High Mileage - what do you think?

magicmushroom

Hi guys

As per a previous thread of mine I'm looking for a car to take over to the UK.

I've seen a suitable one on an NI site but my only concern is that the mileage is a bit high - 118000 miles (190,000km)

The car is from 2004 - would you think that mileage is a bit high for a car of that year? And if so what kind of 'range' should I be looking in?

http://www.usedcarsni.com/2004-Volkswagen-Polo-1-4-TWIST-5-DOOR-147181866

Thanks for any advice given, I'm useless when it comes to cars and terrified of ending up with something crappy!! :P

Toyotafanboi

The 1.4 is probably better than the 1.2 in those. If it drove well i'd certainly consider it.

It's presented well but, my biggest concern with that car is the huge panel gap around the boot and it's also very basic, it doesn't even have remote central locking.

magicmushroom

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

The 1.4 is probably better than the 1.2 in those. If it drove well i'd certainly consider it.

It's presented well but, my biggest concern with that car is the huge panel gap around the boot and it's also very basic, it doesn't even have remote central locking.

That's good advice, thank you

xabi

Mileage isn't high for an 11 year old car.

bazz26

118,000 miles is not high mileage on an 11 year old car. That works out at just over 10,000 miles per year.

I think some people just get a natural turn off when they see a car with mileage of 6 digits whether it be in miles or km or no matter what age the car is.

K4t

That is not high mileage for an 04.

ironclaw

The average mileage for a 2004 car is 138,001 miles / 222,091 km. That's based on over 10,000 cars.

Toyotafanboi

Don't think anything could persuade me to buy that car though.

deathtocaptcha

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Don't think anything could persuade me to buy that car though.

If it goes from A to B without problems, that's enough for most people.

Toyotafanboi

deathtocaptcha wrote: »

If it goes from A to B without problems, that's enough for most people.

Yeah, but if you're on here looking for opinions they must be actively trying to make a good choice.

It's presented well but once that tyre shine wears off, it's a pretty hateful car imo with zero redeeming features bar telling your buddies it's just like a golf... but smaller...

If i had around €2k and was looking for a 10 year old 1.4 petrol hatchback i'd be trying to play my cards right on an early mk2 focus. Visually a much nicer car and even low spec models will offer much more than the polo. Just as an example

magicmushroom

Thanks for the advice guys.

I'm looking at Polo's as I like small cars (I currently drive a Clio!) and also I had one a few years ago and really loved it, nicest car I ever had.

I'm just nervous though as shopping in the bargain basement is obviously full of risks and I don't have a partner or any males close to me who know much about cars that I can ask for help.

I've now seen this one instead - the girl tells me it has a timing chain as opposed to a timing belt, is this a good thing? Do they need to be changed like a belt would and if so how often?

Thanks again for your input, it's really appreciated.

http://www.gumtree.com/p/volkswagen/2004-volkswagen-polo-e-1.2-petrol-full-year-s-mot-full-service-history-/1127785576

batskat

Too much milage for me on such a small car .

Safer to buy 2002 or 2003 version of this car with 80,000 miles on it than 2004 with 120,000 miles

The UK its fairly easy and cheap to turn south Ireland cars into UK reg cars so says the UK online importing cars site info

I often see online 2004 cars like this for less money in south Ireland with much lowwer milage .
Yes you have to be quick to snap it up but the bottom is falling out of the South Ireland second hand market fast with the new 15 year car insurance companies wont insure the 15 year old car rules .

Belt driven timing belts are OK you replace them every sheduled change often 60,000 miles .
Chain drives stretch and can hop a notch knocking the timing out . This milage is where chains can be too stretched to keep them .
Some cars have done more than 500,000 with timing chains but those are often larger engines .
Nothing lasts forever .

Cars are not made to last forever so the expensive components like gear box and axles and half shafts all wear out .
About 150,000 kilometers is where small cars start the big bills for parts to arrive hand over fist .

bazz26

batskat wrote: »

Too much milage for me on such a small car .

Safer to buy 2002 or 2003 version of this car with 80,000 miles on it than 2004 with 120,000 miles

The UK its fairly easy and cheap to turn south Ireland cars into UK reg cars so says the UK online importing cars site info

I often see online 2004 cars like this for less money in south Ireland with much lowwer milage .
Yes you have to be quick to snap it up but the bottom is falling out of the South Ireland second hand market fast with the new 15 year car insurance companies wont insure the 15 year old car rules .

Belt driven timing belts are OK you replace them every sheduled change often 60,000 miles .
Chain drives stretch and can hop a notch knocking the timing out . This milage is where chains can be too stretched to keep them .
Some cars have done more than 500,000 with timing chains but those are often larger engines .
Nothing lasts forever .

Cars are not made to last forever so the expensive components like gear box and axles and half shafts all wear out .
About 150,000 kilometers is where small cars start the big bills for parts to arrive hand over fist .

I've seen low mileage cars fit for the bin because they had a hard life, not all cars have to be driven far to suffer a hard life and some probably only had an oil change twice in their life.

As I said 118,000 miles on an 11 year old car equates to just over 10,000 miles per year which is far from excessive. Buying a 2002/2003 with less mileage is no guarantee it's a better buy. As you said cars wear out but they wear out with age too not just how far they are driven.