The end of low mileage
Discussion
i was just reading the recent Calibra post where the car has covered 44k miles in 34 years (I.e. 1,300 miles per year) and it got me thinking.
As we move closer to an ICE ban or at the very least, cars that many enthusiasts find less interesting or rewarding to drive, we must surely get to a point where traditional “low mileage” cars won’t exist. Even if they only do a few thousand miles per year, that will all add up.
I get that there will always be the rare Ferrari that only gets wheeled out once a year for a service or MOT and is closer to an artwork than a car but for the other stuff, what do people think will happen?
Will less weight be put on mileage? Would people really want that car which has only done a couple of hundred miles per year vs that which has done say 4k/year?
Will more restorations of these ‘to be’ classic cars result in less interest on mileage? I.e. I assume something that is heavily restored like a Singer comes with 0 on the odometer regardless of the donor car?
Or will the guys offering mileage correction just keep winding things back so we have cars that state they have only done 200miles a year despite having been to the moon and back
What do people think?
As we move closer to an ICE ban or at the very least, cars that many enthusiasts find less interesting or rewarding to drive, we must surely get to a point where traditional “low mileage” cars won’t exist. Even if they only do a few thousand miles per year, that will all add up.
I get that there will always be the rare Ferrari that only gets wheeled out once a year for a service or MOT and is closer to an artwork than a car but for the other stuff, what do people think will happen?
Will less weight be put on mileage? Would people really want that car which has only done a couple of hundred miles per year vs that which has done say 4k/year?
Will more restorations of these ‘to be’ classic cars result in less interest on mileage? I.e. I assume something that is heavily restored like a Singer comes with 0 on the odometer regardless of the donor car?
Or will the guys offering mileage correction just keep winding things back so we have cars that state they have only done 200miles a year despite having been to the moon and back
What do people think?
Big premiums for low mileage (cough!) classics is a fad of the last twenty years. And it generally applies to stuff made from the '70s onwards. You never see a vintage Bentley at triple the market value because it has low recorded mileage. Personally, I can see value in originality, but none whatsoever in low mileage.
Rumdoodle said:
Big premiums for low mileage (cough!) classics is a fad of the last twenty years. And it generally applies to stuff made from the '70s onwards. You never see a vintage Bentley at triple the market value because it has low recorded mileage. Personally, I can see value in originality, but none whatsoever in low mileage.
The two pretty much come as a package though, given corrosion rates on many classic cars.Beyond me how restored cars can win concourse, unless I am getting the idea all wrong, cars never had perfect paint, show chrome, and exagerated spotwelds when they were new.
Like you I do not put weight on miles, I like originality, and I have this conundrum with a car I bought. 1 owner, 17k miles in 39 years,
Do I register it, and use it as I do my others, or... well you know, at the moment Citizen Kahn is deciding the issue, not paying him to use it lol.
People have a really weird view of mileage I find. Cars tend to be written off as every day vehicles at 100,000 miles by many, I personally think. Cars just need to be maintained well, protected from the elements, and looked after.
I know our climate doesn't help but we shouldn't be fearful of high mileage.
I know our climate doesn't help but we shouldn't be fearful of high mileage.
bqf said:
People have a really weird view of mileage I find. Cars tend to be written off as every day vehicles at 100,000 miles by many,
It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Cars mostly don't get scrapped because they're unrepairable, they get scrapped because the ratio ofrepair costs to car value gets too high. If people think cars are uneconomical to run past 100k miles, they will become uneconomical to run past 100k miles because their value will fall, lowering the amount people are willing to spend repairing them. I don't really see why the transition to EV would change anything though. People like "mainstream" classics because they remind them of their childhood, and a whole generation will grow up with those cars being EVs and will presumably covet them just as much as our generation coverts mundane cars of yesteryear like mk1 Escorts. And of those a few will be wealthy enough to say "sod it, I'm going to get the very best, least used example I can regardless of price".
Edited by kambites on Tuesday 6th August 20:01
bqf said:
People have a really weird view of mileage I find. Cars tend to be written off as every day vehicles at 100,000 miles by many, I personally think. Cars just need to be maintained well, protected from the elements, and looked after.
I know our climate doesn't help but we shouldn't be fearful of high mileage.
100 thousand miles is a bit of a nonsense, what do countries that use kilometres do when their cars reach 62,000 miles or 100,000 kilometres?I know our climate doesn't help but we shouldn't be fearful of high mileage.
Terminator X said:
I find myself looking at older cars as the modern ones get more boring and bland. Agree that miles will become less of an issue.
TX.
That is where I have been for some time, really disaapointed with a Golf 8 Gti, happy when it got written off, and not going new again. TX.
Bought early, bought right, came out in front.
Not only are they bland, they are so damn unreliable, and often a mission to get fixed, parts issues, etc. and you don,t really drive them, or they tell you what you are doing wrong.
Parts can be an issue with older cars, depending on age and how rare they are, but there is always a way, and it does not sit at a main agent for weeks or months.
Before anyone says EV is the answer, tried it, did not like it, does not work for me in anyway, cannot home charge for a start, it goes downhill from there, and pcp renting and depreciation are alien words to me.
Depreciation can be avoided on older cars, you may change them often, or run a shed, but it is so much more satisfying fun, especially if you enjoy tinkering.
Terminator X said:
^^ no way, EV is white goods A to B transport.
TX.
A worthless 14 year old low mileage EV white goods vehicle => https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401225...TX.
Truckosaurus said:
A worthless 14 year old low mileage EV white goods vehicle => https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401225...
Another reason not to like them 
I love seeing the drive-thru oil changes with people getting their every-other-hour oil change done during their lunchbreaks...Truckosaurus said:
Terminator X said:
^^ no way, EV is white goods A to B transport.
TX.
A worthless 14 year old low mileage EV white goods vehicle => https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401225...TX.
So little use may not have done the longevity of the batteries any favours either.
I got over my 6 figure mileage worries years ago - condition and history are far more important.
Mr Tidy said:
....So little use may not have done the longevity of the batteries any favours either....
Indeed. Same applies to ultra low mileage ICE vehicles too, sometimes lack of use is as bad as overuse.I do wonder if we will see a change in mindset on mileage with EVs and a switch to more objective measurements like age and/or battery health.
Truckosaurus said:
A worthless 14 year old low mileage EV white goods vehicle => https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401225...
It’s obviously not worth the asking price - it’s been for sale all year.Forums | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff