Cars for sale with very high mileage - would you buy?

NIMAN

I am thinking of changing my car this year and have been doing plenty of looking around the various websites.

I have noticed that there are a large number of cars for sale with very high mileage, admittedly a lot of these are UK cars which have probably come from fleets and the miles have been clocked up on motorway driving.

But all the same, I immediately would lose interest in any car that has very high mileage, I don't even look at the price as I wouldn't be interested in them.

For example, this beauty caught my eye:
http://cars.donedeal.co.uk/for-sale/cars/4504236

until I seen the mileage. Immediately its off the list, no matter how nice it is or what condition its in.

So is it just me? Or would you ever consider buying a car that would be 100,000+ miles on it already?

Supergurrier

S4 badge on it would have been enough for me

kevin65

High mileage is not necessarily a bad thing if a car has been doing motorway miles and has been regularly serviced. I'd be more concerned by the fact it has a Donegal reg so was probably imported from the UK and then thrashed around the backroads of Donegal.

MuppetCheck

That's not very high. I was expecting something with 200+ miles.

If there is a service history, timing belt change, the suspension has had anything worn sorted out and the price reflects the mileage then it may not be a bad move. Just bear in mind parts wear so some may need replacing but if the price made sense I can't see why not.

tossy

Wow a special edition diesel S4 There is nothing special edition about that car,it has a sat nav alright but nothing special edition about it.

I wouldn't mind buying a high miler if it had the service history to back it up,i'd rather a high miler with impeccable service history over a low miler with questionable history.

DL reg diesel Audis with S or RS badges ring more bells than 127 thousand miles for me on this one though

MuppetCheck

Supergurrier wrote: »

S4 badge on it would have been enough for me

Why? It's a badge. Over compensating for something else maybe but it can be easily removed.

sean1141

20k miles a year is not high millage on a diesel..

tossy

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Why? It's a badge. Over compensating for something else maybe but it can be easily removed.

In my experience people who put RS/S badges on diesels tend to think they own rocket ships and tend to drive them very hard,qand tend to fit spurious parts and treat servicing as something to be done only in an extreme case when bits start to break and fail.

blindside88

I've never bought anything with less than 100k miles on it. I drive 40k miles per year so there's no pint in me paying a premium for a low mileage car. I wouldn't consider that high mileage, less mileage on a diesel would be the worry with it being short trips which can cause problems

NIMAN

sean1141 wrote: »

20k miles a year is not high millage on a diesel..

Maybe not, but I have seen plenty of 3 and 4yr old cars for sale with similar mileage.

Its more the overall figure I'm talking about. If I was buying 2nd hand, I would be hoping to get a car under 50 or 60k miles on it, not one that already has 120 or 150k on it. Maybe as some of you say, this is the wrong way of looking at it, but high mileage to me = more likelihood of problems (whether that is correct or not).

triple-M

I-d have no hesitation in buying a high mileage car once the price is right

MuppetCheck

tossy wrote: »

In my experience people who put RS/S badges on diesels tend to think they own rocket ships and tend to drive them very hard,qand tend to fit spurious parts and treat servicing as something to be done only in an extreme case when bits start to break and fail.

While I'd agree, like I said in my earlier post if it checks out alright it might not be a bad buy. But then checking out is the key. I know of a particularly badly badged car that's mothered better than my own and I'm picky!

dahamsta

High mileage my arse. There's 3 cars in my drive at the moment and they all have mileage around that mark. Granted they're all more than twice the age of the "S4", but as someone else said, 20k/year is fine on a diesel. However it has been driven by a twat, so I'd be going over it with a fine(r) tooth comb.

ABajaninCork

No. I wouldn't consider it.

MuppetCheck

ABajaninCork wrote: »

No. I wouldn't consider it.

You get the most marks in an exam for the explanation.

You may as well say I wouldn't buy a black car because they all blow up.

ABajaninCork

MuppetCheck wrote: »

You get the most marks in an exam for the explanation.

You may as well say I wouldn't buy a black car because they all blow up.

Whatever. I do not buy high mileage cars. That's it.

Bpmull

There is 100k miles on my 2008 astra and I wouldn't even consider it that high. So 120k miles on a 2007 diesel is average enough. A well minded diesel will go forever and mileage is really a number you could get the same car with half the mileage that might be wrecked. It's all about how the car was minded and maintained IMO.

The Pontiac

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Whatever. I do not buy high mileage cars. That's it.

You can buy a car with 120k on the clock - motorway mileage - with FSH.

Or buy the same year car, with 70k on the clock, driven in South Kerry boreen roads, with no service history, for a much higher price.

Most Irish people would opt for the latter. The mind boggles.

MuppetCheck

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Whatever. I do not buy high mileage cars. That's it.

Well that doesn't make sense to me. My cars are usually high mileage for their age but do easy mileage on motorways. Family members do much smaller mileage around the town and they show it. If the history was there and the car had what it needed like timing belts high mileage cars can be better buys. If they are covering larger miles they are generally doing the majority of miles properly warmed up, on relatively decent roads and not getting hammered by speed bumps and short trips.

But by all means buy a city car because the clock shows a lower number. It's obviously better.

ABajaninCork

The Pontiac wrote: »

You can buy a car with 120k on the clock - motorway mileage - with FSH.

Or buy the same year car, with 70k on the clock, driven in South Kerry boreen roads, with no service history, for a much higher price.

Most Irish people would opt for the latter. The mind boggles.

I'm not Irish. I'm not most people. Where I come from a high mileage car spells trouble whether there is a FSH or not. Therefore I steer clear.

anthony4335

I really hate that term "Motorway Mileage", like that is some miracle phrase that makes the car practically new and unused. First how can you prove it was on the motorway for any of the 120k miles. What is the basis for a car having high mileage been in better condition just because it was driven on a motorway.
It wouldn't bother me as long as the price reflects the mileage, and a proven service history. And I would think that car while lovely is too expensive.

The Pontiac

ABajaninCork wrote: »

I'm not Irish. I'm not most people. Where I come from a high mileage car spells trouble whether there is a FSH or not. Therefore I steer clear.

I forgot, you're from Cork!!

The Pontiac

anthony4335 wrote: »

I really hate that term "Motorway Mileage", like that is some miracle phrase that makes the car practically new and unused. First how can you prove it was on the motorway for any of the 120k miles. What is the basis for a car having high mileage been in better condition just because it was driven on a motorway.
It wouldn't bother me as long as the price reflects the mileage, and a proven service history. And I would think that car while lovely is too expensive.

A lot of 'high mileage' UK cars are in fact motorway driven cars. Usually stuck in 6th car, with little or no engine wear, clutch or gearbox use, brakes etc. No potholes.. UK Fleet/company owned cars are actually serviced on time.

How do you know? Do your homework. Check the service book (bizarrely they do actually service them and keep records). Do a history check etc.

Have you seen the condition of some of UK fleet/company cars? They're practically like new.

Irish roads are a joke at this stage. Bad for the car and downright dangerous.

olcod

Was stuck for a car last may and just wanted a cheap small run around, a friend told me of a dealer friend of his selling a 04 Fiat Punto and I could have it for 700 euro, snag.... 160k up on the clock and lost service history, I made a few inquiries and found out that these little puntos that people tell sooo many jokes about are well able to notch up 220 k and sometimes more if well minded :eek:, this car looked immaculate so I bit the bullet and bought it. Nearly a year on and im delighted, its now got 185 k up on it and a couple of months ago flew through the test needing just tires and a bulb . My answer..... YES !!! , it's all down to how the car has been minded.

NIMAN

The Pontiac wrote: »

A lot of 'high mileage' UK cars are in fact motorway driven cars. Usually stuck in 6th car, with little or no engine wear, clutch or gearbox use, brakes etc. No potholes.. UK Fleet/company owned cars are actually serviced on time.

How do you know? Do your homework. Check the service book (bizarrely they do actually service them and keep records). Do a history check etc.

Have you seen the condition of some of UK fleet/company cars? They're practically like new.

Irish roads are a joke at this stage. Bad for the car and downright dangerous.

Bit of a generalisation there. As someone who drives in NI frequently I think the roads in Ireland are as good if not better than the North. And are you hinting that the UK is blessed with immaculate roads all over? Cos that ain't true either.

I hear where you are all coming from on the 'motorway miles' thing but as someone asked, if you see a 3yr old car from the UK with 100k miles, how do you know that most of these were racked up on a motorway? There is no way at all of proving that the guy wasn't driving on B roads or country lanes a lot too.

Sobanek

When we were buying our own car in 2007, a 2002 Opel Vectra DTI with 95k miles looked and was actually better in terms of condition than a 2000 VW Passat 1.8T with only 55k miles.
It's all down to the owner and how well the car is maintained.

jimmycrackcorm

A high mileage car is a very viable proposition provided the price balances the possibility of repairs against the reliability of a lower mileage but more expensive car.

Basically what olcod said....

JohnBoy26

Id only consider a high mileage car if it was in perfect nick. Unfortunatly in Ireland most high mileage cars in my experience are below average, be it the condition of the bodywork or a worn interior etc there is always something to tell it has the miles done. Some also feel very loose and rattly compared to their low mileage counterpart.

In some other countries though a low mileage car would be considered high mileage here. For example in Australia there is supposed to be many cars doing over 300k miles without much effort and they are still in very good condition. A 150k mile car to them would be very low mileage car.

the_syco

6 year old car, 120,000 miles, tinted rear windows, modified reg plate.

2.0 TDI S Line SP. ED. 168BHP 5DR
NCT; Oct 2013
Tax; none

Has been on sale for around 2 months. Picture 5 the two red lights are probably handbrake a fuel. I wonder did the owner go many times very low (am told this is not good for diesel engines).

The mileage isn't that high, but the slight mods and no full spec makes me wonder what other mods were done to it?

sean1141

The Pontiac wrote: »

You can buy a car with 120k on the clock - motorway mileage - with FSH.

Or buy the same year car, with 70k on the clock, driven in South Kerry boreen roads, with no service history, for a much higher price.

Most Irish people would opt for the latter. The mind boggles.

And then they wonder why clocking is so common here!

the_syco wrote: »

I wonder did the owner go many times very low (am told this is not good for diesel engines).

How is it bad for them?

Del2005

sean1141 wrote: »

How is it bad for them?

It's not good for any engine to be run low regularly. There is a load of gunk down the bottom of tanks that gets sucked into the engine.

With the amount of people who bought diesel cars recently because there have low tax I can see low mileage diesels becoming harder to sell. There may be a time when clocking doesn't cut miles from a car it ads them on, since all the city diesels will have DPF and other issues stored up for the next owner.

keithclancy

NIMAN wrote: »

Maybe not, but I have seen plenty of 3 and 4yr old cars for sale with similar mileage.

Its more the overall figure I'm talking about. If I was buying 2nd hand, I would be hoping to get a car under 50 or 60k miles on it, not one that already has 120 or 150k on it. Maybe as some of you say, this is the wrong way of looking at it, but high mileage to me = more likelihood of problems (whether that is correct or not).

I'd steer clear of a Diesel with less than 20k / year tbh.
Their suited to long distance driving.

If its low mileage its either clocked or been bought for short runs, which wrecks a Diesel.

Of course all of the above is generalisation, but it hasn't put me wrong yet.

There are other clues you can look at too, like wear on the door locks, seats, gear stick, clutch pedal to give an idea of how its been treated.

Depends on what you want really, if you get one that has the expensive stuff done (TB/DMF/CAT/DPF) then there's less to worry about.

ewan whose army

I would only consider it if the car had all the docs for service history MOT etc. Audis are built like tanks if they are looked after so yeah I would buy that if it checked out OK

dgt

On condition yes I would. You need to know what you are looking for but plenty of good cars out there have high miles. My latest purchase has 164k miles, it required minimal work to get it right. It drives like a new car

Anyone who dismisses a high mileage car without any valid or logical reason is just plain stupid, a complete and utter idiot

mfceiling

I bought a 2002 audi a4 130 bhp in 2005 with 90,000 on it and a full history.

I don't even think the back seats had been sat in. One sales rep, fleet car and could say this thing drove like new.

Oul lad has it now and i think it's over or on the 200,000 miles now. Still starts first time and every switch and electric item works perfect. Has given a small bit of trouble the last while but nothing that is any way major.

His last motor was an old shape avensis which he bought from a local taxi man. He bought it with 150,000 on it and sold it to another taxi man with 230,000 on it.....still see it at home being used as a taxi - reckon he's sold it 5 years ago.

I've a diesel van with over 170,000 on it.

What is the problem with big miles again?

lifer_sean

High mileage is relative. The mileage on the car that the OP links to isn't high, it's average for a diesel of it's age.

Re UK cars, it isn't at all unusual to see three year old fleet cars with 150k-170k miles on them, and in spotless condition. So if you see a UK car with say 90k in 3 years, don't assume it's genuine, it still could have been clocked and you still need to check for service history. Some of those 170k miles examples are ending up in Ireland. I don't see many adverts on DD for 09 cars with 170k miles !

keithclancy

I would go for this:
http://www.autoscout24.de/Details.aspx?id=226318057&cd=634953595180000000&asrc=st%7cas

Steering wheel isn't in the correct position for you though

sealgaire

kevin65 wrote: »

High mileage is not necessarily a bad thing if a car has been doing motorway miles and has been regularly serviced. I'd be more concerned by the fact it has a Donegal reg so was probably imported from the UK and then thrashed around the backroads of Donegal.

Don't understand this "its ok cause its motorway miles" thing. See it a lot on this site. Motorways are hard on engines, car essentially been driven constantly flat out. Might save ya a bit on brakes etc but thats about it

Gumbo

sealgaire wrote: »

Don't understand this "its ok cause its motorway miles" thing. See it a lot on this site. Motorways are hard on engines, car essentially been driven constantly flat out. Might save ya a bit on brakes etc but thats about it

Flat out at 70mph..........

Del2005

sealgaire wrote: »

Don't understand this "its ok cause its motorway miles" thing. See it a lot on this site. Motorways are hard on engines, car essentially been driven constantly flat out. Might save ya a bit on brakes etc but thats about it

Any car bigger than 1.4l is not being driven flat out on a motorway. I've a 2l auto petrol and at 120km/h it's doing about 2,500rpm, it red lines at 6k. A modern 6 speed diesel at motorway speed will be barely off tick over.

That's why it's more economical to drive a bigger engined car on motorways.

_Kaiser_

Ironically this thread is making me feel better

My 06 2.0 TDI Passat has 234,000 km on the clock, full on-time dealer history, does mostly motorway miles and is kept as if it was my baby.

From some of the comments here it might actually be worth a few quid after all.

bazz26

I'd be more concerned about finding a 6 year old diesel car with only 50/60k miles on it than one with 120k miles.

Despite the current trend for low mileage drivers to buy diesel, traditionally diesels are bought to be driven. I would not be holding by breath trying to find a genuine 6 year old diesel with less than 60k miles on it without a full verified service history and I'm not talking about just looking at a stamped service book either.

As long as Joe Public applies the silly principle that "low mileage equals better car" then clocking will continue to be rife. The figure on the odometer is not an accurate indication of use or wear on a car.

kevin65

MuppetCheck wrote: »

You get the most marks in an exam for the explanation.

You may as well say I wouldn't buy a black car because they all blow up.

They do? Why the f*ck didn't someone mention this before now, I have two of them:eek:

NIMAN

dgt wrote: »

On condition yes I would. You need to know what you are looking for but plenty of good cars out there have high miles. My latest purchase has 164k miles, it required minimal work to get it right. It drives like a new car

Anyone who dismisses a high mileage car without any valid or logical reason is just plain stupid, a complete and utter idiot

Thats me told so.:o

Ded_Zebra

keithclancy wrote: »

I would go for this:
http://www.autoscout24.de/Details.aspx?id=226318057&cd=634953595180000000&asrc=st%7cas

Steering wheel isn't in the correct position for you though

But thats a low milage car unless it's been clocked . We had a 2007 Passat that had 190,000km on it is 2010. It was a 1.6 petrol and I would have considered it to have higher than average milage but nothing crazy compared to some cars. So 200,000km in twice as long I think is low.

NIMAN

So is the moral of the story "high mileage on diesels ok, but consider it carefully on petrols"?

keithclancy

Ded_Zebra wrote: »

But thats a low milage car unless it's been clocked . We had a 2007 Passat that had 190,000km on it is 2010. It was a 1.6 petrol and I would have considered it to have higher than average milage but nothing crazy compared to some cars. So 200,000km in twice as long I think is low.

It has 228702 on it?

sealgaire

NIMAN wrote: »

So is the moral of the story "high mileage on diesels ok, but consider it carefully on petrols"?

no, it isn't as simple as that

Ded_Zebra

keithclancy wrote: »

It has 228702 on it?

It says 200k in the ad.

keithclancy

Ded_Zebra wrote: »

It says 200k in the ad.

Look at the pics

Donnelly117

Supergurrier wrote: »

S4 badge on it would have been enough for me

Its tragic... Its a f****** diesel for gods sake