Is 150,000 miles a lot for a car?

Is 150,000 miles a lot for a car?

Author
Discussion

Z064life

Original Poster:

1,926 posts

247 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
Hi All,

My family currently have a BMW 320d, which has done 150,000 miles. 2007 model.

Just wondering, is this too many miles for a car? The car itself runs fine, has no chronic problems (obviously the odd issue with a certain part, but has always been fixed), no rust or visible wear and tear to the interior. When I was younger, I was under the impression that when a car reaches 100,000 miles, it means it needs an imminent change.

What's the consensus?

K12beano

20,854 posts

274 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
Age kills cars, not mileage.

Jimmy Recard

17,540 posts

178 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
A ten year old 320d at 150,000 miles?

That's not high mileage for that. A 320d is designed to spend all day every day on the motorway

jas xjr

11,309 posts

238 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
just have a look on ebay , yours would probably one of the lower mileage ones.
it all depends on how it has been driven too.

Davie

4,732 posts

214 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
Base your judgement on condition not mileage.

A well looked after 150,000 mile car would be preferred over an identical 50,000 mile car that's been abused and neglected since day one.

ging84

8,824 posts

145 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
i think 100k miles is about the most you can expect out of a car

unless you service it a couple of times

parabolica

6,703 posts

183 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
My dad's (also used to be mine) 2005 9-3 Aero is on 215,000 and still perfectly healthy despite a few battle scars on the bodywork. If it still runs and is perfectly safe then what does the mileage have to do with anything?

raspy

1,459 posts

93 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
I remember when I first passed my test hearing advice to look for cars under 100k as they are knackered/high risk of problems, after that number of miles. That was in the days of Ford Cortinas!

However, you only have to sit in minicabs and see how many miles their reasonably modern cars have and are still going strong. Bear in mind that although interior and engine/transmission on your car are probably working fine, the suspension is probably tired at 100k (even if they are all motorway miles)

bearman68

4,642 posts

131 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
Customer of mine has a 2007 320d. Was absolutely fine to 165k. Then the DMF failed, and shortly after that the swirl flaps were sucked into the engine, throwing another huge bill.

I personally would think it's coming to the end of it's economic life, although you could run it for many thousands of miles more if you are willing to spend some money on it. I would certainly remove the swirl flaps.

Cheers

caelite

4,273 posts

111 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
ging84 said:
i think 100k miles is about the most you can expect out of a car

unless you service it a couple of times
Nearly had me going there! biggrin

DanielSan

18,745 posts

166 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
Z064life said:
Hi All,

My family currently have a BMW 320d, which has done 150,000 miles. 2007 model.

Just wondering, is this too many miles for a car? The car itself runs fine, has no chronic problems (obviously the odd issue with a certain part, but has always been fixed), no rust or visible wear and tear to the interior. When I was younger, I was under the impression that when a car reaches 100,000 miles, it means it needs an imminent change.

What's the consensus?
Read the first half of your own post again and you'll work out the simple conclusion

CS Garth

2,860 posts

104 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
K12beano said:
Age kills cars, not mileage.
I'd say lack of maintenance and rust are the real killers not age or mileage.

The key for longevity on modern diesels is an oil change every 10k. 18-20k kills turbos.

daemon

35,719 posts

196 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
If its been well serviced and maintained, then the mileage shouldnt be a particular issue.

Its when they're neglected that the problems are more likely.


98elise

26,364 posts

160 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
raspy said:
I remember when I first passed my test hearing advice to look for cars under 100k as they are knackered/high risk of problems, after that number of miles. That was in the days of Ford Cortinas!

However, you only have to sit in minicabs and see how many miles their reasonably modern cars have and are still going strong. Bear in mind that although interior and engine/transmission on your car are probably working fine, the suspension is probably tired at 100k (even if they are all motorway miles)
In the days of Cortinas that was true. Engines of that vintage we're not that reliable in the first place, and rust was normal on a car over a few years old. My first car was an 8 year old fiat with 70k on the clock and it was mostly rust and had suffered multiple breakdowns.

Currently my daily driver a 13 year old fiesta with 115k on the clock. It has no rust and everything just works. It looks and feels like it would go another 100k.

HJG

461 posts

106 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
My MK1 MX5 is 20 years old and has recently hit 170,000 miles and still going strong.

As somebody has already said, age is the killer - mostly because of rust.

My '05 E46 M3 has 125,000 miles and drives like new. It has been very well looked after by its previous owners. It covered 75,000 in its first four years - presumably on the motorway. Easy miles.

Barchettaman

6,280 posts

131 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
My 2008 320d is on 201k km / 125k miles and still feels tight, no squeaks, bangs or rattles.
The gearbox is notchy and recalcitrant from cold, however, and an oil change hasn't helped.
Other than that it's wearing its miles very well indeed, as do most E90s if the mileage on ones you see for sale on mobile.de is anything to go by.

Clutch and DMF were changed by the previous owner at 150k so I dodged a hefty bill there.

It has the M47. Do these engines also suffer from swirl-flaps breaking, or is that just the N47? Can you recommend a 'how-to' guide for their removal if they are problematic? I'm pretty keen to take it to 300k km if viable to do so.

GroundEffect

13,814 posts

155 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
K12beano said:
Age kills cars, not mileage.
Both do. Different failure modes have different causes of failure.

taz turbo

654 posts

249 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
My last Avensis was over 240K miles when I sold it, with the exception of service parts only all was original, including clutch and DMF! Never used any fluids, as already said 10K service interval likely helped matters. Near impossible to sell though, people seem to have a big hang up on mileage even though it was in great condition, would of easily passed as a 20K miles car.

So no, 150K miles is not much and not yet run in my friend.

Chris.

Willy Nilly

12,511 posts

166 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
Z064life said:
Hi All,

My family currently have a BMW 320d, which has done 150,000 miles. 2007 model.

Just wondering, is this too many miles for a car? The car itself runs fine, has no chronic problems (obviously the odd issue with a certain part, but has always been fixed), no rust or visible wear and tear to the interior. When I was younger, I was under the impression that when a car reaches 100,000 miles, it means it needs an imminent change.

What's the consensus?
Your car is 10 years old, I don't know what the design life is, say 13 years. Realistically, the car is in the last 3rd of its life.

However, it depends on how the car has been maintained and the sort of miles these 150,000 have been. 1,000 motorway miles a week isn't many operating hours, 150,000 miles around town is a huge amount of operating hours.

Only you can decide when to chop it in. My feeling is that when the annual repair costs over and above servicing and wear a tear are higher than the annual depreciation, it's time to go. If the car can get between services without repair and letting you down, keep running it. If you have to chuck a few hundred quid extra at it when it needs a service, it's fine, but it must keep going. Don't under estimate the depreciation cost of it's replacement.

Would I buy a 150,000 mile car? No, but I'll happily keep running a 150,000 mile car I've put those miles on. The drive train is not likely to be the problem, it's all of the niggly faults age serves up that get on your nerves.

Fattyfat

3,301 posts

195 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
quotequote all
In days gone by a lot of 'average' cars at say 10 years old and 100k would be suffering from terminal rust, smokey engines and such like. Not saying that still doesn't happen with something neglected but 100K really is nothing now if the owner is prepared to keep up with a sensible service regime and general TLC.

Anything major that has failed on my 160K Passat has been electrical with the odd exception of usual wear and tear suspension components. However for a lot of folk replacing a DMF or timing belt on a 9 year old car worth maybe 2K would be enough to have them at the dealers looking at a shiny new PCP job.