How much is too much mileage on a diesel car?

Shed.

Thinking about buying a 2008 A4 2.0TDI. There's a lot of good deals to be had on high mileage motors, but is say, 90K miles too much for a car of this year? Its easy to think a week after buying a car like this the turbo is going to explode or the DMF is going to give up and roll down the road in front of you from the so many horror stories online, and then there's resale to think about.
For added confusion some people say a low mileage diesel is a car to stay away from!!!
Any thoughts appreciated.

JohnBoy26

That mileage is nothing for a diesel. Id be more worried about a low mileage diesel used for stop start journeys. It really all depends on the complexity of the engine in the car you are looking at if small mileage is an issue or not.

If going for a passat, id get one with a 1.9pd tdi engine or a 2.0 Tdi CR engine. The 2.0pd tdi engine isn't suppose to be the most reliable of engines.

mickdw

Ive 70k on my 08 audi petrol and to be honest its only run in. Having bought new, I know its the correct mileage. If you can verify the mileage with proper history and invoices, that mileage is nothing and I would suggest anything less on a 5 year old diesel is going to be lies in most cases.

Bpmull

That mileage on a diesel wouldn't bother me at all. There is 100k miles on my 2008 astra and I wouldn't consider it that high. Once the car is well is minded mileage is really only a number.

dr.fuzzenstein

Are you sure it miles and not km?
2008 car will have ODO and speedo in km.

sean1141

possible import?

JohnBoy26

sean1141 wrote: »

possible import?

The country has been flooded by UK import diesel cars in the past few years.

The Pontiac

Depends on what diesel car.

A Vectra, Saab or Alfa with the 1.9 Fiat/GM engine, then more than likely the DMF is shagged @ 100k. See if has been done (look for receipts), and if hasn't allow for €800-€1000 at an indie. Check condition, noise at tick over when cold, or lock knocking at clutch biting point. VAG are possibly stonger, but depends on what kind of driving the car was doing.

It's also worth remembering the conditions of Irish roads. 100k is a lot of suspension wear on Kerry B roads. It's not on UK motorways. Service history is also important.

But 100k is not high mileage on a modern diesel.

JohnBoy26

The Pontiac wrote: »

Depends on what diesel car.

A Vectra, Saab or Alfa with the 1.9 Fiat/GM engine, then more than likely the DMF is shagged @ 100k. See if has been done (look for receipts), and if hasn't allow for €800-€1000 at an indie. Check condition, noise at tick over when cold, or lock knocking at clutch biting point.

It's also worth remembering the conditions of Irish roads. 100k is a lot of suspension wear on Kerry B roads. It's not on UK motorways. Service history is also important.

But 100k is not high mileage on a modern diesel.

:rolleyes: You do know there are other things other than suspension that are under pressure in a car, particullarly at motorway speed. And what's to say the car was on the motorway all the time? The UK has many back roads too with poor surfaces.

Ded_Zebra

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

:rolleyes: You do know there are other things other than suspension that are under pressure in a car, particullarly at motorway speed.

What would be under pressure

The Pontiac

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

:rolleyes: You do know there are other things other than suspension that are under pressure in a car, particullarly at motorway speed.

I was talking about suspension. Did you miss that part?

JohnBoy26

The Pontiac wrote: »

I was talking about suspension. Did you miss that part?

If you read my post again you'l see i didn't;)

The Pontiac

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

:rolleyes: You do know there are other things other than suspension that are under pressure in a car, particullarly at motorway speed. And what's to say the car was on the motorway all the time? The UK has many back roads too with poor surfaces.

Are you on drugs?

I never said the UK didn't have back roads. You can't prove the car was on the motorway all the time. I never said you could. If it was I said.

UK back are far superior to ours.

Lagoona Blue

sean1141 wrote: »

possible import?

maybe be silly question but why do uk imports have such high mileage ?

JohnBoy26

Ded_Zebra wrote: »

What would be under pressure

The gearbox for one and in some lower powered cars the engine also.

Ded_Zebra

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

The gearbox for one and in some lower powered cars the engine also.

I'm sorry but I have never come across a car (1.4 Bora included) that there was any indication it was under pressure doing 120km/h or faster. Seeing that this thread is discussing diesels which are generally geared high they are most certainly not strained to do 120.

JohnBoy26

The Pontiac wrote: »

Are you on drugs?

I never said the UK didn't have back roads. You can't prove the car was on the motorway all the time. I never said you could. If it was I said.

UK back are far superior to ours.

No, but you most be on something if you can't remember what you wrote:rolleyes:

The Pontiac wrote: »

Depends on what diesel car.

A Vectra, Saab or Alfa with the 1.9 Fiat/GM engine, then more than likely the DMF is shagged @ 100k. See if has been done (look for receipts), and if hasn't allow for €800-€1000 at an indie. Check condition, noise at tick over when cold, or lock knocking at clutch biting point. VAG are possibly stonger, but depends on what kind of driving the car was doing.

It's also worth remembering the conditions of Irish roads. 100k is a lot of suspension wear on Kerry B roads. It's not on UK motorways. Service history is also important.

But 100k is not high mileage on a modern diesel.

Please show me where you say ''If''

JohnBoy26

Ded_Zebra wrote: »

I'm sorry but I have never come across a car (1.4 Bora included) that there was any indication it was under pressure doing 120km/h or faster. Seeing that this thread is discussing diesels which are generally geared high they are most certainly not strained to do 120.

Many cars certinatly do become strained after 60mph a 1.4 Bora incuded. But I do agree with you that many diesel engines aren't strained at this speed, but everything else is turning faster than what they would be on an 80km/h back road.

Gael23

A VAG TDI is capable of infinite miles once its properly maintained. Just check the service history and if its all good then you won't have any problems.

The Pontiac

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

No, but you most be on something if you can't remember what you wrote:rolleyes:



Please show me where you say ''If''

I didn't say "if", I was talking about suspension wear/lack of on UK motorways compared to Irish B roads.

What is wrong with you?

challengemaster

Lagoona Blue wrote: »

maybe be silly question but why do uk imports have such high mileage ?

Probably mostly because anyone buying a diesel in the UK is only doing it because they're doing high milage. There's no motor tax incentives to buying diesel in the UK, and IIRC there's feck all price difference in fuel, So people don't buy a diesel to drive to the shops and back twice a week.

dr.fuzzenstein

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Many cars certinatly do become strained after 60mph a 1.4 Bora incuded. But I do agree with you that many diesel engines aren't strained at this speed, but everything else is turning faster than what they would be on an 80km/h back road.

The problem with back roads is that there's corners, braking, accelerating, changing gear, steering, there's bumps, ruts and man-sized potholes. And the odd boulder on the road that fell off one of those lovely old stone walls.
I'd buy a car with 150k km on motorways over one that has done 100k km on backroads.
Especially a front wheel drive, where the front wheels have to deal with everything at once, this is murder on the suspension, brakes and, especially on a diesel, the DMF.
The problem is not the bits going round at a constant rate, but the constant changing of forces.
And the knackered alloys are also a concern.

JohnBoy26

The Pontiac wrote: »

I didn't say "if", I was talking about suspension wear/lack of on UK motorways compared to Irish B roads.

What is wrong with you?

Well you claimed you did say ''if'' in your last post.

No you were assuming that uk cars are mostly on the motorway so they're suspension must be perfect which isn't exactly true because many parts of the uk have back roads not much better than our own.

And btw nothing is wrong with me. What is wrong with you? Why do you keep forgeting what you said in your previous posts?

The Pontiac

I give up. I think everyone knows what I was talking about. Buying an ex-fleet company, high mileage diesel car with FSH from the UK, where the car would have spent most of its life on the motorway.

I didn't think you were going to go off on one.. "other things other than suspension that are under pressure in a car, particullarly at motorway speed", "what's to say the car was on the motorway all the time?" etc. etc.

Ok then, motorway cars are bad too. I agree 100%. Jesus h

JohnBoy26

The Pontiac wrote: »

I give up. I think everyone knows what I was talking about. Buying an ex-fleet company, high mileage diesel car with FSH from the UK, where the car would have spent most of its life on the motorway.

I didn't think you were going to go off on one.. "other things other than suspension that are under pressure in a car, particullarly at motorway speed", "what's to say the car was on the motorway all the time?" etc. etc.

Ok then, motorway cars are bad too. I agree 100%. Jesus h

No im not saying motorway cars are bad at all. I taught you were saying all uk cars in general spend most of there time on the motorway. Now that you have mentioned ''ex fleet cars''I see where you are coming from.

oldsmokey

Our old-shape 2005 Passat tdi has 370000 kms on it and is rolling along nicely...interior wears well, no dreaded suspension problems, an aircon rad and alternator fitted, not much else...a bit heavy on front tyres, terrific on juice..50+mpg without behaving like an old woman, gearbox bearings groaning for past 50k, threw in some addidive to the 'box, and its not deteriorated..
So I'd say a 100000 miler is a safe bet...

blindside88

I've never bought anything with less than 100k miles on it (let someone else take the shine off it) I bought my current car 06 vectra with 190k kms on it a year and a half ago and it now has 300k kms, not a bother on it. I'd take a well maintained high miler over a poorly maintained low miler any day

derry

The Diesel engines I know of that exceed 1,000,000 kilometers are the Toyota and Mercerdez non turbo models .Toyota Carina erly 1990 era 2000cc 4 cyl 75BHP reputed by Dublin taxi drivers to get more than 1,600,000 kilometers ( 1 million miles )
The other engine is the Mercedes 6 inline 3000cc non turbo
Another engine is from the merc s 123 and 124 2500cc non turbo usually early 90s have sometimes exceeded 2,000,000 kilometers
The Mercs need a new set of injectors every 350k kilometers

I presume that is similar with Toyota.I have one jap im[port Carina 1993 with maybe 250,000 kilometers on the clock or seeing as it was Dublin Taxi before might be second time around but got it for €200 I drive most of Europe this year and done 50,000 kilometers in it since i bought it in 2010 .
Goes fine when i use it presently been sitting in car park in Switzerland since November got fed up spending two hours a day digging it out of the snow so will start it up again in April 2013 and use the bus for now .

The average Merc car they say will give up before the engine often they say around 500,000 kilometers

I will probably by a old VW van and drop the Toyoto Carina 2000 cc diesel in it as this is the only diesel I know that fits the old VW as the car is getting creaky

Derry

Viper_JB

I'd say it'd be 100% dependent on the previous owners and the car itself (some can just be dogs from the day they roll off the finish line till the day they roll into the scrap yard). But for all intent and purposes that's not a high mileage for a diesel, just do the same checks that anyone does, I wouldn't immediately decided not to get a car based on the mileage some times a well running higher mileage car can be better maintained then something with much less miles on it.

shooter88

derry wrote: »

The Diesel engines I know of that exceed 1,000,000 kilometers are the Toyota and Mercerdez non turbo models .Toyota Carina erly 1990 era 2000cc 4 cyl 75BHP reputed by Dublin taxi drivers to get more than 1,600,000 kilometers ( 1 million miles )
The other engine is the Mercedes 6 inline 3000cc non turbo
Another engine is from the merc s 123 and 124 2500cc non turbo usually early 90s have sometimes exceeded 2,000,000 kilometers
The Mercs need a new set of injectors every 350k kilometers

I presume that is similar with Toyota.I have one jap im[port Carina 1993 with maybe 250,000 kilometers on the clock or seeing as it was Dublin Taxi before might be second time around but got it for €200 I drive most of Europe this year and done 50,000 kilometers in it since i bought it in 2010 .
Goes fine when i use it presently been sitting in car park in Switzerland since November got fed up spending two hours a day digging it out of the snow so will start it up again in April 2013 and use the bus for now .

The average Merc car they say will give up before the engine often they say around 500,000 kilometers

I will probably by a old VW van and drop the Toyoto Carina 2000 cc diesel in it as this is the only diesel I know that fits the old VW as the car is getting creaky

Derry

A mates sister had a old diesel carina 300k miles on the clock when she got a new car,the carina was donated to the field where it lasted 2years of abuse finally having to be scrapped after kissing a ditch to hard

bladespin

I brought an Izusu Trooper up to 350k miles without much bother, if a car's looked after mileage shouldn't be a big issue, 90k shouldn't be anything on a diesel engine.

Seweryn

derry wrote: »

The average Merc car they say will give up before the engine often they say around 500,000 kilometers

True. Happened to my friend. The body started to rust on his 1987 300D Benz. The car covered near 1,200,000 km and the body had to be replaced. With a car like this, you need to make sure that you drive it a lot to get some use out of the engine, as the body will give up first.
He is going to put the engine and the gearbox and some mechanical bits into a different body.

dgt

About 3 years ago I saw my dads old taxi still flying around Dublin, as a taxi. Bought new in 1998, sold on in late 1999 with 96k miles on the clock, still like a new car. Marea TD100, would loved to have seen what the mileage was on it then

So to answer your question OP, diesels will keep on going with the right attention

FR85

Once it's maintained they'll go forever. I have a 2L TDI PD 170 engine, I have had to do the DMF, I got an EGR+DPF bypass and the Injectors were done under re-call, there is 130,000 miles on the clock and its 2007, I have done about 70k of those in two years and I plan on doing the same all going well!!
Keep her serviced.....

vader65

I'm going to agree with everyone on here. Those miles arn't too bad. I'd say 130K or so would be high for that year.

FR85

[QUOTE I'd say 130K or so would be high for that year.[/QUOTE]


Oy, my car resembles that remark!!!

vader65

Sorry I'm just saying! Nothing wrong with a car with high miles that is regular serviced with a history

FR85

vader65 wrote: »

Sorry I'm just saying! Nothing wrong with a car with high miles that is regular serviced with a history

It's ok, she didn't hear yeh!!

RedDeadMarshal

I have a 2005 Volkswagen Caddy with only 53k

Zcott

RedDeadMarshal wrote: »

I have a 2005 Volkswagen Caddy with only 53k

Sure she's not even warmed up yet.

I bought my previous car with 90k miles and my current one had about 45k miles on it when I bought it and to be honest there is a world of difference. I would never buy a car with miles anywhere near 100k again. Both petrol and my current car is 2006.

The car has less wear on everything from interior to body work, its tighter to drive, less wear and tear items to be replaced in it etc etc. I have it a year and a half and still haven't reached 60k miles so its so much fresher still than if I'd bough something with 100k that was now pushing 120k.

It will also have lower mileage when selling, making it worth more and easier to sell and I would plan on changing long before it gets to 100k miles.

I would set 50kish miles as about as high as I'd want the mileage on a car I was buying.

Sobanek

While riding recently in a taxi (2008 Mondeo 1.8 TDCI), I noticed it had 540k kms on the clock, so I guess a modern diesel can last about 800k kms if serviced properly

bladespin

TBH an engine should just about last forever if it's not abused and is looked after properly, a little love can go a long way. I know of a Passat with 600k (miles) on it and it's still going strong.

If a car's showing age at 90k then there's something seriously wrong.

vickers209

Fella i know traded his 10 ford focus diesel with only 16k on the clock for a 132.

thought he was mad

NuckingFacker

RedDeadMarshal wrote: »

I have a 2005 Volkswagen Caddy with only 53k

I picked up a 97 Hiace with 73K genuine miles up - it is literally like a new van. Considering we run them to 500k before we start wondering if they need a bit of attention, I'd say 100k is no biggie on a diesel - as long as someone dropped the oils when they needed dropping...

dr.fuzzenstein

bladespin wrote: »

TBH an engine should just about last forever if it's not abused and is looked after properly, a little love can go a long way. I know of a Passat with 600k (miles) on it and it's still going strong.

If a car's showing age at 90k then there's something seriously wrong.

Let's see those new whizzbang 1.0 engines with umpteen turbos do that. They will have gone whizz and BANG a long time before that. Besides having sod all torque.

mikefrommeath

hi

I am lookint at Mazda MAZDA6 2.2d [163] TS2 5dr with 132k Miles on the clock

Any thoughts on that?

Tea 1000

Lagoona Blue wrote: »

maybe be silly question but why do uk imports have such high mileage ?

Because there can be a higher price difference in the UK between low mileage and high mileage cars than over here. Importers want the best profit they can get, and they won't make any money back if they buy the more expensive but lower milage car, so they go for the high mileage stuff.
A lot comes from ex-fleet cars at an auction, so are cheaper than mainstream stuff in dealers by some margin.

MJ23

I know a lad with a 97 Peugeot 406 and it has 485,000 miles on. Still running sweet as a nut.

Superdedupity

mikefrommeath wrote: »

hi

I am lookint at Mazda MAZDA6 2.2d [163] TS2 5dr with 132k Miles on the clock

Any thoughts on that?

take it its a uk import? Service History (not just a service book, but in voices and receipts, old MOTs, if applicable)?

At 132k miles, if its been serviced correctly, looks good and tidy (not just shiny from a valet, but a clean car) and the price reflects that not everyone is comfortable with higher mileages, it could be a good buy. and heres the but.....

It wouldn't bother me as I buy generally higher mileage well priced 3-4 yr old cars and drive them for 4 years. but if you like chopping your car say every year or two, and do maybe 25-30k miles a year, its not going to have the strongest resale. You have to buy the car for a price that reflects the mileage:)

Superdedupity

ran a 1.9tdi to 500k miles, and everyone elses high mileage story seems to relate to old skool diesels. I wonder how much hardship that taximans had with that 08 tdci Mondy:)