High mileage cars for sale

[Limpet]

Toaster Pilot said:

In a previous life I would often get a taxi to the airport paid for by the company. That taxi would be a E220 CDi from a local company. They ran them to 300k miles.

The condition they were in at 10 miles versus 299200 miles - there wasn’t much between. Fantastic things.

Yep, they seem to be standard issue taxis in much of Europe. I've lost count of the number of E class diesels I've taken to and from airports over the years in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany with 400,000 - 500,000 km on the clock that still seemed to be going strong.

[The spinner of plates]

Burwood said:

The spinner of plates said:

Toaster Pilot said:

The spinner of plates said:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012116...

I’m looking to replace my Mercedes wagon soon..
Looks tidy enough at 314k miles.

One day I’ll buy something like this just to see what it’s actually like to live with. They don’t seem to struggle to get to that mileage but who knows what it’s like going forward.

My current W203 is on 250k miles and very easy to live with (fingers crossed). Serviced once a year under the arches for fluids / filters and normally needs the odd bush or drop link replaced for the MOT.

It’s all a bit of luck, but based on experience mercs with big miles don’t scare me too much. They seem to love being used and are at their happiest pounding up and down the motorway networks all day every day. It’s when they sit around for long periods and get used infrequently that the gremlins come out to play.

My perception, probably wrong is that the minute you do normal short journies, it sts itself

Cheers

2020 saw mine do 5% of its previous annual miles...
Parking sensors now on the blink, aircon given up, bit of bubbling starting on the boot lid, occasional coolant low dash message when it’s not, battery starting to slow crank... nothing I can’t sort / live with.. but still.. I swear the best way to keep a high mileage shed fit and healthy is to use and abuse the bd thing in the manner it’s maker intended!!!

[SeldomSeenKid]

Dapster said:

Bonkers money but what a service history!

717,000!!




https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2001-Volvo-S80-2-4-Dies...

Phil Weeden - @Phil100100 on Twitter has bought this, he posted about it yesterday, with a view to updating his time with it

[Geekman]

694k on this, definitely wouldn't be my choice of car for that kind of mileage!
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehiclede...

[anonymous-user]

... said:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101087...

X-Type with 243000 miles, and looks clean for the mileage.

How much was that up for? I sold a very clean, full Jag history V6 AWD Estate for pennies. And that was low mileage. Literally couldn’t give it away

[anonymous-user]

sleepera6 said:

How much was that up for? I sold a very clean, full Jag history V6 AWD Estate for pennies. And that was low mileage. Literally couldn’t give it away

The Gerald's buying these all want the diesel.

[anonymous-user]

Geekman said:

694k on this, definitely wouldn't be my choice of car for that kind of mileage!
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehiclede...

That is awful. And Americans love to say European cars are junk. I wouldn’t be seen dead in that.

[anonymous-user]

sleepera6 said:

Geekman said:

694k on this, definitely wouldn't be my choice of car for that kind of mileage!
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehiclede...

That is awful.

I see a lot of Vectra B saloon in the shape of the DLO and doors in that, but the car is (according to Wiki) based on the GM Epsilon platform that the Vectra C used.

It really is like the GM Europe rubbish we had inflicted on us, but they somehow managed to make them even worse. I'm sure there are some GM / GM Europe apologists on here but when you look at ste like that you can see why they had to go to the government with their begging bowl.

[anonymous-user]

stickleback123 said:

sleepera6 said:

Geekman said:

694k on this, definitely wouldn't be my choice of car for that kind of mileage!
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehiclede...

That is awful.

I see a lot of Vectra B saloon in the shape of the DLO and doors in that, but the car is (according to Wiki) based on the GM Epsilon platform that the Vectra C used.

It really is like the GM Europe rubbish we had inflicted on us, but they somehow managed to make them even worse. I'm sure there are some GM / GM Europe apologists on here but when you look at ste like that you can see why they had to go to the government with their begging bowl.

A quick google search tells me the L series was plagued with mechanical issues and that it was extremely badly built. Imagine the bills on this 694,000 mile example. And that interior. Jesus christ. The amount of fake leather and grey plastic in there, it’s horrific. It makes me pleased that we got the Vectra instead. This car makes the Vectra look like a luxury machine. This car truly represents GM at its very worst.


If i was American and I had to spend 694,000 miles in a mid size saloon, I would have probably chosen a Camry. Dull as dishwater, but at least it’s carved out of granite, it’s comfortable and suited to American roads, and I know it would never let me down.

As a British person, probably a 3 series diesel and an extended warranty or something? Even though it wouldn’t be anywhere near as reliable, straight six engine + good handling = winner in my books. I’m not a BMW fanboy either.

[K50 DEL]

sleepera6 said:

Geekman said:

694k on this, definitely wouldn't be my choice of car for that kind of mileage!
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehiclede...

That is awful. And Americans love to say European cars are junk. I wouldn’t be seen dead in that.

A friend of mine in the US had one of these for many years, living in Atlanta with all her family in Kansas City it made the 1700 mile return trip far more often than I would have wanted to!

A lot of American cars are nowhere near as bad as people like to make out..... this isn't one of them lol

[JakeT]

No competing with a 700,000 mile GM thing, but someone gave this some good use:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011306...

Looks tidy for 226,000 miles, really quite tidy. However with that many miles and long life servicing the timing chain will be ready to cause serious wallet damage.

[Lincsls1]

sleepera6 said:

A quick google search tells me the L series was plagued with mechanical issues and that it was extremely badly built. Imagine the bills on this 694,000 mile example. And that interior. Jesus christ. The amount of fake leather and grey plastic in there, it’s horrific. It makes me pleased that we got the Vectra instead. This car makes the Vectra look like a luxury machine.


If i was American and I had to spend 694,000 miles in a mid size saloon, I would have probably chosen a Camry. Dull as dishwater, but at least it’s carved out of granite, it’s comfortable and suited to American roads, and I know it would never let me down.

As a British person, probably a 3 series diesel and an extended warranty or something? Even though it wouldn’t be anywhere near as reliable, straight six engine + good handling = winner in my books. I’m not a BMW apologist either.

TBF, a quick Google search will reveal a list of common problems for any car.
I would suggest that a 20 year old car with ~700k on its clock has been a pretty reliable car otherwise it would have more than likely been scrapped years ago.
BMWs are not the ultimate in reliability either, they have plenty of niggles.

[off_again]

sleepera6 said:

That is awful. And Americans love to say European cars are junk. I wouldn’t be seen dead in that.

Not going to say that some Americans say that Euro cars are junk, but its certainly not the norm. There are some die-hard Chevy or Ford fans, but in general its around costs - both buying and running a Euro car. Choose carefully though and you can get an America car that can run and run. For example, the Cummings engined Ram trucks have entirely variable reliability - I am told the old 12v motor is fantastic and basically unburstable, but the later 24v model suffers a lot of problems. For many, its about simplicity and ease of maintenance though - and the perception (correctly) is that almost all Euro manufacturers are complex and expensive to run.

That said though, if given the opportunity, a hell of a lot of Americans will buy a Euro car because they are nicer to drive and come with some status.

[anonymous-user]

Lincsls1 said:

sleepera6 said:

As a British person, probably a 3 series diesel and an extended warranty or something? Even though it wouldn’t be anywhere near as reliable, straight six engine + good handling = winner in my books. I’m not a BMW apologist either.

TBF, a quick Google search will reveal a list of common problems for any car.
I would suggest that a 20 year old car with ~700k on its clock has been a pretty reliable car otherwise it would have more than likely been scrapped years ago.
BMWs are not the ultimate in reliability either, they have plenty of niggles.

As above

[anonymous-user]

off_again said:

Not going to say that some Americans say that Euro cars are junk, but its certainly not the norm. There are some die-hard Chevy or Ford fans, but in general its around costs - both buying and running a Euro car. Choose carefully though and you can get an America car that can run and run. For example, the Cummings engined Ram trucks have entirely variable reliability - I am told the old 12v motor is fantastic and basically unburstable, but the later 24v model suffers a lot of problems. For many, its about simplicity and ease of maintenance though - and the perception (correctly) is that almost all Euro manufacturers are complex and expensive to run.

That said though, if given the opportunity, a hell of a lot of Americans will buy a Euro car because they are nicer to drive and come with some status.

Yes, the Cummins is a great engine. There’s a lot of things Americans get so right, such as N/A V8’s (LS1), the minivan market (Toyota Sienna, Chrysler Pacifica), utility vehicles (Ford F-150 and the like, Toyota 4Runner) and EV tech (Tesla) but a lot of things they get wrong (the small car market). When, in the American market, 200hp is considered too little, the manual geared Mazda3 is considered a sports hatch (wtf - Jalopnik, I’m looking at you!) and 30 UK MPG is considered good, there is a problem. 100bhp is perfectly adequate wherever you are in the world.

[off_again]

sleepera6 said:

A quick google search tells me the L series was plagued with mechanical issues and that it was extremely badly built. Imagine the bills on this 694,000 mile example. And that interior. Jesus christ. The amount of fake leather and grey plastic in there, it’s horrific. It makes me pleased that we got the Vectra instead. This car makes the Vectra look like a luxury machine. This car truly represents GM at its very worst.


If i was American and I had to spend 694,000 miles in a mid size saloon, I would have probably chosen a Camry. Dull as dishwater, but at least it’s carved out of granite, it’s comfortable and suited to American roads, and I know it would never let me down.

Yeah, the old Saturns have a poor reputation in general, but there are a lot of them still on the roads. I was confused as to why and got a mix of answers. However, it does seem that the use of the majority of plastic body panels and very hard wearing interior switches and materials means that in most states they simply dont rot or fall apart. Its less of an issue in California (no salt on the roads at all), but in other states where salt is used, they last well.

The problem is that they are horrendously badly built and after that period of time, its going to rattle like hell, nothing will fit right inside and it was never a nice car to drive or ride in originally! To compare a Vectra to the Saturn isnt fair - the windows and some of the under body parts are the same, but they are very different on the inside. The Vectra is positively nicer inside, if thats possible!

And yes, if you are going to cover massive mileage in a car, a Saturn isnt the best place to start with. A Camry or Accord was always nicer and if you can get a good one, will last well. Both the Toyota and Honda were well built and take the punishment well. I have a bit of a soft spot for late 90's to mid-2000's models - cloth seats, minimal electronics and solid engineering build for reliability! There is something honest about this, and cared for examples of those are often ask double of other equivalent models of the same age and spec.

As an illustration, how about this one:

https://sacramento.craigslist.org/ctd/d/sacramento...

335k miles and they still want $2400 for it! Thats a lot of money for a 13 year old car with high miles! Remember, CA cars dont rot, but its got tags (registration and no back payment needed) and smog (valid for up to 2 years) and there is no annual inspection (dont agree with that, but hey, it is what it is). An equivalent Ford Taurus (Mondeo) is going to run you $800!!!

[anonymous-user]

off_again said:

Yeah, the old Saturns have a poor reputation in general, but there are a lot of them still on the roads. I was confused as to why and got a mix of answers. However, it does seem that the use of the majority of plastic body panels and very hard wearing interior switches and materials means that in most states they simply dont rot or fall apart. Its less of an issue in California (no salt on the roads at all), but in other states where salt is used, they last well.

The problem is that they are horrendously badly built and after that period of time, its going to rattle like hell, nothing will fit right inside and it was never a nice car to drive or ride in originally! To compare a Vectra to the Saturn isnt fair - the windows and some of the under body parts are the same, but they are very different on the inside. The Vectra is positively nicer inside, if thats possible!

And yes, if you are going to cover massive mileage in a car, a Saturn isnt the best place to start with. A Camry or Accord was always nicer and if you can get a good one, will last well. Both the Toyota and Honda were well built and take the punishment well. I have a bit of a soft spot for late 90's to mid-2000's models - cloth seats, minimal electronics and solid engineering build for reliability! There is something honest about this, and cared for examples of those are often ask double of other equivalent models of the same age and spec.

As an illustration, how about this one:

https://sacramento.craigslist.org/ctd/d/sacramento...

335k miles and they still want $2400 for it! Thats a lot of money for a 13 year old car with high miles! Remember, CA cars dont rot, but its got tags (registration and no back payment needed) and smog (valid for up to 2 years) and there is no annual inspection (dont agree with that, but hey, it is what it is). An equivalent Ford Taurus (Mondeo) is going to run you $800!!!

The American market is certainly unique. That car wouldn’t even be £1000 in the UK. Probably like £500


It’s nice to see Americans value their old cars. I see a lot of EG Civic videos on youtube; they all disappeared in the UK more than 10 years ago. Old fashioned Hondas and Toyotas like the Carina disappeared from British roads 15 years ago.... I miss old metal.

[...]

sleepera6 said:

How much was that up for? I sold a very clean, full Jag history V6 AWD Estate for pennies. And that was low mileage. Literally couldn’t give it away

I believe it was around £850.

[off_again]

sleepera6 said:

The American market is certainly unique. That car wouldn’t even be £1000 in the UK. Probably like £500


It’s nice to see Americans value their old cars. I see a lot of EG Civic videos on youtube; they all disappeared in the UK more than 10 years ago. Old fashioned Hondas and Toyotas like the Carina disappeared from British roads 15 years ago.... I miss old metal.

This is showing my age, but there are some cracking cars available here:

1995 Camry v6 with 200k and still wants $2,800!

https://sacramento.craigslist.org/ctd/d/sacramento...

1989 Camry with changed engine - still want $2,500!

https://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/d/galt-toyot...

[jeremyh1]

off_again said:

Not going to say that some Americans say that Euro cars are junk, but its certainly not the norm. There are some die-hard Chevy or Ford fans, but in general its around costs - both buying and running a Euro car. Choose carefully though and you can get an America car that can run and run. For example, the Cummings engined Ram trucks have entirely variable reliability - I am told the old 12v motor is fantastic and basically unburstable, but the later 24v model suffers a lot of problems. For many, its about simplicity and ease of maintenance though - and the perception (correctly) is that almost all Euro manufacturers are complex and expensive to run.

That said though, if given the opportunity, a hell of a lot of Americans will buy a Euro car because they are nicer to drive and come with some status.

I think they fear a parts shortage and a lot of mechanics dont like playing with them over there