What's the best 'premium' car for high mileage?

[tomperkins]

I've got a 2002 Audi A4 (2.5 TDI) that I bought from my Dad at 194,000 miles. It's now got 228,000 miles and still drives beautifully (and is still on its original clutch believe it or not). It's only just started to develop a few minor squeaks in the cabin and is still a real pleasure to travel in, particularly on longer journeys.

I'd like to get something a bit bigger next time (maybe A6, A8, 7 Series, S Class) and would happily buy an older car with higher mileage but good history again.

I wondered what similar cars you've run to high mileage that have aged well? Do you still drive a premium car that you love and just keeps going?

[Sheepshanks]

I think age buggers them up more than mileage. My 85K mile 2004 Merc has still needed suspension work doing at 40K (5yrs) and 80K (10yrs).

I did 80K in 2yrs in a Mondeo and 120K in 3yrs in a Peugeot 406 and they were both fine.

[tomperkins]

Sheepshanks said:

I think age buggers them up more than mileage. My 85K mile 2004 Merc has still needed suspension work doing at 40K (5yrs) and 80K (10yrs).

I did 80K in 2yrs in a Mondeo and 120K in 3yrs in a Peugeot 406 and they were both fine.

Interesting, maybe a Mercedes isn't worth the premium then. Which Mercedes was that?

[matt21]

Agree on age rather than mileage

Newish merc e classes do big miles though and seem robust. Most things are pretty good if well maintained. I would say smallish wheels, lazy engine and so on would be best

[tomperkins]

matt21 said:

Agree on age rather than mileage

Newish merc e classes do big miles though and seem robust. Most things are pretty good if well maintained. I would say smallish wheels, lazy engine and so on would be best

Definitely agree with a big lazy engine being important, mines been plodding along between 1,500 and 2,500 revs it's whole life.

[Sheepshanks]

tomperkins said:

Interesting, maybe a Mercedes isn't worth the premium then. Which Mercedes was that?

It's a late 2004 facelift C Class Estate.

I wouldn't say it isn't worth the premium - it's just that I haven't done the miles to get best value out of it.

[EnglishTony]

I did 200,000 miles in a MK 2 Golf GTI and I thrashed it the whole way.

Premium brands don't necessarily = big milage possibility.

[Nickbrapp]

Volvo, any one with a D5 engine

[Krikkit]

Nickbrapp said:

Volvo, any one with a D5 engine

Apart from the chocolate "Sealed for life" gearboxes.

[tomperkins]

Nickbrapp said:

Volvo, any one with a D5 engine

What sort of mileage did you get to? Still drove well at high mileage?

[Limpet]

I sold my S60 T5 manual at 8 years old with 155k on the clock, and it sounded and drove like a 20,000 miler. Clutch and alternator changed around the 120k mark. Everything else apart from service items and consumables was original, even the battery and exhaust. And absolutely everything worked.

It's still going according to motinfo, although no idea what the mileage is now as it had 152k when i last MOT'd it in 2010, was somehow down to 98k on the next MOT, back up to 120k by 2014, then back down to 98k last year. I wouldn't bet against it having well over 200,000 "real" miles on it by now though. Very well engineered car, and a joy to work on too. Everything logically laid out, and secured with high quality fasteners that didn't corrode or round off.

Looks like the steering rack is coming up for a change based on advisories. Bet that won't be cheap. Hasn't actually yet failed on anything serious though.

Edited by Limpet on Friday 1st April 18:05

[anonymous-user]

Limpet said:

I sold my S60 T5 manual at 8 years old with 155k on the clock, and it sounded and drove like a 20,000 miler. Clutch and alternator changed around the 120k mark. Everything else apart from service items and consumables was original, even the battery and exhaust. And absolutely everything worked.

It's still going according to motinfo, although no idea what the mileage is now as it had 152k when i last MOT'd it in 2010, was somehow down to 98k on the next MOT, back up to 120k by 2014, then back down to 98k last year. I wouldn't bet against it having well over 200,000 "real" miles on it by now though. Very well engineered car, and a joy to work on too. Everything logically laid out, and secured with high quality fasteners that didn't corrode or round off.

Looks like the steering rack is coming up for a change based on advisories. Bet that won't be cheap. Hasn't actually yet failed on anything serious though.

Edited by Limpet on Friday 1st April 18:05

Similar experience with my 2004 V70 T5 automatic. I would say that I don't think the Ford era Volvos are so good though, they have a few known weaknesses and most of the bits know for causing trouble have a FoMoCo stamp on them! My 2008 C70 certainly has needed a lot more wear and tear replacements to stop it driving like a bag of st and my colleagues 2006 S80 D5 is pretty much ready for the knackers yard at 150k. Engine works, but the EGR system has fked up, the gearbox munched itself and it's constantly riddled with electrical gremlins.

They have continued using high quality fasteners and fixings though.For a FWD car with a big engine stuffed under the bonnet they really are quite easy to work on.

Edited by dme123 on Saturday 2nd April 20:06

[Monkeylegend]

E Class without doubt.

[tomperkins]

Monkeylegend said:

E Class without doubt.

Any particular engine or year?

[Monkeylegend]

tomperkins said:

Monkeylegend said:

E Class without doubt.

Any particular engine or year?

I have had 3 over the last 12 years for chauffeuring, all 220CDi's. All Mercedes derived engines are chain driven and on the 220 don't give any issues.

2003 312k miles
2007 312k miles
2011 287k miles and still going strong.

Apart from proper servicing nothing major has gone wrong with any of them.

One water pump, a known weakness on the current car at 211k miles, and a couple of rear shocks replaced, but only due to the top mount knocking slightly, and that's about it.

The 2003 car had a little bit of rust inside the boot lid, and the SBC pump replaced free of charge, again a known issue with that system, and I had the injectors replaced on the 2011 car, again a major issue with the injectors at launch, replaced my Mercedes free of charge.

Servicing and proper use is the key to reliability.

[tomperkins]

Monkeylegend said:

I have had 3 over the last 12 years for chauffeuring, all 220CDi's. All Mercedes derived engines are chain driven and on the 220 don't give any issues.

2003 312k miles
2007 312k miles
2011 287k miles and still going strong.

That's impressive, have you never thought about an S-class?

[Innowaybored]

THE best "premium" car for high mileage?

I give you the Mercedes Benz W123 - These things are practically indestructible. Sure very very few things will work and the seating will have had the sweat and bodily fluids of many many people on them but what other car, based on north african taxis, can carry as many people as you want including luggage facilities not only in the boot but hanging out of windows and piled high on the roof.

And the mileage? Well the Odometers eventually break but some of these things have travelled incredible distances. Perhaps not as far as the 240D taxi driver - he clocked a verified 2.8 million miles.

200,000 miles? For some cars that is barely run in.

[Monkeylegend]

tomperkins said:

Monkeylegend said:

I have had 3 over the last 12 years for chauffeuring, all 220CDi's. All Mercedes derived engines are chain driven and on the 220 don't give any issues.

2003 312k miles
2007 312k miles
2011 287k miles and still going strong.

That's impressive, have you never thought about an S-class?

Had a colleague who had a 2005 S320CDi, lovely car but more expensive to run, and he had very costly issues with the suspension and rear diff, and other electrical niggles. Too complex even then, the E class is more mechanical and relatively simple compared to the S class, and has almost the same interior and boot space.

He got rid of it after a couple of years an bought a diesel XJ, another big mistake reliability wise.

I am retired now so my current one is leading a much more relaxed life.

[Erudite geezer]

Had a Jaguar XJ6 3.O litre V6 (2005 year model) for 4 years of sublime motoring - sold it with 186,000 miles on the clock, receiving text messages from new owner affirming how much they were enjoying it.

Many owners on Jaguar forums had cars approaching 300,000 miles.

[Storer]

It is more about the type of mileage than the age of the car or the total mileage.

If the first owner did 40k miles a year on mainly motorways the car will cope with a much higher life mileage than one that commuted 10 miles a day into town.

I have a Discovery 3 (that I have owned since almost new) that has done 115k but has required a reasonable amount of repairs (I do most of my own). I intend keeping it until it has done 200k but I expect to have to continue repairing issues as it lives quite a hard life including towing 3.5 tonnes.
You could buy a much newer vehicle with similar mileage which has spent most of it's time on a motorway with very few issues.

My wife's new E 250 cabriolet has an 8 speed auto gearbox and the engine seems happy to change up so that it is running at 1200rpm. It changes down quite readily and covers ground reasonably rapidly. With regular servicing it should easily cope with high mileage but I would expect to repair/replace suspension components before 200k miles.