Is 150,000 miles a lot for a car?
Discussion
Yipper said:
The average UK car today goes to the scrapper at ~110k miles and ~14 years of age.
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This. And the vast majority of these cars are basically sound, it's just that the cost of repairs outweighs the cost of replacemnet with another banger that will do another year. My Mondeo (03, 1.8 petrol, 134k) was at the MoT station 18 months ago, £400+ bill. It was then exactly the car you describe, 110k, 13 years old, and I was a gnat's away from binning it. Only the fact that I could get the work done cheaper stopped me. The work wasn't much, just brake pipes and consumables, and the thing was sound..
On this occasion the investment was worthwhile, but if the thing had needed a clutch in addition to the MoT works it would have gone, no question. This is all driven by the ready availability of basically sound 10 yo cars for loose change. The OP's car will go for another 50k without incident, but only if he is prepared to stump up for a few repair bills that might total up to more than the current value of the car. What fails is anyone's guess, in my case there were things like rusty brake pipes that were just age related, there will be other things like suspension wear. These make the thing crap to drive if you don't resolve them. Can it be done? Of course. Anything can. But if it's a cheap car and the thing still goes and isn't dangerous, the temptation is to say "well, we'll see what they say at the MoT" and you then drive a crap handling car for 6 months.
Interestingly, in France where there is no company car culture and used cars hang on to their value, 400k km (250k miles) is regarded as normal life for a standard TDi motor car. 150k miles motor cars are a couple of thousand euros a go, and nobody bats an eye. If your car is worth 3k euros and you need 500 to get it through the test, you shrug and pay up.
Edited by battered on Sunday 23 April 21:20
mmm-five said:
caelite said:
German cars are substantially more expensive to maintain in the US than they are here due to the lack of cheap parts support that we have, and the wealth of knowledge held by most mechanics here, a lot of German brands in the US require servicing at specialist garages because your average back street affair just doesn't have the experience as the cars are less common. This increases costs and dramatically increases the rate at which 'bangernomics' come into play. I'm not saying German motors are as reliable as anything on this list (their not) but the servicing over there does play a part.
Have you checked out the servicing & parts prices in the US vs the UK - we're the ones getting ripped off. For example an M 'value' oil service at BMW is £170 in the UK vs $150 in the US; a set of front Z4M/CSL discs in the UK are £500 vs $450.However, that may be because the UK customer expects main dealers to be 2x/3x the price of an indy, and there's 1 dealer per city, vs the US model where the dealers compete for your business within the same area.
Even within Europe the UK network is a rip off. At one point (pre-Brexit referendum) I considered taking my car to Germany a week before a track day, just to get it serviced at a dealer for half the cost of the UK dealer.
) the majority of your Jiffy Lube/SpeeDee style places wouldn't do a full service on a European motor, only American or Japanese kit, this drives 'end of life' servicing up for your rather complicated German cars in the US, meaning you are forced to pay the dealer rate, meaning that the 'bangernomic' principles come into play earlier than they would on an American/Jap car. Where I was there was a handful of 'European Car Specialists' indys but the savings of going there where only 20-30% over going to a dealer rather than the 50-70% saving you expect here.
Edited by caelite on Sunday 23 April 20:23
Toyoda said:
gottans said:
Bodyshell corrosion protection has improved no end so seeing seriously rusty cars is much rarer than it used to be.
Someone tell that to Ford and Vauxhall. The Crack Fox said:
Z06George said:
My '98 V70 has 128,000 miles on it, which looking at other ones that's barely run in. When I bought it I remember seeing some for sale with 250k+ on the clock.
My old 850R had over 100k on the clock when I bought it from a Volvo main dealer, they gave me a 12 month warranty without any fuss, and it never needed anything other than lots and lots of tyres 
Conversely I had a Vectra 1.8 that was buggered by 120k. It burned oil, leaked PAS fluid, and developed leaks in the hydraulic clutch for a pastime. A Cavalier I had before went for ever, I ran it to 155k, sold it to my mate who took it beyond 200k, it still ran like a watch and only went to the breaker because the ancillaries all fell apart at once. New clutch, rad, fuel tank, wiper mech, suspension bushes, discs and pads, it would have done another 100k but nobody in their right mind would have spent the necessary money in one go.
Olivera said:
My V70R on a 98 plate at 160k (which I paid top money for) has literally had everything break over the last year. At least 20+ items. Utter hateful piece of junk - well and truly ready for the scrapper.
What has happened to it?My 98 V70R is running over 300 BHP on 178k miles with a recent no advisory MOT and the only issue being a loose light in the passenger door (common).
They all get to a period of time where they may need a steering rack, or a PCV change and bushes etc, but I'm on Volvo number 18 now and as of yet, nothing has ever actually broken on any of them. My neighbour owns five and his biggest job so far has been an exhaust and two wishbones.
They also just simply will not rust (if no major stone damage etc is left untreated)
I just picked up another 850 (1996) for much cheapness and as per usual, you can lift any panel you like, any bit of carpet etc and you find nothing but lovely clean metal. That's on 143k and honestly does drive as new.
Sa Calobra said:
So VW/Audi don't do a pickup or SUV's?
Pickups? In the US, no.SUVs? Not much at all when 200k cars were being bought new (15 years ago?). Most of the SUVs in this list aren't crossovers - car-based platforms with monocoque bodyshells; they're separate, body-on-frame SUVs, basically estate car versions of pickup trucks. VW/Audi/Mercedes/BMW only sell what Americans would recognise as a crossover, not an old-school SUV.
Edited by CYMR0 on Monday 24th April 10:26
bagusbagus said:
Nah... The rust is the car killer!
My Grandpa still drives a 1987 audi 80 with like 300k miles, Almost Zero rust on it anywhere and more or less everything can be fixed with a hammer
Not any more. Find me a car with terminal body corrosion these days, other than exceptions like MX5s. When did you last hear of a car needing a new sill for the MoT? Back in the 80s that was currency. Your Audi 80 is a simple beast that will show up few electrical foibles, try the same thing with a 2007 Audi that's putting a dash light on and nobody knows why. "You need a new ECU mate, £1100". I recently had a chap telling me that he;d had an electrical fault on his ABS, cost to fix £1400, but it "wasn't too bad in the end, it was only £900". That's more likely these days to send a car to a breaker than corrosion.My Grandpa still drives a 1987 audi 80 with like 300k miles, Almost Zero rust on it anywhere and more or less everything can be fixed with a hammer
Picked up in a taxi about 10 years ago, Pug 406 derv, spotted the mileage at 400k+ and commented that was impressive mileage. The driver said he only buys second hand cars and won't look at anything under 100K, cost nothing to buy, maintains them and runs them until they die, usually around the half million mark unless he's unlucky. He would jump at the chance of the OP's 150k miler, one man's junk etc.
battered said:
I was in a Skoda taxi with 365k on board. Original engine, second gearbox, all the ancillaries were falling apart. Strange things wear out on a 300k mile car, things like the clutch pivot or the cable attachment point just aren't designed to last for however many million operations.
The one for sale down the road from me is good for another 100k then. 
vsonix said:
Corrosion problem has improved but still only lasts a certain amount of time, the rot sets in eventually and if anything these days once it does set in kills a car a lot quicker. The last two years have been very hard on the front wings of my E46 and it's not even seen much winter use.
The problem with e46 front wings is that the arch liner traps all the crap coming of the road and holds it against the arch with inevitable results, it's a bit of a poor design by BMW IMO. The sill covers on the e39 do exactly the same thing.
Sa Calobra said:
mybrainhurts said:
2008 V70, just passed 401,000 and driving as though it's just left the showroom.
More details please!Runs as smoothly as a baby's bum.
Just passed 402,000 yesterday.
I actually think we're quite lucky in the UK, that so many people deem 100 or 150,000 miles a fair quantity. Many cars will easily do way, way more than that, you've just got to be prepared to pay for the privilege.
There's a lot of car out there if you're prepared to inspect based on condition, rather than numbers.
I will say this though - I treat advisory as mandatory when it comes to 'consider replacing x' > I'll replace within 4 weeks, always.
There's a lot of car out there if you're prepared to inspect based on condition, rather than numbers.
I will say this though - I treat advisory as mandatory when it comes to 'consider replacing x' > I'll replace within 4 weeks, always.
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