What is high mileage for a petrol + diesel when buying a car
Discussion
ambuletz said:
It's strange really, I'd put more faith into buying a Honda accord/civic at 100k miles then I would a mondeo/focus.
Likewise I'd put more faith into a focus/mondeo at 100k then I would a clio or alfa.
Ditto. I bought a CRV recently with 140k, and I wouldn't have had the balls to trust a similar mileage European car. I know it's all irrational prejudice, and there's probably not much difference in long term reliability between Honda or Ford or even Fiat. As others on this thread have already said, abuse and poor maintenance is what kills cars more than anything.Likewise I'd put more faith into a focus/mondeo at 100k then I would a clio or alfa.
Ideally, there would be some kind of database of the age and mileage of cars (that haven't been written off in an accident) arriving at scrapyards. I think that would be the only conclusive way of understanding which are most reliable. Otherwise, people just rely on anecdotal evidence from the last 10-20 years, leading to sweeping "Jap>European>Italian" assumptions that may or may not be correct.
On a US car website, their used car trader columnist writes a regular column about which cars last longest. It's a flawed system, but he simply logs the number of cars which go through auction with 180k miles or more. While it completely disregards the fact that many prestige European cars don't cover high mileages or simply don't go through the cheap auctions that he attends, it does go some way to proving the point that Toyota/Honda do best at covering high mileages. The Yanks (obviously) don't get into the diesel/petrol debate, but for them, anything less than 200k is not considered high mileage.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/12/monday-mi...
JulesB said:
If you buy something with a rotary engine the sky is the limit, there is no such thing as high miles with them, they never ever go wrong. Ever.
This is not sarcasm at all... Honest!
It's not far off the truty though, I know a bloke with a reasonably high mileage RX-8 who I think would agree that it doesn't seem to go wrong now any more frequently than it did when it was a newer This is not sarcasm at all... Honest!
I've taken a gamble this weekend on a 2002 178k Audi TT 1.8l Quattro. Bodywork in great nick, engine purrs. Mainly motorway mileage from it's two previous owners. Drives beautifully. Still very, very nippy and responsive (relative to TTs)... And all for the princely sum of £2k. Cheap thrills... Hopefully I'll still be saying that in a years time. If not, I've already had my monies worth this weekend!
My cousin just passed his 52 plate passat tdi on to his son for his 18th birthday he bought the car from me in 2005 with 161k. he has driven it to and from spain dozens of times serviced regular. just turned 650k runs just as well as it did in 2005 and is still getting into the high 50's MPG i think good servicing is Key and any engine will run on and on. unlike most of the other PD units i have read about, it uses NO oil between servicing.
1997 i had a Vauxhall vectra 2.0 petrol, bought it with 11k i was working in Portugal 3k miles per week ran it for 2 years and the local Independant i used for service was amazed at how well it still drove at 325k, as far as i know it is still alive.. well it is still taxed...
1997 i had a Vauxhall vectra 2.0 petrol, bought it with 11k i was working in Portugal 3k miles per week ran it for 2 years and the local Independant i used for service was amazed at how well it still drove at 325k, as far as i know it is still alive.. well it is still taxed...
cruise control said:
My cousin just passed his 52 plate passat tdi on to his son for his 18th birthday he bought the car from me in 2005 with 161k. he has driven it to and from spain dozens of times serviced regular. just turned 650k runs just as well as it did in 2005 and is still getting into the high 50's MPG i think good servicing is Key and any engine will run on and on. unlike most of the other PD units i have read about, it uses NO oil between servicing.
1997 i had a Vauxhall vectra 2.0 petrol, bought it with 11k i was working in Portugal 3k miles per week ran it for 2 years and the local Independant i used for service was amazed at how well it still drove at 325k, as far as i know it is still alive.. well it is still taxed...
650k wow that really is impressive 1997 i had a Vauxhall vectra 2.0 petrol, bought it with 11k i was working in Portugal 3k miles per week ran it for 2 years and the local Independant i used for service was amazed at how well it still drove at 325k, as far as i know it is still alive.. well it is still taxed...
I've always said if I ever needed a car for high annual mileage I wouldn't hesitate to buy something with an old vag pd Diesel engine, 1.9tdi.
bakerstreet said:
rallycross said:
A one owner 3 yr old petrol car that has done 150k motorway miles is just run in.
A one taxi owner 3 yr old diesel that has done 90k miles mini cabing in London will be worn out.
The friends who told you a 100k mile petrol will be worn out are either misinformed or stupid.
How does a London Cab manage 500k in its lifetime then? Same trhing for London Ambulances. 150k of hard abuse before they are moved onto other duties. A one taxi owner 3 yr old diesel that has done 90k miles mini cabing in London will be worn out.
The friends who told you a 100k mile petrol will be worn out are either misinformed or stupid.
Both of them seemed to work okay - but overall one of them was a lot nicer and tidyer then the other.
The tidy one felt like a car with less then half that mileage - the other didn't feel as nice.
Would happily have considered the tidy one of the 2 on its own merits as a potential purchase inspite of the fact that it would (obviously) have been an ex taxi.
With regard to the London Taxis doing over 500 k miles - isn't that down to the cabs been purpose built for the job - and having a big 2.7 Nissan diesel engine that went on forwever and ever. They don't have the big old simple Nissan diesel engine anymore mind you.
The ambulances on the other hand - well we are talking here about a seriously expensive machine - i forget the figures now - but i have a figure of 100 grand plus in my head from the last time i heard a value of a new ambulance mentioned.
At that money - it gets to the point that its easy to simply decide that its worth putting in 2 engines at 10 grand a time - rather then simply replace the whole vehicle everytime the modern all singing all dancing commonrail turbodiesel has an expensive hissy fit big bang massive damage moment.
Best to consider an individual vehicle on its own individual strengths and weaknesses - of which mileage is only one of many potential issues to consider.
For example - as ive mentioned previously - id rather a 150 000 mile Honda Accord Petrol then a 60 000 mile Mazda 6 diesel - simply because even at the higher mileage - id have more faith in the Honda as a reliable car compared to the 6 diesel.
Something else thats overlooked (imo) is that often - on a higher mileage car - some of the common problem areas on that car will sometime have been fixed on a high mileage car simply because its done the mileage already at which the problems crop up.
Sir Fergie
bakerstreet said:
How does a London Cab manage 500k in its lifetime then? Same trhing for London Ambulances. 150k of hard abuse before they are moved onto other duties.
The London taxi has a solid chassis, so think of it more as a truck with a car body.This is the difference between a purpose built utility vehicle and a throwaway customer appliance.
Trying to find a 1990s Toyota Landcruiser with less than 100k is very difficult, most of them are 150k plus and I have seen them for sale with over 400k and still running perfectly which I think shows that mileage really doesn't matter on these. Mine is a relatively low mileage example as it clocked over 150k last week! I would happily buy another with 300k on the clock if it was in decent condition, the engine would be the least of my worries.
I agree with the other posters saying that high mileage cars are often better than low mileage cars as cars like to be used and a high mileage car is likely to have done that mileage in longer trips with perhaps more sympathetic drivers.
I agree with the other posters saying that high mileage cars are often better than low mileage cars as cars like to be used and a high mileage car is likely to have done that mileage in longer trips with perhaps more sympathetic drivers.
chris182 said:
Trying to find a 1990s Toyota Landcruiser with less than 100k is very difficult, most of them are 150k plus and I have seen them for sale with over 400k and still running perfectly which I think shows that mileage really doesn't matter on these. Mine is a relatively low mileage example as it clocked over 150k last week! I would happily buy another with 300k on the clock if it was in decent condition, the engine would be the least of my worries.
And yet mine had HGF and a failing auto box at 160ish k. Maintainance is key, even on these.The whole diesel is more reliable than petrol thing comes from the 80s/90s IMO, when diesels were simple. These days, with coded injectors, turbos, DMFs etc, repairs can easily outstrip the value of the car. So while the car isn't technically f
ked it might make better economic sense to scrap it.Bit of a resurrection. The gearbox has gone on my snotter, and it's due an MOT anyway so I'm on the lookout for my next 7-8k/year banger.
There's a 2001 Mondeo 2.0TDCi Ghia Estate for sale near me. Full T&T, leather, AC etc. 250,000 miles. £595. I'm about to call the seller soon to enquire about service history and if most of its life was spent on the motorway.
Am i mad to consider this? Needed as a local runabout, with an occasional trip from London to Wales.
There's a 2001 Mondeo 2.0TDCi Ghia Estate for sale near me. Full T&T, leather, AC etc. 250,000 miles. £595. I'm about to call the seller soon to enquire about service history and if most of its life was spent on the motorway.
Am i mad to consider this? Needed as a local runabout, with an occasional trip from London to Wales.
safehandsgk1 said:
I've taken a gamble this weekend on a 2002 178k Audi TT 1.8l Quattro. Bodywork in great nick, engine purrs. Mainly motorway mileage from it's two previous owners. Drives beautifully. Still very, very nippy and responsive (relative to TTs)... And all for the princely sum of £2k. Cheap thrills... Hopefully I'll still be saying that in a years time. If not, I've already had my monies worth this weekend!
The 1.8T VAG engine is bombproof. My old Golf GTI 1.8T had 154k on it when I sold it. Sweet, smooth, responsive and it used about half a litre of oil every 4,000 miles. It had had religious Time and Distance (10k) servicing from new with the correct synthetic oil and genuine VAG filter. Original turbo still. Cruised the MOT emissions tests. No problems whatsoever. And we didn't mollycoddle it. I reckon if you keep it serviced, the TT will easily do 200k.
If you do regular services to the car it will pass 400.000+ km. Other thing is to treat your car like baby do not rev. the engine above 2000 rpm on cold etc. If you do this your car will pass 400.000+ km easily.
I own Mercedes benz C220 CDI W202 1999 5 speed manual now have 313.500 km and its goind very strong. No problems with the engine at all. No smoke on firing even on cold ( below 0 degrees ). Only problem is rust whit this type chassis. It is common problem to all w202 chassis with high mileage.
do not rev. the engine above 2000 rpm on cold etc. If you do this your car will pass 400.000+ km easily.I own Mercedes benz C220 CDI W202 1999 5 speed manual now have 313.500 km and its goind very strong. No problems with the engine at all. No smoke on firing even on cold ( below 0 degrees ). Only problem is rust whit this type chassis. It is common problem to all w202 chassis with high mileage.
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