2nd hand cars with high mileage

metronome

Bad idea?

Appreciate there are many variables but is high mileage a definite no or something which is okay to consider?

Car in question is 3yr old A4 2.0 TDI Quattro. 103k. 1 owner, full Audi history and on face value very well looked after.

Guessing it might have been a commuter car, therefor a lot of motorway mileage.

Car would be used for 2-3 k a year and run in to the ground.

JoostG

Define high mileage?

I recently purchased a 15 year old Saab 9.3 (OG), which has done 215.000km. Perfect car and finally I obey to:

Rule #25 // The bikes on top of your car should be worth more than the car.
Or at least be relatively more expensive. Basically, if you’re putting your Huffy on your Rolls, you’re in trouble, mister. Remember what Sean Said.

How Far is too Far

I currently have a 22 moth old Golf with 64k on It, it has only had tyres on it so far
My last car a Passat was changed just over 3 years old with 128k on it. The Passat Had a Turbo changed at122k andn nothing else went wrong.
I had a Golf before that which was changed with over 130k on it and was never any bother.
In my experience most cars are better once they have 50k+ on them. With the VAG group cars the main problem on high mileages are Turbos, If you factor that into the car you should not really have any problems with the mileage you are going to do

MountainMonster

I normally only buy cars with under 50k miles on them, mainly out of concern for major engine damage. The one time I have bought a car with more (Audi A4 2.5 TDI with 115k on the clock) I ended up having the block snap a month after buying it, despite everything sounded and driving lovely. Since then I simply don't buy high mileage.

Too much depends on the owner of high mileage cars, some people absolutely thrash their cars, so it simply isn't worth the risk for me. I prefer to pay a premium on the purchase price for a low mileage car than pay cheaper upfront and be hit with big bills later on. Of course, this doesn't mean problems can't happen in a low mileage car, but I find the problems are much less.

I guess the only time I would consider purchasing a car with around 100k miles on the clock is if the person had receipts and proof from a reputable dealer that all major servicing items have been done to the T, and all the standard large parts to change around that time have been done. Too many people sell a car which is perfect aesthetically, but they know that within 6 months the car needs over £1000 in engine work done for routine maintenance (changing cam belts and so forth). They do it so they don't have to pay, and that is normally where people on the buying side get stung.

How Far is too Far

If it is an ex company car they should be fully serviced (ours are all VW main dealer) and companies dont normally factor in if it needs things changing in the future. Cars are changed normally on age/mileage/budgets.

A low mileage car owned privately could have been used on the school run and short shopping trips, spent many hours in stop start traffic etc. The servicing could have been skimped on and the car sold with a knowen fault.

A high mileage car will most likely have spent a lot of its time in top gear at motorway speed (mine does) and serviced with what ever the garage want to do.

veronese68

Don't buy a diesel if you are not doing high miles yourself. You are paying a premium for it and you won't get the benefits. Modern diesels are a lot more complicated in term of emissions stuff and if just used for bumbling about they clog up and wind up costing you a small fortune. A neighbour just got rid of a VW Passat tdi because the price she was quoted for changing the dpf was more than the car was worth.
High mileage is not the problem, the type of car may be a problem.

DeVlaeminck

Difficult one but unless as mentioned the car is due some major work like timing belt etc I'd be inclined to think mileage is not all that important and once a car is out of warranty you take your chances. I've just been hit with an £800 bill on a 4 year old car under 50k on the clock and I've mates who have had bills dwarfing that for vehicles similarly not long out of warranty and without mega miles on them.

I used to go for old bangers on the basis the worst case is you lose what you paid for the car and thinking now I might go back to that - old volvos etc - either that or something with a mega long warranty like Kia who do 7 years.

VTech

buy or loan an OBD scanner and check the DPF, if clear I wouldn't be put off by high miles.

metronome

Thanks, interesting replies and all very useful.

I can't justify a diesel, I realise this. It's the cheaper tax, extra power and running costs I'm attracted to. Saying that, petrol however more expensive to tax etc might end up cheeper in the long run. Especially if the car's cheaper to begin with. Not sure if A4 estates exist in petrol though… Recently sold a Cooper S which was petrol and now fancy something with lots of space but still a bit fun.

joelsim

Most cars will do quarter of a million miles easily these days, the bigger the engine the better on that count. Having said that if you buy an Italian car then the electrics will have gone way before that.

And if you're not planning to sell it on then no probs having a high mileage.

andi1363

Bought my first Japenese car 2 years ago. It was the highest mileage car I ever bouhgt at 88K. The service history was complete until 48k so it may have done 40k on the same oil. I changed the battery, fluids, filter and plugs It needed a replacement central locking door motor when I got. It not missed a beat!

JayKosta

As others have said, the high mileage itself is not a problem - BUT it does put the car nearer to expensive maintenance costs. Exhaust system, brakes, timing belt, shocks / struts, battery, major tune-up, suspension, steering, etc.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

tlw1

other plus for ex-company cars. Ours are all exceptionally maintained and often the higher mileage ones are motorway miles, so small stress on the engine.

VTech

Taking into account the above, why are you buying ?
Get yourself to www.centralvehicleleasing.co.uk and rent one for 2-3 years, much cheaper and trouble free.
Ive just ordered a new runabout and its much cheaper than you would think.

metronome

VTech wrote:

Taking into account the above, why are you buying ?
Get yourself to http://www.centralvehicleleasing.co.uk and rent one for 2-3 years, much cheaper and trouble free.
Ive just ordered a new runabout and its much cheaper than you would think.

There are some really great deals on that site and I would definitely choose a scheme like it if I was buying a brand new car.

VTech

metronome wrote:

VTech wrote:

Taking into account the above, why are you buying ?
Get yourself to http://www.centralvehicleleasing.co.uk and rent one for 2-3 years, much cheaper and trouble free.
Ive just ordered a new runabout and its much cheaper than you would think.

There are some really great deals on that site and I would definitely choose a scheme like it if I was buying a brand new car.

The thing is, them deals are cheaper than buying a second hand car.
I am not sure of anyone who can touch these guys, between me and a few business friends we have several dozen cars from them and all have been spot on. £69/month for a VW Tiguan is outstanding.
£53.99/month for a VW Up.

Thats cheap motoring right there.

andyrr

For me, the main issue with diesel high mileage cars is the potential for problems that are VERY expensive in comparison to the car's value.
We bought an Audi A4 Tdi (think it was the 130PS version) a few years back. 89,000 miles - these things will go to the moon and back they are so reliable, so said common consensus. 'twas a lovely car, quick, comfortable, economical.
Under a year and 10k miles later with the car misfiring a bit we got it checked out - injectors mate, need replaced (these modern ones that the diesel engine's are so dependent upon for the ability to be powerful yet frugal are not rebuildable like the ones of old.
I recall being quoted close to £2000 - for parts alone ! the total cost for the job would have been £2500'ish
We got shot of the car quick !
We DID get another diesel - a dull Citroen Picasso that was snail slow but never missed a beat, was less economical but really cheap to run and based on what would be termed an older generation diesel engine.
I know of others with VAG diesels that had been through more than 1 set of injectors, I have heard of VAG helping out with parts costs for the fix but it has made me very wary of modern diesels now.
Fine up to 50k miles or so but from then on I personally would be scared or what major problems are looming - petrol cars have problems too but most modern petrols are unlikely to hit a £2 - 3000 repair bill unless you are very unlucky.
DPF, DMF, swirl valves, injectors - expensive parts involved in fixing problems with those components.

Monkeypump

VTech wrote:

metronome wrote:

VTech wrote:

Taking into account the above, why are you buying ?
Get yourself to http://www.centralvehicleleasing.co.uk and rent one for 2-3 years, much cheaper and trouble free.
Ive just ordered a new runabout and its much cheaper than you would think.

There are some really great deals on that site and I would definitely choose a scheme like it if I was buying a brand new car.

The thing is, them deals are cheaper than buying a second hand car.
I am not sure of anyone who can touch these guys, between me and a few business friends we have several dozen cars from them and all have been spot on. £69/month for a VW Tiguan is outstanding.
£53.99/month for a VW Up.

Thats cheap motoring right there.

A slightly misleading post, VTech.

The cheapest Tiguan is currently £90/month for a base model on a business lease, so excluding VAT. It's also based on a 2-year plan, doing only 5000 miles/year, with no maintenance, and requiring a (nearly) £2500 deposit.

Getting a decent model, with realistic average miles, is far pricier. Maybe not bad, but not the steal you make it out to be.

Don't get me wrong, I think leasing is a great idea. I take a company car allowance (no car available, small company), and lease privately, which works for me. However, it's not for everyone.

VTech

Monkeypump wrote:

VTech wrote:

metronome wrote:

VTech wrote:

Taking into account the above, why are you buying ?
Get yourself to http://www.centralvehicleleasing.co.uk and rent one for 2-3 years, much cheaper and trouble free.
Ive just ordered a new runabout and its much cheaper than you would think.

There are some really great deals on that site and I would definitely choose a scheme like it if I was buying a brand new car.

The thing is, them deals are cheaper than buying a second hand car.
I am not sure of anyone who can touch these guys, between me and a few business friends we have several dozen cars from them and all have been spot on. £69/month for a VW Tiguan is outstanding.
£53.99/month for a VW Up.

Thats cheap motoring right there.

A slightly misleading post, VTech.

The cheapest Tiguan is currently £90/month for a base model on a business lease, so excluding VAT. It's also based on a 2-year plan, doing only 5000 miles/year, with no maintenance, and requiring a (nearly) £2500 deposit.

Getting a decent model, with realistic average miles, is far pricier. Maybe not bad, but not the steal you make it out to be.

Don't get me wrong, I think leasing is a great idea. I take a company car allowance (no car available, small company), and lease privately, which works for me. However, it's not for everyone.

A slightly misleading post Monkeypump

The deal was for £69/month, it required 5 payments up front but as you know being a lease driver, these deals change daily according to stock levels and take-up. My quote was on what was available yesterday.
You can still get a car for peanuts and you won't need maintenance due to the vehicle being brand new. My son just serviced his VW Up for around £40 at the dealer, why would anyone pay on a monthly plan for that ?

At this very moment in time you can get a VW Up for less than £65/month inc vat and only a £1000 deposit.

For a guaranteed 2 year driving experience, if you were after a cheap car this would be hard to beat. Total cost for the car itself of around £28/week would be hard to deny.

You would lose that with most second hand cars and if something went wrong you would definitely be at a loss.
There really is no need for the average guy/gal to buy a car these days.

secretsam

Look at what Plod drive. They put mahooosive miles on their cars, so if they like them, they must be OK. As others have said, if it's done a zillion motorway miles, should be OK - but be prepared for the odd thing to go bang/pop/crunch. If the car's done lots of miles in a short time, serviced on the nail and all the belts/etc changed, should be fine.

bigjim

I buy and run bangers. I love the idea that if the thing blows up I can [in theory] leave it on the side of the road and walk away. A car is just a tool to me. I have lost my love of driving. The last tool I bought was a Toyota Yaris with 117K on the clock for £1000. 18 months later it still runs like a dream and has cost me nothing. Before that I had a £600 Mondeo Ghia Estate with 140k on the clock. I ran it to 180k having spent nothing and scrapped if for £200. Nothing wrong with it then, but due for MOT and it was too big and difficult to resell. As long as there is good service history high mileage in a modern petrol engine is fine. Crikey Iv'e run a Ford Cortina to 170k and only scrapped it because of rust.

CYCLESPORT1

Just get an older one with less miles !