When looking for a used car such as BMW or Mercedes I limit the mileage to a max of 50k. I've always done this going back to the 1970s. Should I adjust because cars are more reliable now? Obviously if I accepted higher mileage I'd get a newer car for my money. What mileages would you guys consider in a good quality marque?
I suppose it's all about previous ownership maintenance. Higher miles on a cared for car is better that an abused lower miles car.
That said, i have refused to buy new for many years now, the initial losses are an infunny joke, i still seek out the lowest miles/spec/history for my budget and go from there. My last purchase in 2017 was a one owner 2009 car with 27,000 miles on it. Super history and spec, i still have it of course.
I am about with you on 50k, not because modern cars can’t do it, but because when they do go wrong the bills are potentially huge.
Thant's a fair point - many cars will go 200k without problem, but if there is a problem the cost can be significant.
My main problem with older cars isn't the mechanical relaibility or integrity, it's that the upholstery starts to sag and they're not as supportive or comfortable as when new
I think times have changed significantly in recent years, my mental limit when I was buying cars in the late 80s and early 90s was 100k for example, I recently ran a 2012 VW CC from 55k to 200k in four years and it’s still going strong, regular maintenance is the key, when I had company cars, all the fleet were on 30k PA mileage leases and no one really had issues related to miles.
Buy a Volvo.Originally Posted by Gyp
I am with you...wouldn't want more than 50k as i have run mainly BMW as company cars as they do start to go wrong around 80k with very big bills.
Also most of mine probably only had two services upto 50k.
If you can find one under 50k in mint condition with a good service history it is worth paying a little more.
It’s all about cold starts and start-stop versus motorway driving.
A 100k motorway mile munching car is much better but than a low mileage car which has spent its life bobbing around town.
Yes i have a V40 effortless motoring....
Depends where they have lived. Where i am in rural Wales cars get wrecked on our rough hilly winding pot-hole infested B and C roads.
In a City / motorway is a different story and they can do huge milage if serviced correctly.
Many moons ago, Mrs Tifa took an e35 BMW 318 petrol as part of a redundancy package.
She had it from new. It did 290,000 economical and trouble free miles. When scrapped, it still drove tight, no rattles, or vibrations, it still braked and steered like a new car. The interior was threadbare though. Apart from the a/c unit which went AWL at about 150,000 it was 100% reliable.
Last edited by Tifa; 1st July 2020 at 10:50.
I try to buy at around 20k miles and sell on either before 40k or 50k depending upon the car.
It all comes down to the budget and the type of car you want to drive which will dictate the mileage and age of the car you can buy
I’ve bought three E class estates at between 50 and 60k. Two of them I ran to 130k plus miles with relatively few problems.
The last I had for six months and had nothing but trouble with it. Fortunately I bought it from an official Mercedes dealer so it didn’t cost me anything. It did spend more time with them than me though!
Many moons ago I bought a Volvo 245 GLT estate with 220k miles, keep for about 3 years and apart from an issue with the passenger door lock it was faultless.
Built like a tank and a lovely drive, only down side was the sub 20mpg I got around town.
Cheers,
Ben
..... for I have become the Jedi of flippers
" an extravagance is anything you buy that is of no earthly use to your wife "
New/ Nearly new: No nasty maintenance surprises but eye watering depreciation.
30 - 60k/ less than ten years old but out of warranty: Quiet a bit of money tied up, potentially still some unpleasant depreciation and the potential for a writing off mechanical failure or massive bill. The worst of both worlds.
60k+/10+ years old: Only a few thousand tied up and not much depreciation. Some ad-hoc maintenance costs and the potential for a repair where you choose to write off the car and get another.
Ignoring the servicing and consumables you'd pay for on any car our 2004 Saab 9-5 has done about 50k in our 5 years of ownership. It's worth more or less what we paid for it and I've probably spent about £2-2500 on repairs. That included a clutch change which is an expensive job on that car and about £900. It still drives nicely and everything works bar two wires in the heated rear window. The emissions data from the MoT would suggest the engine, at 110k, is in rude health.
It all depends what you want to spend. The 10k a year depreciation on a new premium car would make me weep.
I don't think I've ever bought a car with as much as 50K miles on the clock.
I have run cars with far higher mileage (I tend to hang onto cars once I have them), without major issues.
I guess it comes down to cost vs mileage - Personally, I'd rather spend a bit more and get a younger/lower mileage car, but equally (as others have said) a good service history and good condition overall is more important than the actual miles.
Something with really low miles always puts me off, too, as I know an unused, older car can be a lot of trouble.
M
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
To some extent it depends on how much mileage you do, if you only do 3-4000 miles/year (like me) it makes sense to buy a slightly older car with higher mileage. I don`t often travel far from home so a breakdown would be less of an inconvenience too.
No right or wrong answers to the car conundrum, but avoiding eye-watering depreciation is a must for me thesedays. My current car (Jag XF is approaching 10 years old but its only done 48000 miles, it drives great, but if it started costing big money it would have to go. Apart from a problem with the turbo actuator and the driver's side electric window it's been excellent, its a superb car and it still looks nice. The sat-nav's crap but that doesn`t bother me, I rarely use it. A good CD stereo system is more important , and the Jag definitely has that!
To every extent in my view , its not how many miles the car has done but how many you plan to do in it. I buy on condition every time , sometimes thats a low mileage car and sometimes its not
Cars dont magically fail at 100,000 miles its just a number, typically what you pay in repairs you save in deprecation, our US friends would laugh at us thinking a car is done at 50k for them its barely run in
Older Volvos were capable of interstellar milage, modern ones like our 2012 V70 (company car - now long gone) broke down within 30K miles leading to a bill of biblical proportions.
Same goes for BMWs: we all can read horror-stories about engine failure on modern BMWs but at the same time, one of the mechanics of the workshop has done 403K(!) miles with his 528 and all he had to replace were a waterpump (cheap) and a radiator (very cheap) and a handful of parts on the 'underpinnings' like shocks and joints. Even the interior still looks fantastic - but dated.
My wife traded here Honda 2014 Honda CR-V diesel for a new Hybrid. The previous CR-V had done 180k kms (110K miles). It's for sale at the dealer's with a year full warranty - and no limit to the mileage. The dealer had a 6 cyl Legend in the workshop with 485K miles under its wheels and there was simply nothing wrong with that car!
When buying a second hand car, I would suggest to have a look at a car that has never been used for towing. Especially loaded horse trailers can have the weight of a small army tank. It also influences the condition of the rear axle etc. Auto-boxes and trailers are an iffy road. Not all auto-boxes are capable of towing a large weight. Lots of auto-boxes need a special oil cooler when towing. Is that maintained/flushed properly etc? A simple clutch is a lot cheaper. Not on earlier VAG products though, with the 'double plates'.
A car that has done only a few thousand miles in -let's say- 10 yrs is also a no-go for me: short distances with an engine not fully warmed-up causes wear. We see it all the time: sparsely used classics fail because they're not warmed properly. The oil stays too thick, and a lot of petrol goes between the cylinder and and piston, washing away the oil film.
Long story to tell that you can't simply put a cut off at 50K.
Menno
In one. Don't set yourself any parameters when buying used cars, they're all different.
I bought a used Volvo three years ago, because of the reputation of reliabilty.
Most unreliable car i've ever owned, P/X'd it after two years of constant trouble.
I always buy a car that is 6-9 months old. I usually sell when it hits 40k or when it plays up which now a days is never. Cars of today seem remarkably reliable.
Great news, picked up a used Volvo V90 cross country yesterday 😂🤣
Any make can have a 'friday afternoon' car but if I'm after reliability then Toyota or Lexus have to be what I go for. I've run a lexus for the past 4 years from 65 - 120k miles - costs over and above servicing and consumables have been an exhaust repair, a 12v battery and a radiator. Yes it isn't flawless and there are a few niggling little issues that I just can't be bothered fixing but it's never failed to start and get me 'there and back again' which is all i wanted from it.
I'm after something a bit sporty and convertible next time round but probably not this year due to 2020 being a bit of a horrorshow.
That’s certainly what I was always told. Avoid cars with very low mileage! A lot of short not warmed up properly trips and possibly only used once or twice a week in between.
We've run Toyotas in the past and they've been v. reliable. My neighbour has a 14 year old Avensis and that's still going strong, had to charge the battery for her recently but that was caused by the car standing for 12 weeks! It's a shame Toyota stopped building cars I like, there's 90s sporty models were v. nice.
100% agree with this. And it's reflective of my buying experience.
I would rather buy a high mileage car that has the spec, etc.. I want and pay less for it. Sure I may be face a big bill down the line, but all cars can face a big bill. The only cost I can guarantee in the ownership of a car is the price I paid to purchase it, and if it's already near the bottom of the deprecation curve, the only costs thereafter is maintenance, insurance and fuel. You can spend big on a lower mileage car, still get hit with a bill and then suffer depreciation as well.
I'm sure you've posted that in the "Dear Wife" thread...
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
I very probably have!
Whereas the more neatly upholstered and lower mileage version has fared significantly better and would likely provide faultless service for many years to come...
[QUOTE=redmonaco;5464733]When looking for a used car such as BMW or Mercedes I limit the mileage to a max of 50k. I've always done this going back to the 1970s. Should I adjust because cars are more reliable now? Obviously if I accepted higher mileage I'd get a newer car for my money. What mileages would you guys consider in a good quality marque?
It’s a quandary ! Although how is a newer car with higher mileage better than an older car with lower mileage?
So, generally speaking, what's a good miles per year figure these days? What adjustments should you make for car size (e.g. high mileage Mondeo vs. high mileage Micra)?
I try to buy as low mileage as possible with the model and spec that I want and I'm less concerned with age. Interestingly, I spent a few months in the latter half of last year searching (in vain) for a low mileage, diesel A5 two door with a high spec and top budget of £12-13k. I had these parameters set in Autotrader and there was nothing, when I had excluded all previously damaged cars. I widened my search to include Mercedes and there were literally loads with less than 20k miles. I ended up buying a mint '14 E250 coupe with pano roof, Napa leather and all the boxes ticked. It had only 13,500 miles in almost 6 years. It's a car that I'll likely keep for years
Last edited by TomGW; 3rd July 2020 at 10:40.
i bought a spotless E-class 2008 merc e320cdi v6 turbo diesel with a genuine 47k on the clock with full mercedes service history for £6k 2 years ago,10k miles later i have replaced one sensor[£100] and serviced it a couple of times myself ,being a semi-retired former garage owner i can do these things .love the beast ,at this rate it could last me out as i am nearly 65.mind you ,i tend to like things that are older and well built,my wife of forty years fits this description.during my time in the motor trade i have seen some cars that have done some great mileages.a 240k miles fiesta zetec springs to mind.i do however think that many prestige motors i have driven seem just seem to have lost their edge at higher mileages,. there is no doubt in my mind though that with proper servicing and using top grade lubricants many of todays cars will do 200kmiles without too much trouble.when i started out in the motor trade any motor with over 70k miles was deemed knackered,thats progress..
Last edited by greasemonkey; 2nd July 2020 at 07:19.
Having seen the Mercedes I can confirm it is in remarkable condition!
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
I bought a Mercedes E class coupe 7 years ago with 74k on the clock- was fully loaded . It was a rep car as the other 3 seats were not lived in. It was just over 3 years old but i do little miles so figured the miles would average out by the time I was done. Beyond a door lock solenoid failing - not one thing went wrong with the car. I paid for a bonnet and bumper respray as they had chips on it which made the car immaculate.
I did the same with a Cayenne- 3 years - old but had 54k on the clock- so Porsche wouldn't sell it in their showrooms. I have had it 5 years plus now so the miles are now just below average.
In my time the only thing to go wrong with it is the motorised boot struts but besides that all good.
Both cars had full service history and one owner.
In fact I am looking for a Macan and will go down the same route, higher than average miles , ideally one or two owners - full service history.
When looking for the car I bought two weeks ago, I did the same as you and limited my search to 50k miles. Maybe it's psychological thing? I ended up with a five year old, 2.0 CDTI with 41k on it, well cared for a serviced.
I tend to be pretty relaxed about mileage these days: I used to be very concerned about it, but realised that a low-mile car that's been used as a city hack is probably going to have more wear on the mechanicals than a car with interstellar mileage that's happily sat on the M6 for much of its life. Shorter journeys, more cold starts, less opportunity for oil etc to warm up properly...
I suppose my bottom line is, buy on condition and history rather than an arbitrary mileage limit. I've got a late W124 Merc E220 from 1995 which has literally been to the moon at 260,000 miles, and aside from some tired paintwork and the front wings, which rusted out and had to be replaced, it's in great nick inside and mechanically, as the previous owner serviced it well and looked after it.
As a used purchase I’d rather buy a newer car with higher miles. IMO it would be more likely that any issues would be uncovered and rectified under warranty.
Plus a car doing 20-30k a year will have been on longer, usually more leisurely overall mileages.
Although a higher mileage car over here on a small island, sold as local from new (which sometimes has a little premium for some reason) has probably had 10 times the gear changes, cold starts etc.of a motorway cruiser.
It's just a matter of time...
I’d rather buy a high mileage newer car than a low mileage older model (with the caveat of a full service history). Newer usually means improved technologies and efficiency, and 60k motorway miles can often arguably cause less wear and tear than 20k of city driving.
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
This just out yesterday and might be useful:
Some very interesting and surprising results in this!
Last edited by TheFlyingBanana; 2nd July 2020 at 12:55.
So clever my foot fell off.
I've always had an upper limit of about 40,000 but I guess it depends on what you generally go for in a secondhand car. I've had mates willing to spend a lot of money on high mileage but relatively new BMWs.
I once decided to see how many miles I could get out of a Ford diesel. I assumed I'd hit at least 150k+ before it became uneconomical to repair. It lasted to 95k miles before needing a high pressure fuel pump which is when the repair cost became more than the car was worth. These were all motorway miles too. I guess I could have hit 150k if I really wanted to start paying higher repair costs.
Surprised that French cars did so well but not that Japanese cars are at one end and Land Rover at the other end of the scale.
I bought a E Class new in 2001 ,a loaded E320cdi , it rusted like a 1970's Alfa, by the time it was 5 years old it needed new panels and extensive repairs due to rust, at the 7 year point it needed doing again and the spring perches on the front had heavily corroded, at 8 years old and 82,000 miles the tailgate needed doing for a second time and I was done so sold it on
At the same kinda time I bought a Merc Sprinter 312cdi for my motorcycle racing/runabout and it was an ex-couriers van with 140,000 miles on it , put a new clutch in it and one of the belt idlers failed but it was awesome for the three or four years I owned it
I bought a 1998 BMW 323i yesterday with 75k on the clock so let's see!!
LOL I think the 22 years will have been much harder on the car than the mileage
I have a 2003 Mkll Gs430 lexus (which is my fifth, from new) and I normally sold cars at 40k miles but this one I have held on to because when I looked at the Mklll's I felt that they started to compromise on the build quality a little. As my annual mileage reduced i also felt that i didn't need the then replacement approach.
Mine has 65k mainly motorway /dual carriageway miles on the clock and has been well maintained and parts replaced when recommended by the main dealer. I reckon that it will go for at least another 65K trouble free miles. I have done the brakes/discs/ABS rings, belts, radiator. Wheels I replace every five years on an exchange program but against £13k - £15k replacement cost every three years I reckon that I have saved myself quite a lot on this one.
B
Last edited by Brian; 2nd July 2020 at 15:11.
Lexus 001 (Mobile).JPG
:-)
B
I’ve had old cars break, new cars break unless there under some warranty it will cost money. Worst I had was a 3 year old Jetta now I buy 5 series BMs with between 80 and 90 thousand miles, there usually about £4000 cheaper than a normal mileage one for the age and it rarely costs me much to fix if anything goes wrong. Current one came at 82,000 now has 101,000 and has only cost me £350 for a service in the 2 years I’ve had it.
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
must have been a bad'un,but now you mention it i have seen a few well rusty early w211's about.mercs used some crap steel from time to time,mine hasnt a spot of rust anywhere,but believe me me and my eldest son looked for it,before i parted with the cash.its predecessor a c200 was a near constant battle over 12 years of ownership to keep the tinworm at bay.other than that it was a great motor,.
For Merc’s, from the early ‘90s through to the mid 2000s was the rust prone era. From about 2005 onwards seems to be ok. My Dad had driven Mercedes for years and bought a new W210 at the launch, probably 1995. It was a really rusty pig and started rusting around the boot latch within months, with the edge of the wheel arches following soon after. It was repaired under warranty at about 18 months and was stolen shortly after.
I always buy on the car's condition, service history and seller - the latter is very much the mantra "buy the seller".
We've had many vehicles in the family over the last 20 years or so but the 2 constants have been my 1998 Landcruiser now with 200k miles and my wife's 2001 Yaris with 90k miles - both of which we have owned for over 16 years and from a low mileage. In that time various other cars have come and gone in the household - saloons, hatches, coupes, cabrios, estates etc. but these 2 are going nowhere.
Both have been utterly reliable, the Yaris amazingly so, especially given the nature of use - which is stop/start and daily short runs mainly. The LC is starting to suffer from the dreaded tinworm underneath - not helped by my negligence in not washing the road salt off each spring and mud/debris after off-road ventures. However, both still pass their MoTs with hardly an advisory between them.
I just don't think ANY manufacturer makes cars like that anymore.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
