How much mileage is good for a used car?
Discussion
i recently came across a used car deal and it has a citroen d3 with huge miles on it, 143,000, wanted to know if its ohk to buy, it has a good service history with replaced spare parts and OEM wheels. Drives great and has a good feel.
Not sure if its still a great buy, any suggestions?
Not sure if its still a great buy, any suggestions?
I sort of bank on average miles covered per year. Most people do around 10,000-12,000 miles, so that car is just about over that but nothing unreasonable. The service history is the key thing with higher mileage cars, as well as the general condition when you view it (ignore the odd ding and scratch and makr on the body work - more you want to look for things like panels lining up, bad respays, odd tyre wear, the condition of seats and other trim, etc etc)
Dont set your heart on it, walk away if in doubt, there'll be others around.
Dont set your heart on it, walk away if in doubt, there'll be others around.
Whenever I buy a car I look to see how many are up for sale with higher mileages... If you do 10k miles a year, and you can find the same model around with 200k miles on it, then you should be comfortable doing another 5 years in it.
I would also suggest you look long and hard at the service history... I've viewed cars for family where MOT and repair receipts point to there being multiple owners all over the country with various surnames, but the service history indicates they all took it for service at the same garage. The car might still be fine, but it brings uncertainty, and this sort of uncertainty should be met with a reduction in price to cover the fact the car may have a reduced life or need a major service to replace belts etc. Someone who has falsified a car's history cannot be trusted to put it right if it breaks so ignore any promises!
Finally, accept that used cars break and need fixing, regardless of how well they've been looked after. I'm yet to hear of a decent warranty that doesn't cost a fortune. Suggest you ensure you have a budget to fix stuff. Better yet, if you are buying a £2.5k car then if you can afford to buy a second one then mentally ringfence that money for another one if this one goes up the spout.
I'm not trying to scare you off, modern cars can run for a lot more than 140k miles with basic maintenance. In these uncertain times I'd rather have a £2.5k high-miler than a lease on something that I might not be able to afford in 2 years.
I would also suggest you look long and hard at the service history... I've viewed cars for family where MOT and repair receipts point to there being multiple owners all over the country with various surnames, but the service history indicates they all took it for service at the same garage. The car might still be fine, but it brings uncertainty, and this sort of uncertainty should be met with a reduction in price to cover the fact the car may have a reduced life or need a major service to replace belts etc. Someone who has falsified a car's history cannot be trusted to put it right if it breaks so ignore any promises!
Finally, accept that used cars break and need fixing, regardless of how well they've been looked after. I'm yet to hear of a decent warranty that doesn't cost a fortune. Suggest you ensure you have a budget to fix stuff. Better yet, if you are buying a £2.5k car then if you can afford to buy a second one then mentally ringfence that money for another one if this one goes up the spout.
I'm not trying to scare you off, modern cars can run for a lot more than 140k miles with basic maintenance. In these uncertain times I'd rather have a £2.5k high-miler than a lease on something that I might not be able to afford in 2 years.
Hard to say.
History and service are key to me.
Farther in law gave me his 2004 Rover 75 (owned from new) with 108000 on it. It's now done 155000 and I've had one brake and the alternator done.
By contrast we bought a Renault Megane Scenic 4 year old with 60000 on it, had new clutch at 90000 and scrapped it this week for £1000. Was full of error lights and had been a pain in the arse to be honest.
So you want service history.
Check previous MOT's on line and see what it failed on.
What the interior look like, is it well loved and well driven (or like the megane owned by a dirty housewife with two kids who trashed it)
For me, I'd buy high mileage, pensioner wagon, over less mileage family bus any day!
History and service are key to me.
Farther in law gave me his 2004 Rover 75 (owned from new) with 108000 on it. It's now done 155000 and I've had one brake and the alternator done.
By contrast we bought a Renault Megane Scenic 4 year old with 60000 on it, had new clutch at 90000 and scrapped it this week for £1000. Was full of error lights and had been a pain in the arse to be honest.
So you want service history.
Check previous MOT's on line and see what it failed on.
What the interior look like, is it well loved and well driven (or like the megane owned by a dirty housewife with two kids who trashed it)
For me, I'd buy high mileage, pensioner wagon, over less mileage family bus any day!
donkmeister said:
Whenever I buy a car I look to see how many are up for sale with higher mileages... If you do 10k miles a year, and you can find the same model around with 200k miles on it, then you should be comfortable doing another 5 years in it.
I use this approach too. If I see plenty.of examples of a car on autotrader that have done 150-200k that gives me some level of comfort that the cars mechanics and engine can do the miles if properly maintained.There is no guarantee a car won't throw up an issue during your ownership, they all do. There is luck too..some cars can simply start to throw up a lot of bills at certain age/mileage etc.
But aside from evidence of decent service history I'd also research the models you are looking at, use instinct too when visiting the cars...is the owner/garage being transparent, any red flags etc
Usually, mileage should only be considered when you have checked all other aspects, mileage alone cant determine. An average of 12,000 miles per year is considered the norm. Taking a car check could help you with information that you need for buying a used car, like specs, tax and much more
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