Is 150,000 miles a lot for a car?
Discussion
Z064life said:
Hi All,
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.
Think you just answered your own question.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.
Personally, I don't think there's such a thing as too many miles, although low mileage cars are easier to sell obviously!
Instead, I think it depends on what kind of car it is, what kind of driving it's been used for, and how well it's been maintained.
My N-reg Peugeot 306 is on 154k and still has loads of life left in it.
my 740i is 21 years old and over 230,000 miles. Has a few 'older car problems' but nothing that stands in the way of enjoying it for what it is. Mostly minor electrical gremlins, if they were worse I'd have fixed them already but they're intermittent enough to be a mere mild annoyance every so often rather than a source of chagrin.
Depends on how it's been driven/serviced/maintained.
My 2006 Z4MC is on 152,000 miles (I've owned it since 9,000 miles).
It does me as the daily driver, weekender, track car & Ring lapper.
It's had LOTs of oil changes (one every 6,000 miles or so), inspection services with valve clearances, diff & gearbox oils (annually), and i was doing about 25,000 miles a year in it.
The only major thing it's needed since 100,000 miles was a clutch & flywheel (at 140,000 miles).
If you use genuine parts from a dealer, then it becomes too expensive to maintain, but for most parts you can get OE stuff for a fraction of the price (e.g. the clutch & flywheel fitted was £4k at BMW or £2k at a BMW specialist - for the same OE LUK parts).
It also had a diff/drive shafts/trailing arms at 150,000 miles (but that was due to an accident that nearly wrote the car off). Other than the odd bulb, sensor or caliper, it's not needed anything other than consumables (lots of them of course).
It's probably worth pennies now though, and I might as well keep it, as no-one would want to pay much for a 'worn out' car
I could sell mine cheaply and buy another with 50k less miles on it, but I'd be in the same situation a couple of years later and have a car with older parts. I'd also be starting with a car with a history that I couldn't be 100% sure of.
My 2006 Z4MC is on 152,000 miles (I've owned it since 9,000 miles).
It does me as the daily driver, weekender, track car & Ring lapper.
It's had LOTs of oil changes (one every 6,000 miles or so), inspection services with valve clearances, diff & gearbox oils (annually), and i was doing about 25,000 miles a year in it.
The only major thing it's needed since 100,000 miles was a clutch & flywheel (at 140,000 miles).
If you use genuine parts from a dealer, then it becomes too expensive to maintain, but for most parts you can get OE stuff for a fraction of the price (e.g. the clutch & flywheel fitted was £4k at BMW or £2k at a BMW specialist - for the same OE LUK parts).
It also had a diff/drive shafts/trailing arms at 150,000 miles (but that was due to an accident that nearly wrote the car off). Other than the odd bulb, sensor or caliper, it's not needed anything other than consumables (lots of them of course).
It's probably worth pennies now though, and I might as well keep it, as no-one would want to pay much for a 'worn out' car
I could sell mine cheaply and buy another with 50k less miles on it, but I'd be in the same situation a couple of years later and have a car with older parts. I'd also be starting with a car with a history that I couldn't be 100% sure of.
Edited by mmm-five on Saturday 22 April 16:56
100k miles is where most if you should be buying your cars. Cars can easily do 250k without expensive servicing or repairs if you go for a Japanese / reliable car. You shouldnt be looking to dispose at 100k but actually the opposite. You actually then might have no debt and substantial savings.
Audemars said:
100k miles is where most if you should be buying your cars. Cars can easily do 250k without expensive servicing or repairs if you go for a Japanese / reliable car. You shouldnt be looking to dispose at 100k but actually the opposite. You actually then might have no debt and substantial savings.
Yup. This is where service history comes into play. I'd much rather buy a car on 120k+ that has been fully rebushed, new springs & shocks, clutch etc etc than pick up a car with only 80k that has had nothing other than scheduled maintenance. bearman68 said:
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
Aye, as well getting one with a nice engine at those miles.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
It's been a while since I left automotive tier 1 supply, but a typical design loge used to be 10 years / 150k miles. I would imagine that would be a B10 life, i.e. they would expect 10% of cars to fail at that point.
I'd be surprised if the industry has moved much from that. Assuming it hasn't, realistically, they don't know what happens now, they haven't tested beyond that.
I'd be surprised if the industry has moved much from that. Assuming it hasn't, realistically, they don't know what happens now, they haven't tested beyond that.
Lots of good advice on the thread. To me it's the nature and frequency of faults which determine when it's time to call it a day.
Generally except for massive catastrophic failure, oily nuts and bolts type problems can be fixed. The ones that kill cars these days are the difficult to trace electrical faults, especially if intermittent. Even if you're handy with fault code readers and have lots of time spare in fault tracing sooner or later you end up with having to replace a black box for a gazillion of your finest pounds. Even worse if you're restricted to having to pay someone to do the fault finding at 70 GBP an hour with no real guarantee of a solution.
But as others have said it's probably in the last 40% of its life, which to be fair is still a lot of life. It all depends how disruptive it gets with increasing unreliability at some point and available cash to fix it.
Generally except for massive catastrophic failure, oily nuts and bolts type problems can be fixed. The ones that kill cars these days are the difficult to trace electrical faults, especially if intermittent. Even if you're handy with fault code readers and have lots of time spare in fault tracing sooner or later you end up with having to replace a black box for a gazillion of your finest pounds. Even worse if you're restricted to having to pay someone to do the fault finding at 70 GBP an hour with no real guarantee of a solution.
But as others have said it's probably in the last 40% of its life, which to be fair is still a lot of life. It all depends how disruptive it gets with increasing unreliability at some point and available cash to fix it.
Audemars said:
100k miles is where most if you should be buying your cars. Cars can easily do 250k without expensive servicing or repairs if you go for a Japanese / reliable car. You shouldnt be looking to dispose at 100k but actually the opposite. You actually then might have no debt and substantial savings.
"Most of you should be buying your cars"What about the minority outside that, for instance?
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?
I can't believe you've been on this forum for well over 10 years and you're asking this question! No, it isn't too much, the car sounds fine.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?
Jimmy Recard said:
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
10 year old BMWThat's not high mileage for that. A 320d is designed to spend all day every day on the motorway
150,000 miles
15,000 miles per year
300 miles per week
40-60 miles per day
Probably most of its time spent on the motorway.
As long as it was serviced properly I would not be too bothered.
GroundEffect said:
K12beano said:
Age kills cars, not mileage.
Both do. Different failure modes have different causes of failure.I suspect many people are reflecting on the car with unrealistic views.
The more modern cars have excellent quality control and design - so there are fewer that fail prematurely but conversely, fewer that go on to rack up huge mileage without issues.
A previous poster has said design life is about 150k.
If it's running well, remove the swirl flaps, and continue to maintain it, while furiously putting money in the rainy day fund. If it throws a bill of many thousands, onto Ebay as spares or repair,and buy a new one with the rain fund.
Don't expect it to last 250k - it might, but it's likely to be a statistical anomaly if it does so.
The more modern cars have excellent quality control and design - so there are fewer that fail prematurely but conversely, fewer that go on to rack up huge mileage without issues.
A previous poster has said design life is about 150k.
If it's running well, remove the swirl flaps, and continue to maintain it, while furiously putting money in the rainy day fund. If it throws a bill of many thousands, onto Ebay as spares or repair,and buy a new one with the rain fund.
Don't expect it to last 250k - it might, but it's likely to be a statistical anomaly if it does so.
The real problem that kills modern cars is electrical problems and lack of maintence because people make assumptions. All the oily bits are so reliable and generally need less servicing so things get forgotten. Bodyshell corrosion protection has improved no end so seeing seriously rusty cars is much rarer than it used to be.
As others have said buy on condition rather than absolute mileage but how many people can make the correct judgement about condition. I would think only a small perecentage of the population can make the judgement.
As others have said buy on condition rather than absolute mileage but how many people can make the correct judgement about condition. I would think only a small perecentage of the population can make the judgement.
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