high mileage cars .... a bad idea??

Mac89

Hi guys .... need you advice here!!

Have a budget of around €5K - €6K for a used car (thats incl. my trade in). Would love to get something a bit more upmarket like a mini or beetle rather than say a polo or clio.

Would it be worth the risk buyng a well maintained, say, 03 mini or beetle with high mileage (approx 80,000) rather than something like an 06 polo or clio with lower mileage (approx 55,000) ??

Basically would a well maintained sturdier car hold the higher mileage ok or should i just steer clear of high mileage alltogether??

Thanks

OldmanMondeo

k is not high milage. In this day and age, most of the milage would have been done on roads of a decent quality. If the car has a full service history and you get it properly checked out, you should be ok. But bear in mind that some things will need to be done, timing belt, others will be near the end of their life from wear and tear, clutch, bushing etc. If you are willing to take this on then go for it.

Mac89

would it cost a bomb to replace things like a timing belt tho? like i dont want to buy a heap of problems either!! .... but i do want i nice looking car. the one im looking at has an NCT till June 2013. i dont mind changing it again in 18months or so really, as long as its not constantly in the garage!!

W.Shakes-Beer

80k isn't high mileage on modern cars imo.

If an 80k car has been looked after it will serve you better that a car with 50k that hasn't been looked after.

Timing belt and water pump is around €300 so factor that in, but if you keep the eye out you'd get a car thats had the belt changed.

EPM

My last car was relatively high mileage for the year. I put the mileage on and it had a full history. It even looked like a car with a quarter of the mileage. I have no doubt the engine would have done the same mileage at least again.

I have driven the same car with half the mileage and they were dogs. It all depends on how a car was looked after. I wouldn't run away from a high mileage car if it had a proven service history. Of course consumables will always be more urgent but if you buy with this in mind and at a price to reflect it you really should not have any more problems than a low mileage car. I have even bought higher mileage cars over a lower mileage example because it was the better car despite what the clock said.

b318isp

209,000 miles on my car now. No plans to replace it either. Has cost me less in maintenance in last few years than our family MPV (which had 33,000-97,000 miles). My brother's car has 165,000 miles and my Dad's has 145,000 and all going strong.

Good maintenance and an owner who has some shown care for the car are important.

Needler

High mileage car > low mileage car that spent a lot of time in slow moving city traffic

Leonard Hofstadter

+1 on that, how the car has been looked after is far more important than the miles on the clock.

I have a car with 126,000 miles on the clock and it's going perfectly - and why wouldn't it, 126,000 miles is not that much for a car that is quite well made, the only thing I do to it is I get it serviced exactly at manufacturer's recommended interval.

Look after your car and it will (usually) look after you:)!

bazz26

Mileage is not an accurate indication of wear and tear on a car. It's how the car was driven rather than how far it was driven.

Beetle v MINI, no contest go for the MINI, much better car. Talk to PaintDoctor, he knows these cars inside out.

Mac89

bazz26 wrote: »

Mileage is not an accurate indication of wear and tear on a car. It's how the car was driven rather than how far it was driven.

Beetle v MINI, no contest go for the MINI, much better car. Talk to PaintDoctor, he knows these cars inside out.

thanks will defo ask him a few questions!!

Greyfoot

Smaller engines might suffer more from higher mileage but not neccesarily. Make of the engine also important as some series are more reliable than others. Also as others said maintenance and regular servicing are very important.
A healthy engine should last as long as 300k+ miles without a need for an overhaul.