Is high mileage and proven better than low mileage and unproven?

[danewilson77]

Discuss.

High mileage/proven = >100k miles, and all maintenance related issues and preventative maintenance complete.

Low mileage/unproven = <100k miles, with zero preventative maintenance performed. Required maintenance complete (oil changes, etc...)



No flame suit required!

[mbeckel]

That's a fine line. If the milage is low enough, ie under 60k, most maintenance isn't required to a point. But I like history over mystery myself

[danewilson77]

I like that. "History over mystery ". Nice.

No flame suit required!

[BCS_ZHP]

Didn't Velma say that on Scooby Doo?

[mbeckel]

I like that. "History over mystery ". Nice.

No flame suit required!

Thanks buddy. I saw that on TV somewhere. Can't remember where, but I've been saying that for a good while.

[Vas]

Comes down to what kind of condition the exterior and interior is IMO.

[mbeckel]

Didn't Velma say that on Scooby Doo?

You may be right. Dang! I can still remember things from my childhood! Not bad considering the number of concussions on my noggin

[Jon D]

Low mileage with regular maintenance all day long is a better choice if available.

By that I mean oil, coolant, tune-ups,brake fluid etc. The big stuff like cooling system refresh is just not required. In working with my Indy mechanic he validated that it's all about time and cycles. I'm just over 50K and have not had to do any big system refreshes yet. Just normal services [fluids [all], brakes, a few bushings, intake boots. etc. But those are all mileage and age driven.

Of course a car that looks like crap was probably not maintained well so that would be off my list by default.

[slater]

I like that. "History over mystery ". Nice.

No flame suit required!

ha, me too, that is a good one!


personally... i've owned some high-mileage cars. my 1996 Audi S6 that i sold last year had 326K miles on it and was the most reliable and well-constructed (quality of materials was ridiculously good) vehicle i've ever owned (and i've had about 30).

that said, these cars are 9-12 years old now - even a low-mileage car with no history is going to require immediate maintenance - fluid flushes, cooling system overhaul, rubber suspension bits (RTABs and FCABs), etc - simply due to age.

a higher-mileage car with history, and current maintenance, could provide a more cost-effective and ownership experience.

it really depends on the car! but one should not rule out a high-mileage car simply because of the mileage..... History Over Mystery for sure!

peter

[az3579]

I'd take a car with 40k and no history (other than oil changes) over a car with 200k and some history. Here is why:

1) At 40k, there isn't much maintenance needed; most of the major stuff isn't due yet. As long as oil changes were done, even if at 15k, I'm happy. It's not enough time for any issues to occur.

2) I drive 35k a year (probably going to jump to 40 within the next year due to new job), so the younger/lower mileage the better; it'll last me longer.

3) If I pick it up at 40k with no history other than oil changes, it would be safe to treat the car as having had no work done at all. That means, I already know the full history without even having any paperwork. Even if something was done already, the mileage would be a fair indicator that it didn't have it, so worst case I'll just replace something again, no big deal.

The higher the mileage, the more question marks and variables there are of what was done and what wasn't. When you buy a higher mileage car with history, you really have to question just what the owner did to the car. Some people aren't at the same level of OCD as others, so while one may do the cooling system's major components, for example, that person may not replace certain things like the fan switch or the level sensors while someone else might replace those as well. Instead of piecemealing it, I'd rather have a car that has never had it done and be able to do the maintenance to the level I want. Another thing to note with this is that there could be items that weren't replaced that most people overlook, such as the rear main seal, diff seals, blinker fluid, or muffler bearings.


All of the above was based on my OCD. If I buy a car with part of a system (such as brakes or cooling) done but not all of it, that would really bother me. I'd rather have everything done at once rather than have to worry about the mileages on just some of the parts. It becomes very difficult to track and log what needs to be done at what intervals if it was piecemealed together.