97TURBO

What do u guys class as high mileage?
For example, my scoob has done 130,000mls which i consider only just coming into high mileage bracket for that car, i would buy an Audi with 150'000 on the clock without a 2nd thought.
Whats your opinion on it?

HankScorpio

For annual, anything more than 15k/year.
For total life 100k.

Would maybe buy a "premium" brand at 100k but wouldn't go for a cheaper brand at that (or anything french with more than 20k )

mykp

Having dealt with a few jap cars then i'd class 100,000kms, 60,000 miles as high mileage for an import but for a Uk car then over 100K is high mileage.

My current forester is 10 years old and has 54k on the clock.

Highest milage car I have owned was a 1978 Mk1 fiesta with 113,000 miles and i'd put half of these on over a 12 year period, got rid 4 years ago.

One of my customers has a 1982 S-class with 357K on the clock! now that is high mileage

Petem95

Depends on a number of things, such as how old the car is, and what sort of usage its had.

An ex-fleet car which has been sat on the motorway for 3 years, and done 30k/year might have 90k on the clock, but an ex driving instrutor car of the same age might have only done 15k per year, but with a total of 45k would probably have more 'wear' than the ex-fleet one.

100k is certainly not high mileage for any modern car tho! A lot of people seem to have this mindset that the car will die at 100k, and is ready for the scrapyard, but its not the case. I would be happy to buy an ex-fleet car with 110k and expect to keep it for 3years and get some reliable use out of it up to 150k.

Certainly get more mileage out well engineered stuff like VW, Audi, BMW too without a doubt!

ScooByer Trade

Some people forget or don't realise, that compared with cars made by BL the cars made now are leaps and bounds ahead.

Shark Man

I look at it from different angles; Mileage is only a part of the big picture.

High mileage as in 100K+ miles on a newish car is great. As you know that cars has spent most of its life on the motorway, not in a city attracting door dings. Most likely a fleet car, so maintained with no expense spared (within reason). And anything likely to go wrong on it will have already been fixed.

A old car with 100K+ I would expect to show some wear and tear and starting to look shabby; especially the cars used for city driving or as shopping cars. Mechanical condition is iffy, totally reliant on how its been cared for, however, seeing its got this far, its usually been taken good care of.

The worst IMO is the average miles, average age cars, you know, the 40K-80K 4 to 6 year old cars: Most are used for daily commutes, shopping/school runs, where mumsy doesn't think twice about what damage going up and down curbs does to the suspension and steering, and never keeps a close eye on maintanence schedules, let alone know how to open the bonnet.

The condition of these latter cars can be appauling. Doesn't matter if its a VW or Audi - if its not taken care of, it'll die. Just like Mumsy with her VW Sharon TDi that wouldn't turn over. Daddy, thinks "battery" and tries to jump it, still no go...so it must be the starter. Nope. The fact that neither bothered to check the oil on any occasion between services meant the engine had seized; an engine good for 150K miles dead in 70K.

I've just rebuilt an Audi A4 20v engine which was dead from lack of any services from new....it had only done 44,000miles. I was quite shocked, as I presumed it had well over 80K on it, it was only this week that the battery was connected, so I could actually read the odometer. I have to admit, its the roughest A4 that I have ever seen.

97TURBO

Yeah my old mans Audi 100 MY92 has 245,000 miles on the clock, last service was 110,000 and yet it runs like the day he bought it. Now his 2nd car as he has company car. I saw an Audi S4(98) Avant for £4,000(ono) with 190,000 on the clock, but its a powerful car and is 2nd to none when it comes to build quality, im very tempted..............

97TURBO

It shows just how opinions differ, in my book and Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Merc, Honda......are all just starting life at 100,000 and the engine is just coming into its prime.
I would'nt tar all french cars with the same brush, my old 205Gti made 170,000 no problem before selling it on.

HankScorpio

Yeah but for me, it's not just the engine. A lot of ancillaries won't be engineered for that life and the number of things that would start to be replacing would be off-putting for me. Also the interior wear and tear.

No doubt some things can do a lot more but as the original post was looking for opinions as to what high mileage for me was - that's what he got!

There's a great statistic that says something like 70% of all toyota corollas ever made are still on the road - but *I* wouldn't buy one with more than 100k.
I might be missing out but there you go

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

my porsche has 156k miles, and to be honest it really drives like a new car!

ScooByer Trade

I know Hank and i am not doubting the Toyota Corolla, they are nice to drive and all the rest of it.But when i look at them now showing 100k miles or more, i think the taxi drivers picked a great replacment from the Triumph Acclaim and lets face it, more of them in the scrapyard the better.

Janspeed

iTrader: (1)

Had two Volvo T5s and both did something close to 300,000 kms each which were completed in 4 years in both cases. and not one problem.
Had all the services performed, and a lot of motorway in the total kms.

They dont make cars like that anymore.

docdave5902

to me miles meen nothing as long as they are reflected in the purchase price of a car,having been a mechanic for a taxi company for many years ive seen allsorts,currently we have pug 406 hdi s and focus tddi s all with well over 200k and thrashed within a inch of their lives round town daily and still run perfectly,years ago i bought a 190e merc with full history and 62k,a week after purchase the oil sprayer bar blocked,the cam chewed up and bent the tip of a valve over,my current work mobile is a old laguna with 150k,no history and runs like a singer sowing machine,10k or 150k,if it runs right thats all that matters in my opinion.

harry007

I had a old skool civic vt with 140k on the clock, constantly revved to 9200rpm (did have a spoon ecu with some aggresive cams)...a friend had his crx with 213k!!! and it dynoed just below 170bhp.

Haroon.

paulwrxboro

just sold a nice 02 vectra elite with a 150000 miles for 2.5k and had loads of intrest

i was suprised

dazc2

I'm a time served mechanic. From my experience of cars, milage is totaly and completely irrelevant. What is relevant is the way the car has been looked after and maintained.

High milage cars I wouldn't really go for is anything French or Italian, or currently Vauxhall. One of our customers have a mixed fleet of cars from 2 well know volume manufacturers, one being Vauxhall. We cannot keep the Vauxhalls out of the workshop now they are over 50k miles.

I have 3 Transits, all with 250k on the clock. 1 has had a gearbox, the other 2 have had starters and injector pumps and nothing more other than routine maintenance and consumable items like clutches and exhausts.

skinters

Yeah - depends on the history BUT the higher the miles, the more chance of potential issues. There are cases that highlight both ways but I still say the odds are stacking the other way as the mileage climbs to 150k+

That said, my saab 9k is 165k miles and has been lavished since 90k with Mobil1 every 6k miles, fresh parts whenever worn etc and it's sweet as a nut. I have no illusion what 250k will be a piece of cake.
Smaller and expecially french cars are generally garbage above 100k. Although many are blighted by not being looked after either.

Cocker

iTrader: (3)

Father in law's J reg Merc 190 is on 160k i think and still going strong

lozgti

When we bought our X trail it had done 60k in 3 years.

It had been serviced to within an inch of its life bang on the dot.As far as I was concerned that was good enough for me .Expecting it to do well over 150k

In the old days buying a second hand car,I wouldn't have wanted anything with more than about 30k on the clock.I have no idea why.

T1000

I think it definitely depends on how the car has been looked after and whether the engine itself is good quality. I used to have a BMW 318i with 150,000 on the clock and although a bit tappety, I used to thrash the living daylights out of it daily to and from work and it never missed a beat. I also drove it flat out at 132 mph showing on my GPS for nearly 10 minutes on the Autobahn :-) I used to change the oil and filters every few thousand miles though and looked after it. That indicated to me that there is a lot more to read into than just the mileage of the car!

skinters

yeah - my folks obsessively hunt down cars with looney low mileages - anything above about 15k seems to cause upset. My happy 165k miler seems to cause them serious distress.

And they always get problems.... I expect some are due to the low mileage not being enough to flush them out prior. Others due to buying lower quality cars to get the mileage for the price - when a mid-mileage high quality car would have been my choice.

Horses for courses though

pwhittle

I've had about 15 cars, ranging from 60k (Scoob) to 167k (Granada), probably average about 120k.
I wouldn't but any French or Italian with more than 7 miles on, but decent stuff lasts - I've had a few Volvos with 140k+ which drove perfectly (for a volvo!)
I wouldn't but a high mileage TD though, turbos don't last, and even the fuel pumps cost a fortune to replace.

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

Bosses car is a 55 plate Vectra CDTi 1.9. 102k so far. It's a fecking dog. Most uncomfortable car I have ever driven.

lozgti

Friends 1.9tdi skoda superb just done 100k.

Not a hiccup and he said its as perfect as the day he picked it up and feeling 'just right' now

markGT

I have a Saxo VTS as my daily drive to work. I've had it for 7 years since it was brand new and it now has 110K on the clock. Its never failed to start, still on its first clutch, shockers, springs etc. I've only replaced the exhaust, brake discs and pads once (don't use the brakes much). It gets serviced once a year and I think I'm going to have to shoot it when the end comes

500

I had a n E30 325i that had done 198k, thrashed daily and still going strong, also a VW Transporter petrol with 160k, again thrashed to within an inch of it's life daily, lived very near the limiter and still perfect, even with a weeping head gasket (just topped the water up once a week) and a bit of a rattle on idle

The Chief

I had an Audi A6 2.8 Quattro - i sold it with 144k on the clock. Never missed a beat and was silky smooth and quick.

Only sold it because a big service was looming.

RB5 Boyo

My 1999 RB5 has 57,000 miles on it and I would class it as low milage for the year of the car.

I also have a 1995 Toyota Carina E 1.6 petrol which i bought 7 months ago for my daily driver and all the long runs etc for £450 with 6 months tax/test on it....give it a good service as soon as i got it along with a new timing belt and all the rest and its running like a dream.

It has 120,000 miles on it now and ive just came back from a 700 mile trip and the car never let a churp or a miss out of it the whole time I was away, and i was on some rough terrain during that with plenty of hard driving around the south of Ireland!!
Now show me a car that I can buy for £450 with 120k+ that will be as reliable ....i would say that a good jap car like a Toyota or Honda etc etc is just 'run in' at that sort of milage ands i would have no probs buying something similar in the future with much higher milage

You cant beat the Jap Scrap!!