would you buy a car with high miles ?

[woodyracing]

such as 90,000+ ?

if a car is only a couple of years old but high miles, what should you look out for ?

[Dave Brand]

Originally posted by woodyracing
such as 90,000+ ?

if a car is only a couple of years old but high miles, what should you look out for ?

I've never been frightened of high mileage. A car which has done a high mileage will most likely have done mainly long journeys, which means relatively few cold starts; short runs & a lot of cold starts wear an engine much more than long motorway drives.

I'd look for signs of the car having been well looked after - a good service record, bills for replacement parts, no small dings, scratches, etc., & no accident damage. How does it drive? Does the suspension & steering feel taut, do the brakes pull it up smoothly & squarely. Any smoke or rattles from the engine, how does the gearchange feel.

A high-mileage car will most likely have been a company car, so contacting the preivous driver may be difficult; steer clear of pool cares!

With 90,000+ miles showing in two years' use it probably hasn't been 'clocked'!

[BertMk2]

A new(ish) car with high mileage is a better bet than an old(ish) car with low miles - for the reasons given above. As long as it's got it's service history and everything has been kept up to date then it should be fine.

The biggest problem is getting an ex hire car or a pool car, they tend to be unloved and uncared for (generally thrashed and trashed).

[Dave Brand]

Originally posted by Dave Brand
steer clear of pool cares!

...or even pool cars!

[Bluebottle]

Originally posted by woodyracing
such as 90,000+ ?

It's a while now since either of our cars had that low a mileage

[Mattracer]

I think it depends on the kind of car that it is. Looking to buy a runabout car, you would try if possible to buy a new car because quite honestly, I'm horrified at the general level of ambivalence towrads upkeep of cars. Take a walk through a shooping centre car park and have a look at the numerous bald/damaged tyres, obvious rust(what about the rust you can't see) and things like wiper blades. Then there's the more outward expressions of automotive neglect like disregarded accident damage, uncared-for paintwork and smoke-belching exhausts. Helllloooooo people, this is your life being transported and often in close proximity to the lives of others.

I think I went slightly off topic there and onto a pet hate of mine, sorry. Buying something more interesting like a Porsche, sports car etc, high mileage need not be a turn off, you just need to lokk harder and have some backgroun knowledgeabout what to expect of those cars and their age.

[Carrie]

It's got to all depend on how much the car has been cared for obviously, but I wouldn't necessarily be put off a high mileage car (my cars soon end up as high mileage anyway).
My first car had 96,000 on the clock when I bought it and I kept it after that for a further 5 1/2 years. The lady who had it before me did a commute from a small village north west of Manchester to Sheffield everyday. When I sold that car it was 11 years old and it had every receipt for any work that had ever been done on it or things bought for it (right down to each time it had had new wipers).

[Adam43]

It depends what the car is. Generally the bigger engine the better. I race a 130K XJS - it is just run in! I drive a high mileage car on the road too.

Knowledge it has been well looked after helps.

[garcon]

I bought a Merc E320, less than three years old with 90k on it - one owner, ex-company car - added another 22k in 18 months, it's as good as new and I paid for nothing other than servicing, MoT and four tyres. Oh and £'000s depreciation, but I prefer not to think about that...


Little while ago I bought a Nissan Maxima 3.0 to do work mileage between Manchester & Glasgow every week. It cost me 2 grand with 130k miles, I added 20k in 9 months and sold it for 1.5k with a gearbox...

It's all in the timing - you know you may get a big bill anytime soon, but if you sell it at the right time, that becomes someone else's problem.

[Bluebottle]

It would seem then that the history of a car is more important than the mileage- a high mileage car with no known history might not be such a good idea, so good advice about the pool cars, same goes for ex-rental cars as they tend to get thrashed to bits.

[paul c]

I've only ever once (in eighteen years) bought a car with less than 85,000 miles on it. That was a Vauxhall Carlton with 40,000 miles and it was the worst car we've ever had. 95,000 is the average and we usually get several years from them. Our old Ford Granada Mk 3 we bought as a 'stop-gap' with 93,000 miles and kept it for seven years it was so reliable. In terms of advice, go for big and exec. since they tend to have been built to a quality rather than a price. No-one wants them and the savings you make in purchase easily outweigh the higher insurance and petrol costs. You do get niggly things with older high milers, such as the leaky coolant in my Saab (see earlier thread), but I wouldn't have thought such things would be likely to trouble a recent two or three year old car. Not so sure I'd be willing to have something small with high miles though.

[TimD]

That's a very good point. Small cars with smaller capacity engines tend to have worked harder in their lives. They're not geared for big motorway use, and town driving with little journies has its own drawbacks for the life of a car.

By contrast, a car with a bigger, more powerful engine, with lazier gearing, is going by its very nature to have been less stressed in its life. Something like a Mercedes or Volvo with big miles needn't be a moneypit, and indeed will have done most of its depreciating long before you get your hands on it.

Indeed, my old Mercedes was bought at 21 years of age, with service records to prove it was a London car with an average mileage of less than 5000 miles per annum - and yes, the valve gear was knackered! One of these days I'll actually get around to dropping a new motor into it, and stop it clogging up Bluebottle's garage!

[kmchow]

The good thing about buying high mileage is that the average person avoids it like SARS (the plague)! However, there are real gems out there-high mileage, well taken care of cars!

I've sold one! It had 200K, but it drove beautifully! Well kept.

[garcon]

About 14 years ago I was absolutely gutted when I couldn't afford the £250 quid that would have seen me in a mate's 1976 Toyota Crown saloon, 2.6 auto, needed a respray but otherwise brilliant, 400k miles on one engine and two gearboxes. Everything electrical - and I mean everything - still worked perfectly, right down to the stereo/aircon controls for rear passengers...

In years to come, there will be loads of Lexus LS400s with half a million miles on them that'll still be running perfect.

[graham bahr]

my tow car a peugoet 405 turbo diesel has just turned 200,000 miles, it uses no oil and will still tow the race car around at illegally high motorway speeds 70+ whislst doing 35mpg or 45 mpg plus without the trailer.

[Bluebottle]

I trust you don't actually tow at 70+!

[AndyF]

I've seen plenty of decent looking Vauxhall Carlton/Vauxhall Senator/Renault Safrane/Ford Granada etc going for under £500. Excellent value if you can afford to run them!

[graham bahr]

quite regulary! correctly loaded my trailer is rock steady, and far safer that a caravan wobbling all over the place at 50!

[Bluebottle]

To explain my to members from other countries, our laws restrict towing to 60mph on motorways and 50mph on other roads.

[Maisie]

*cough*

[Bluebottle]