

Quite possibly less. Vehicles really do not like low use. They don't like sitting around unused. They don't like being started and taken a mile, then shut down whilst still cold. That kind of use gives you "very low mileage", but is one of the best ways to mechanically kill a car in short order.

And that's before we consider the style of driving of many "very low mileage" drivers - <stereotype>clutch-slipping 5000rpm touch-parking Grandma</stereotype>...

AlexLK

Adrian: Whilst to a point I understand where you are coming from, I do not mind replacing mechanical parts to an extent. Trim and bodywork on the other hand, I'd rather not have to deal with (both of which become very expensive very quickly).

I don't suppose the cars I buy are bought by your stereotypical grandma type, anyhow.

[Deleted User]

AlexLK wrote: »

Still, they cost in the region of £500-600 per year to keep on the road

Assuming the term "to keep on the road" refers only to servicing and repairs (and doesn't include tax, insurance, fuel and the like) then my 180,000 mile+ ex taxi, cost me less than half that, over the approx 3 years I ran it.

AdrianC

AlexLK wrote: »

Trim and bodywork on the other hand, I'd rather not have to deal with (both of which become very expensive very quickly).

I fail to see the correlation between mileage and bodywork. Trim, I'll grant you - but constant ingress and egress will wear much more than merely sitting in the seat on a motorway.

JonathanA

So, my Galaxy, which was previously a private hire vehicle used by a travel agent to take customers to ports and airports had done 140k miles when I bought it last August. It has a full service history from Ford. The interior is immaculate, the car is 4 years old and looked like new internally.

I've done 12,000 miles since I've had it, so it is now due for a service. Total costs other than fuel (it does 48mpg), tax and insurance - nil. The service will be a couple of hundred or so and yes, with a couple of months I'll need some new front tyres, but I'd need those on any car I bought.

Contrast that to my last Mondeo which was lower mileage but in the 2 years I owned it needed a new EGR valve, DPF, starter motor, clutch and got to the stage the injectors were so worn they needed replacing.

Give me a high mileage, well looked after car over a low mileage car any day!

AlexLK

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Assuming the term "to keep on the road" refers only to servicing and repairs (and doesn't include tax, insurance, fuel and the like) then my 180,000 mile+ ex taxi, cost me less than half that, over the approx 3 years I ran it.

Servicing, repairs and preventative maintenance. Perhaps the odd "treat" too.

AdrianC wrote: »

I fail to see the correlation between mileage and bodywork. Trim, I'll grant you - but constant ingress and egress will wear much more than merely sitting in the seat on a motorway.

By bodywork, I mean rust. So far as dents and scratches go, that depends on how the previous owner has looked after the car.