Should You Buy a High Mileage Car?

Let’s not forget about rust. Even low mileage cars can be totally ruined under because of road salting during the winter. Always get the dealership to take photos with the car jacked up to get an idea of the condition. If they refuse, just say clear! They never talk about corrotion damage, and never mention this in the technical report from the dealership. Lots of components and even the frame/chassi can be very corroded, especially brands like toyota and honda who have VERY poor protection from the factory. Many brands here in norway get sprayed with tectyl or mercasol at arrival to get some protection from road salt, but not honda and toyota. They salt the roads like crazy over here.

Only if 1 owner. Tons of documentation of pm services. Highway mileage vs city

Hi Volvo V70 03 plate 150,000
Spend £1500 a year on service and parts. Bought it 6 years ago for £1000. Not sure if good or bad

Hi Matt, I think our conditions here in Australia vary from yours. Generally we don't have the ice, snow and sludge on our roads. I tend to drive longer distances every time I drive only because I live in the country so the engine gets warmed up nicely, the gearbox gets into higher gears and stays there and the brakes are used much less. If I was in the city, I'd be up and down the gearbox between red traffic lights or traffic jams and using the brakes more. I think an engine purring constantly at around 1500rpm will last longer than one hunted up and down the rev range. Also for me from the early 80's I was driving lovely E28 BMW 528's, and then E34 540's. I couldn't have afforded them if they were low km models. Compared with the Holden or Ford equivalent here they were a far superior handling, stopping and well equipped car. I never had issues with them mechanically, obviously service history and maintenance counts.

my stepfather have Octavia ml1 estate 2.tdi with 730k km on clock and drive smooth like new :) but he do all service every year. what i found out in uk almost nobody who i ask do gearbox services .

toyota

I had a 08 mistbshi colt never servied it for 11 years had 320 on the clock never broke down

I prefer high mileage cars. Generally been maintained.

Matt, your advice is, as always , well thought through. You know your stuff.

my girlfriend's got more miles than that

Do small diesels last longer than petrol engines these if both are properly driven and serviced these days?

this particular model, the diesel, is one of your 6 most unreliable car list.

I bought a 5 year old Passat Highline Estate for £2k a few years back, great deal but had done 180,000 miles, it was an ex company car, so fully written off tax wise. I put another 50k on it, before the DMF started to pack up, got £600 for it on a PX. You can’t complain with high mileage cars if you’re prepared to take the risk. Ian PS keep up the good work.

I had a K reg VW Passat, 250000 miles & was still going well when I sold it, I also had a Vauxhall Astra 2.0di with 247000 I paid £200 for that & never had a problem with it.

Sept 2023 - just out of a taxi, 2010 diesel avensis, 662,000km on the odometer. Sounded sweet as a plumb, very little noise (even though it was a petrol with how quietly it idoled) no creaks or groans in movement. Asked the taxi driver a out it, he said he has only ever given it a basic service once a quarter and never had to replace any engine component's whatsoever, merely tyres and the odd rubber seal or gasket. While I agree that a cars quality after many miles is a testament to the owner, it certainly helps to have a vehicle with an esteemed build quality. Probably a cause-effect cycle - owners concerned with reliability gravitate towards certain brands but are also likely conservative enough to ensure the reliability of the car through proper care and attention. Positive cycle.

I bought a 2004 Audi A6 avant 1.9tdi a few years ago with 150,000 miles and took it upto 225,000 miles and was still going strong when I got rid. Good old VAG Pd engines, one of the best old school engines in my opinion. Was still on its original turbo and was still returning average of 56 mpg even at that mileage.

I drove a taxi for 22 years in Derby and there is no way I would buy a Toyota avens is with high mileage if you go to the Toyota assembly plant in Derbyshire you will find even the Toyota employees don't drive Toyota take a look in the staff car parks would I buy a Toyota built in Japan most certainly yes every time

Haha some company cars are maintained as dog shit

Matt good advice my old company car was the model in this video I looked after it and it never let me down

Only if it is a lexus

Short but full of insights 😊

I see some people with great knowledge of cars. So I thought someone here can help me. I'm looking to buy a Vauxhall Mokka. 2013 or older.

Q1 - Is it wise to to buy a 2013 MOKKA with 100k on the clock for 3500? MOT history shows only one fail in 2020. (Offside rear tyre not fitted in accordance with side wall instructions (5.23(i)). Other than that, not failures and not even advisories.
Q2- On Facebook market, I can find MOKKA for less than £4k; and mileages (from different owners) of 70, 80 and 90k. Is the price good for the type of cars and the miles? or is it a scam? Cause I Always feel like, if a car has less than 90k on the clock, and the car claims to be in good condition and its clean, then for the price of less than 4k is a bit questionable. What do you guys think?

Had some terrible, unreliable rust infected heaps. Drove since early 1970’s. Wised up. Bought cars less old, had them serviced regularly. Found a secret. If you look after them, drive sensibly. They last a very long time.

I bought a Citroen Berlingo van from new and it had a fridge motor. I ran it for 8 years, and when I sold it, it had 721000 miles on the clock. In that time it did have two replacement second hand engines and gearboxes, but it was still a decent runner when I let it go.

Where do u get an used company cars

mondeo 364,000 milles still driving it full serves

I bought 😊 avensis myself ex taxi new d4d engine put in so should be good for another 250,000 km lol 🤣

Mine is 150,000 miles and just passed it's mot with no advisories. Cars will last AGES if you maintain them

2019 focus 48.000 miles ? 2 owners what think mate

Had a earlier taxi astra (for England is Vauxhall in Portugal is Opel) that I bought in 2000 year (from 1994) with 600M km, sold in 2004 with 750Mkm (same engine). Bought in 2004 a Skoda Octavia 1.9 tdi taxi with 400Mkm from 2000 sold in 2019 with 1000M km, same engine and clutcher, change almost everything, even the interiors. End the taxi's, now I have two 2nd owner cars (Passat b6 2007 and Octavia 2011) both with near 300 Mkm, with no major issues. With good maintenance all cars last a lot of miles. Sometimes I deal cars and agree with you, it's not the miles that are most important, it's the general treatment. Bought a Corsa with 120MKm to retail, and it was in horrible condition, lost money at the end and learned. Bought a MB w203 with 400MKm cheap, I couldn't believe how good it was, earned 1000€ with it.

An ex taxi driven sensibly, taxis a bit different up in the north Matt?

Every Taxi I've ever been in get fucked off every curb in the westmidlands and based on the driving style has about 15 new front bumpers a month

Hi mat could you do a video on a Mazda CX 5 auto petrol

When I was in Germany,my friend had a VW Golf MK4 2003 with 450k Kilometres on clock (280K miles)..I also saw Taxis (mainly Mercedes E Class) with 600k kilometres (370K miles) and higher that still looked pristine.

Thanks for the vid, I’ve got a 2012 2.0tdi Audi a3 with 289k miles on the clock that I bought with 90k on, still going strong gearbox re furb at 240k and a few bits here and there, am hoping to get at least 500k out of it

Can't beat 90's cars made in Japan. I have a 1993 Nissan Bluebird 330000kms. No rust no leaks no rattles, original engine transmission steering rack etc. Superb engineering and quality, it simply refuses to die. I doubt any car built after 2000 will hold up to that extent. Even the paintwork is brilliant no rust anywhere. All electroncis still work. I bought a 2007 Nissan Qashqai, the interior is falling apart, clunks in suspension, headliner fallen down, whining transmission. They drive ok but I can't see it lasting 30 years.

Audi a6 2010 2.0 tdi 250k

That was a point I had not considered,well worth thinking about.

Helpful video, thank you

I GOOGLED "SHOULD I KILL MYSELF" AND THIS VIDEO CAME UP

Good thing about the UK is we have a load of oldies that look at any car with over 100k miles and think of it as useless, therefore decreasing demand, making them cheaper for people like me who don't fancy spending £300 per month on a new car that will become worthless in a few years.

Good advice. Inspect enough used cars and you'll soon learn that mileage is a smaller part of the story than people would have you believe. I've inspected many cars with only 100-150,000kms on them which were in awful shape, while I've seen other cars (even of the same make and model) that had twice the kilometers or more but felt and looked like new in comparison. Some cars are more tolerant of lax maintenance than others, some age better than others, but I'd take a high mileage car that someone liked and took good care of over a low mileage car that someone abused and neglected any day.

Iv allways bought my Passats with full service history with 100,000 on the clock. None have ever given me any problems.

"It will last if you dont drive it like a hooligan."
I have no Idea who he might be talking about. 🙃

I had a 20 year old Volvo 850 with 208K miles and surprisingly a Rover 216 with 205K miles. The latter may be a surprise, but it had a honda engine. I sold both when they failed an MOT, for a few 100 pounds.

Got a Mk4 2.0 diesel Astra that's done 657K miles so far. Even the drive shaft cv joints are orginal, apart from one rubber gaiter. Orginal clutch lasted 607K miles and so on. Still has the original timing chain and rear wheel bearings(!)

VW T5 caravelle 240 K lovely bus

I had a 10 plate avensis, ex taxi, 323000 when I bought it! Ran it fir a year did another 10k and then sold it, although kinda wish I’d put a couple quid back into it now to get it through the mot. I’d definitely have another as a daily runaround

It might be too little too late, but once I had a VW Passat B4 gasoline 1.6 MPI Station wagon. It was 7 years old and had 87 000 miles on the clock. Drove it for a couple of years and then gifted the Passat to my Grandpa who still owns it and uses it as a daily driver. Last time I saw the car, the mileage was more that 200 000 miles and apart from the catalytic converter and central locking system, Grandpa didn't have any other problem. I know the mileage is no is not much, but hey - the car is 1996! I still have some nostalgia about this car and every time I sit in it I feel like I'm in my old pair of jeans.
Sometimes I feel like finding the same but with VR6 engine, or at least 2.0 GT in good condition.

Totally agree with you. I've put 400k kms on a '97 Land Cruiser (3.0 diesel) without having one breakdown and to be fair i misused that thing on several occasions. I am meticulous on servicing though. Also had a 1st gen V70 (2.5 diesel) which had 300k kms when i bought it, put 125k more on it without issues. Had 3 different E46 (6cyl petrol cars), all had +200k miles...just regular stuff, no breakdowns.