How much is too much?

[GeeTI]

Mileage ,that is. I know that you should always buy on condition rather than age/mileage...but at what point do you baulk at considering a potential purchase? Like us all, I regularly browse at the motoring classified ads on Donedeal/Carzone/FB marketplace etc etc. Seeing loads of "only 150k miles", "just 180 thou mls on da clock", "300klm motorway miles and pulls like a train". Personally, my cutoff point rightly or wrongly is usually 100k miles (though I've purchased cars with in excess of this in the past). I am aware that modern engines are capable of huge mileages once cared for , and with regular oil changes , but it's the other bits that would worry me..suspension, cooling systems, electronics, etc.
Just curious, how much is too much mileage for you?

[Ming]

Its a good question, and it depends on the car and the mileage. So you can have garage queens with no mileage where all the fluids have evaporated and the rubber and automotive connective tissue has atrophied and you can have everyday motorway family hacks which have had all the usuals and also fuel pumps and suspension parts replaced which are fine. There is no simple answer. However, I have had a high mileage 730D literally bork its engine after I sold it and a high mileage 911 (996) also literally bork its engine after I sold it. So notwithstanding the loving mechanical care I lavished on both these cars they inflicted a €10k+ bill on their subsequent owners although after me they might have needed on the face of it to only unkerb an alloy and give it a wash.

So I tend to only ever now look at moderate mileage cars with a totally full and anal service history in any category. I trust myself to maintain cars, I do not trust previous owners. That's it.

[llcoolmac]

Depends entirely on the vehicle I think. I'd buy any Lexus with 180,000+ miles without hesitation if it had been well looked after and suited my budget. A Land Cruiser Amazon well looked after can easily be purchased at 300,000 miles without too much worry. Service history is a huge factor also. Toyotas just seem to wear age and mileage better than other brands.

Most European stuff I wouldn't trust over 100,000 unless it was still quite new.

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[derekjohn]

As above depends very much on the car and maintenance history. Personally when I am searching the classifieds I set the upper mileage limit at 180kms. That’s not to say some cars with higher mileage will not go on for a long time without issue but that just my go to number.

[Alfaguy]

Its very much dependent on price but I always seem to prefer <100k mileage cars - at least I don't recall purchasing any with over that mileage.

[Tristan]

Give me a higher mileage well serviced yoke over a low mileage one that was ran til the dash lit up, every time.

[Eoin]

I never feel comfortable buying anything with over 100,000 kms!
I did once and it backfired even with extensive history etc!

[DMZ]

It’s not just reliability but also ability to sell it again. There are so many cars in Ireland with around 80-90k miles that you’d have to assume many of them are clocked. There is a well established 100k mile cliff on resale value so worth knocking the car down below that. Maybe with the NCT listing the mileage it’s a bit less prevalent now but it used to be ridiculously common back in the day along with no service history of course.

There is also a well established truth that people in Dublin will not buy high mileage cars so if you live there they can become hard to sell again.

Basically everyone just looks at mileage as the main indicator of value and condition so you pay accordingly and nothing you do to the car will change that perception.

[Ryan]

Ultimately, every mechanical piece on a car will wear out at some point and every extra KM racked up takes it one step closer to getting to that point. If it was a car with a small capacity turbocharged motor, I would be weary about buying something with higher KM, say 200k km, but an unstressed, large capacity V8 wouldn't put me off as much at that mileage.

It is, unfortunately, a total crapshoot and when buying used a large component of buying a good car that won't immediately sh1t itself is luck. You can buy a new car that sh1ts itself spectacularly too but at least the manufacturer tends to pick up the bill in that case.

Though if buying a classic car I would take a rust free high KM example a million times over a rusty low KM car, every time.

[sleepy-vtec]

I’d buy a high mileage yoke no bother but resale is a pain. If the previous owner has had it a long time generally they’ve looked after them well, but a high miler with loads of owners usually spells trouble.