Why don't classics do more than 100K

Why don't classics do more than 100K

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dpp

Original Poster:

221 posts

138 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
quotequote all
I find it very interesting that classics for sale very rarely have more than 100,000 miles on the clock, even cars that must have been used regular in their early life often have relatively low mileages. I could understand lots of low mileage Ferraris but Minis and MGB's!!!

Is this due to returning to zero after 99,999 miles or are they all being clocked. A 40 year old car would only average 2,500 miles a year to reach the 100K, surely the majority of cars for sale must have exceeded this even if the majority was done in the first 10-15 years and the car had lighter use since then. I think people are too hung up on mileage, I have recently put my car back on the road after a full rebuild and have put 2500 miles on it in a few months of occasional use and cannot wait for the clock to turn after 100K as this means that after all my effort it is being used for what it was intended.

I also run a old Vauxhall as a daily driver that had 3200 miles on it when I bought it earlier this year but I bought it because of its amazing condition and not the low mileage and it now has nearly 7000 miles on it with people keep telling me to disconnect the speedo.

Yertis

18,016 posts

265 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
quotequote all
dpp said:
I find it very interesting that classics for sale very rarely have more than 100,000 miles on the clock, even cars that must have been used regular in their early life often have relatively low mileages. I could understand lots of low mileage Ferraris but Minis and MGB's!!!

Is this due to returning to zero after 99,999 miles or are they all being clocked. A 40 year old car would only average 2,500 miles a year to reach the 100K, surely the majority of cars for sale must have exceeded this even if the majority was done in the first 10-15 years and the car had lighter use since then. I think people are too hung up on mileage, I have recently put my car back on the road after a full rebuild and have put 2500 miles on it in a few months of occasional use and cannot wait for the clock to turn after 100K as this means that after all my effort it is being used for what it was intended.

I also run a old Vauxhall as a daily driver that had 3200 miles on it when I bought it earlier this year but I bought it because of its amazing condition and not the low mileage and it now has nearly 7000 miles on it with people keep telling me to disconnect the speedo.
They weren't as well made (in all sorts of ways) and broke before then, generally. The cars that have survived have not broken yet, because they have low mileages.

droopsnoot

11,810 posts

241 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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My old Vauxhall is showing only 85k. I have no reason to doubt that figure, but just in the time I've had it, it's spent ten years off the road while I found the parts to rebuild it, and now only gets used in the summer; obviously I don't know what it did before then, but was only around ten years old so 70-odd thousand probably isn't too low. Maybe a lot of these cars have either been laid up for long periods, or if they remain with their original owner, perhaps do less mileage as the owner gets older and doesn't drive so much.

I agree, though - if I was to be selling or buying a car of that age, I'm not sure I'd be too bothered about the mileage, more so the condition. I went to see a 20v quattro some years back that had the then-low milage of around 40k, and one of the reasons I didn't go with it was because part of the price was due to the low mileage, I was planning on using it as a daily driver, so it seemed a waste. They weren't so thin on the ground then, though.

plasticpig

12,932 posts

224 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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Because some classics only show up to 99999.99 miles on the clock and the roll back over to zero. My Scimitar is showing 35K miles on the clock but when I purchased it; it had 80k on the clock.

mike9009

6,918 posts

242 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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My 1981 T25 is showing 4,500 miles on the clock. I somehow doubt this is correct and has probably gone round the clock at least once!

Also, I presume cars on the continent only got to 100,000km before resetting - so tracking the mileage of European cars must be more difficult??

Edited by mike9009 on Wednesday 24th September 20:01

Cliftonite

8,406 posts

137 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
quotequote all
dpp said:
I find it very interesting that classics for sale very rarely have more than 100,000 miles on the clock, even cars that must have been used regular in their early life often have relatively low mileages. I could understand lots of low mileage Ferraris but Minis and MGB's!!!

< snip >

I also run a old Vauxhall as a daily driver that had 3200 miles on it when I bought it earlier this year but I bought it because of its amazing condition and not the low mileage and it now has nearly 7000 miles on it with people keep telling me to disconnect the speedo.
The moral fibre of this country is going down the pan. Is everyone crooked nowadays?


austin

1,274 posts

202 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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plasticpig said:
Because some classics only show up to 99999.99 miles on the clock and the roll back over to zero. My Scimitar is showing 35K miles on the clock but when I purchased it; it had 80k on the clock.
This is why.

My ones odometers only go up to 9,999.9. Absolutely no idea how many times they have gone round!

williredale

2,866 posts

151 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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My MGB is on 120,000. It would be more but the speedo had a sulk and didn't register most of a year's driving...

Dbest92

300 posts

132 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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Interesting point, it's true classic speedos do reset at 100k but I don't think many reach it.

I had a 1977 mg midget, bought it a few years back at 67k miles. History back to 1990 where it was on 61k , so would appear genuine, the car had had an awful lot of work done to the body, a new engine etc, but the rest of the mechanicals were pretty tired, gearbox suspension etc.

I currently have a 1973 mgb on 91k, (I am determined to get it over 100k!), again history back to the early 90s, where it was on around 70k miles and had a massive restoration at this time.

So it would seem, as mentioned above, that build quality could be to blame, by what seems to be around 70k miles (in the case of mg) the mechanics were well worn, not to mention rust etc! Cars are then scrapped or restored where they are used sparingly covering sometimes just a few hundred miles a year.

You do see some cars with more, seen a mgb v8 at a show on 420k miles! But I'll agree its rare

DeanoX

164 posts

204 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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I bought my '73 Migdet in '91 with 30,000 on. I dont have complete history but do have a handful of MOTs...

'80 = 49940
'81 = 60615
'82 = 77045
'83 = 88061
'84 = 00736
'85 = 07298
'88 = 21228
'90 = 29067
'91 = 32150

Got to respect the person that did 17K miles in 81/82 in an 8 year old MG Midget !!

Its now done > 180K

Edited by DeanoX on Wednesday 24th September 23:20

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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My 1970 Jensen had done 100K when I sold it, and I have just bought a 101K 1981 Lotus. I had a 1983 Matra Murena that had done about 120K.

Shezbo

594 posts

129 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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Does the OP not realise that most classic's only have speedo's that can record 5 digit's?

ARH

1,222 posts

238 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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My series 2a land rover 109k, morris minor 105k and triumph vitesse at 110k so they do do more than 100k. The morris minor was purchased many years ago at 67k, it has had almost everything replaced or maybe it just feels like that.

MGJohn

10,203 posts

182 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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dpp said:
I find it very interesting that classics for sale very rarely have more than 100,000 miles on the clock, even cars that must have been used regular in their early life often have relatively low mileages. I could understand lots of low mileage Ferraris but Minis and MGB's!!!

Is this due to returning to zero after 99,999 miles or are they all being clocked. A 40 year old car would only average 2,500 miles a year to reach the 100K, surely the majority of cars for sale must have exceeded this even if the majority was done in the first 10-15 years and the car had lighter use since then. I think people are too hung up on mileage, I have recently put my car back on the road after a full rebuild and have put 2500 miles on it in a few months of occasional use and cannot wait for the clock to turn after 100K as this means that after all my effort it is being used for what it was intended.

I also run a old Vauxhall as a daily driver that had 3200 miles on it when I bought it earlier this year but I bought it because of its amazing condition and not the low mileage and it now has nearly 7000 miles on it with people keep telling me to disconnect the speedo.
Partly because those are the ones more likely to have survived so far.

Back in the 60-70s, ordinary production cars now considered "classics" I drove then completed well in excess of 100,000 miles reliably. So did the cars my work colleagues used. Some had silly commutes like Reading-Cheltenham every day. My own commute was often Gloucester-Bristol, Gloucester-Newport and Worcester or Hereford at different periods and that soon puts the mileage plus work travel when there.

With survivors today, actual condition and evidence of proper maintenance is more important than mileage. Lots of Invoices is no guarantee of a job well done or done at all although it does help.

jonah35

3,940 posts

156 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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In a cars first few years they do a lot of miles, let's say 40k over 3 years. Then maybe 30k over next 5 years then practically nothing.

Eg imagine an e36 m3 or z3m coupe now. They may only be 12 years old but most will be doing sub 2k miles pa.

V few people buy a car and then use it as a daily for 40 years!!!

dpp

Original Poster:

221 posts

138 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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Shezbo said:
Does the OP not realise that most classic's only have speedo's that can record 5 digit's?
I understand this but does everyone else I'm sure that most of these 30-40k cars are actually 130-140k there can't be that many cars that have only done a few hundred miles a year.

Faust66

2,028 posts

164 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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Surely the mileage on a 40 year old car (for example) is irrelevant? When a car reaches a certain age it is condition that is king, not mileage. Beside, with most classics being so easy to clock unless you have a LOT of history to prove the indicated mileage, the figure is meaningless IMO.

My Amazon shows 7,500 miles… think the actual figure is 107 thou going on the history of the car, but it might well be 207 thou, hey, it might be a lot more: doesn't bother me in the slightest as the engine is strong and it has never let me down (hope I haven't tempted fate!).

I've always believed that a 200k car that has been regularly used and maintained is a better prospect than a 20k car that has been used 4 times a year to go out on sunny days.

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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I agree. Condition matters more than mileage.

Crosswise

410 posts

185 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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My 71 MGB GT was showing just under 3k miles on the clock when I bought it, I don't know if that's 103k or 203k, although I would guess the former as it is still on the original engine. My 69 Austin Mini Cooper is on 74k, but has been off the road since 1985 so that isn't too surprising. My 75 Daimler Vanden Plas is showing only 51k, the previous owner of 30 years told me he had changed the speedo in 84, but I can't remember what he said the mileage was before that.

onomatopoeia

3,469 posts

216 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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My old (1966) Chamois rolled over the odometer before I scrapped it. The new (1968) one has as well.