What milage would you class as 'Too High to Touch'?
Discussion
About to buy first car and am thinking of a civic type r (01 on), have up to £3000 to spend but that doesn't seem to get too much 'bang for my buck'. Every one I see has 100,000 plus miles on the clock and I have been told by my uncle who used to be a mechanic that a general rule of thumb is that anything past 100,000 on a petrol and 120,000 on a diesel is going to cause lots of problems and cost a lot to keep running. If I did buy one I'd be looking to keep it for around 2 years and doing 7000 miles a max. Any help greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.
£3 k CTR will have done a few miles but 100k is nothing to a Honda with Fsh just buy one with low number of owners and complete dealer history that's been looked after and focus on condition and history not mileage.
My 2006 BMW petrol is on 190k miles and is absolutely fine still on original clutch, turbo's suspension etc modern cars cope with big mileage ( and there are some bargains to be had with higher mileage).
My 2006 BMW petrol is on 190k miles and is absolutely fine still on original clutch, turbo's suspension etc modern cars cope with big mileage ( and there are some bargains to be had with higher mileage).
jlmason94 said:
I have been told by my uncle who used to be a mechanic that a general rule of thumb is that anything past 100,000 on a petrol and 120,000 on a diesel is going to cause lots of problems and cost a lot to keep running.
This may have been true in the 70's but not any more lol. I'd expect double that kind of mileage these days from any car less than 20 years old before it needed any kind of engine work at all. What kills cars these days is everything else, usually rust or written off in an accident.In my experience running costs do gradually increase as the mileage on a car gets higher, but it's not always the mileage that tells the tale, it's the type of use and number of journeys etc. However, your main concern really is if you intend to sell the car on after you've finished with it and what the next buyer will think of the mileage. I had an immaculate Toyota Celica Carlos Sainz once that I took to 143,000 miles. Most of the miles were on the motorway and it was genuinely an astoundingly good car - nothing ever went wrong, it still felt tight and fresh. However, shifting a car with 143,000 on the clock proved to be nigh on impossible. At a time when good ones were touching £10k and £7k was about right, mine went for £4k and took a year to sell. I can guarantee if it had been ropey but with 70k on the clock it would have fetched £7k and sold within a couple of weeks. So firstly, think of the car's condition and secondly think of the resale if you don't plan to be the last owner.
On a separate note, when buying a hot hatch like a CTR do look for service history and bills. My wife bought a CTR recently and we looked at some that had cost thousands in maintenance in recent months purely because one of the owners had skimped on servicing. We eventually found a well cared for example with a regular main dealer service history (plus interim oil changes) and it hadn't cost the owner anything to run it other than routine servicing - it's still running beautifully now and my wife loves it. To be honest, after our 3 or 4 month job of finding the right CTR I wouldn't recommend the bottom half of the market at all - more trouble than it's worth.
On a separate note, when buying a hot hatch like a CTR do look for service history and bills. My wife bought a CTR recently and we looked at some that had cost thousands in maintenance in recent months purely because one of the owners had skimped on servicing. We eventually found a well cared for example with a regular main dealer service history (plus interim oil changes) and it hadn't cost the owner anything to run it other than routine servicing - it's still running beautifully now and my wife loves it. To be honest, after our 3 or 4 month job of finding the right CTR I wouldn't recommend the bottom half of the market at all - more trouble than it's worth.
jlmason94 said:
About to buy first car and am thinking of a civic type r (01 on), have up to £3000 to spend but that doesn't seem to get too much 'bang for my buck'. Every one I see has 100,000 plus miles on the clock and I have been told by my uncle who used to be a mechanic that a general rule of thumb is that anything past 100,000 on a petrol and 120,000 on a diesel is going to cause lots of problems and cost a lot to keep running. If I did buy one I'd be looking to keep it for around 2 years and doing 7000 miles a max. Any help greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.
Depends what your definition of 'costing a lot' is?I wouldn't be put off with those miles at all, as long as the engines been looked after and all the routine work has been done. Timing belt (if it has one), clutch, oil changes, fuel filter changes etc...
Would you be doing any maintenance work yourself? Or putting it into a garage for anything that's needed? If its the latter then it might get pricey, but if its the former then much cheaper and your knowledge of cars will improve massively
Suspension parts might be a consideration too, I would suggest checking the condition of things like bushes and wheel bearings too, before you buy. All these things can add up.
There are plenty of fun cars to be had around that price mark... Shop around, there are plenty of gems to be found
Good luck with your search
My daily is a 2L petrol. I've had it since new and it currently has 345k miles on the clock. Had to change the alternator and the starter motor at the end of last year and the accessory belt idler pulley at about 185k. It's on it's second clutch and that's it apart from usual serviceable items. It my daily workhorse and ill keep it to it starts failing because let's face it no one will buy it and its still doing everything just great. Upto around 300k it still felt really good, drove great, trim inside all still looked good as well. Since 300k it has started showing its age.
If I listened to your uncle, I'd be on my 3rd replacement by now;)
Buy on condition.
If I listened to your uncle, I'd be on my 3rd replacement by now;)
Buy on condition.
My 200SX is on 120,100 miles and still healthy! Doesn't drink oil, smoke etc. And made a healthy 286bhp/300lb/ft last year and had more mods since then! So should be sitting around 300bhp now. Fit as a fiddle.
My MX5 had about 89/90k on it and again, fine.
It all comes down to how it's been treated and maintained throughout it's life. Regular oil checks and looked after.
My MX5 had about 89/90k on it and again, fine.
It all comes down to how it's been treated and maintained throughout it's life. Regular oil checks and looked after.
jlmason94 said:
About to buy first car and am thinking of a civic type r (01 on), have up to £3000 to spend but that doesn't seem to get too much 'bang for my buck'. Every one I see has 100,000 plus miles on the clock and I have been told by my uncle who used to be a mechanic that a general rule of thumb is that anything past 100,000 on a petrol and 120,000 on a diesel is going to cause lots of problems and cost a lot to keep running. If I did buy one I'd be looking to keep it for around 2 years and doing 7000 miles a max. Any help greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.
And this ^^^ is what makes the UK such a great place to buy used cars. Perfectly good cars with average mileages completely dismissed out-of-hand.
Makes things cheap cheap cheap for the rest of us.
Also if it has not got a fully documented histoory (orignial serivce book stamped up, old bills plus old MOTS plus VOSA mot history print out) then you can take the mileage as being in-correct, cars tend to lose their history at the same time they lose their mileage! (not see easy now you can look it up on the VOSA MOT history site) any gaps in the history pre-2008 = question why and take the mileage as not genuine, most people place far too much focus on mileage without even having a documented history.
With a budget of £3k, mileage wise, you get what you get when after a specific make of car.
Another poster has made the most pertinent point - consider what the car is worth when selling it on. I suspect a 150k Type-R would be slow to move on at sensible money.
As an aside, I've seen dealers ask >£10k for 150k Audi A5 diesel. How ever nice the car is that's not where my money would go for sure.
Another poster has made the most pertinent point - consider what the car is worth when selling it on. I suspect a 150k Type-R would be slow to move on at sensible money.
As an aside, I've seen dealers ask >£10k for 150k Audi A5 diesel. How ever nice the car is that's not where my money would go for sure.
Above 40k for a daily/nondescript car, and below 30k for the weekend/special car.
It's going to be different for everyone, though - kind of like asking what's your favourite colour. Some people want a car that just works and don't mind the mileage related wear, others like something pristine that has the benefits of low mileage.
It's going to be different for everyone, though - kind of like asking what's your favourite colour. Some people want a car that just works and don't mind the mileage related wear, others like something pristine that has the benefits of low mileage.
Type R for first car? Just be careful because there's many that don't reach a high mileage because young drivers put them in ditches.
Not trying to have a go at anybody or lecture you but it might be worth getting a less powerful car for your first so that you can get a decent bit of practice in.
Not trying to have a go at anybody or lecture you but it might be worth getting a less powerful car for your first so that you can get a decent bit of practice in.
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