Am I the only one who was told growing up to never spend money on a used vehicle with 100k+ miles...

Am I the only one who was told growing up to never spend money on a used vehicle with 100k+ miles? Is there truth to this,do cars go downhill quickly a that point regardless of maintenance?

I've purchased vehicles with 200k+.

Mileage shouldn't scare you. It's great for negotiating.

A lack of service records or even ballpark estimates of maintenance scares me.

Mileage is largely irrelevant when it comes to buying a used car as far as what condition it will be in and how long it will last.

Condition and history are much more important, a well maintained car that has spent its life doing long distance cruising will be a much better proposition than a low mileage one that has been neglected and thrashed around town.

this.

i recently purchased a 200k mile car. The records book was 1.5" thick. With many wearable parts replaced recently. The guy bought it in 1995 for 36,000 and he added up the maintenance costs over 21 years and that was 42,000.

he also owned an 70s 911s

The person you buy the car from is more important than the mileage of the car. One owner is best, and oddly enough in my experience it's best if they play soccer or have a visible net worth over a few million.

Buy a car from someone borderline autistic about maintenance. You'll have a good time.

100k isn't bad I think. But that also depends on the vehicle, and the maintenance

e.g. If you're looking at a 100k mi BMW that's prob gonna give you more shit than a 100k mi Corolla

In the end maintenance is king

There is truth in it if one is an idiot.

Mileage is simply the distance the car's body has traveled, nothing else. It doesn't have much to do with the condition of mechanical or electrical components since they can be or may have been replaced.

If the car's body/frame has no rust it's good to go for a long time.

Don't forget that frames can be bent and twisted also. But that's not as easy to spot when looking a car over.

They are probably talking about automatic transmission cars cause they wont last more than 50-80k more in most of them.

That's a good point. If an accident is not reported or declared then there is a bigger problem than the actual car for sale's frame being bent. Mileage itself has no direct connection to frame integrity.

That's true about the mileage, was just trying to help people know what can happen and look out for it.

>i recently purchased a 200k mile car. The records book was 1.5" thick.
A car with a conscientious owner lasts longer and is in far better condition than some casual owner. Even cheap cars can last a long time.

I've had a 20 year old cavalier and it not only looked new outside and inside, but also drove as if it were in solid good condition. I also had all its maint records. Every gas fill was tracked for it (odometer, cost, gallons, location, fuel type and brand, delta MPG, and notes on the car at that point). Certainly the engine is not quite as quiet as when it was brand new, but it still ran smoothly without issue. I had other cars that would be traded in just because I wanted something new, but that cav I kept out of sentiment. It was the first car I could afford and I bought it new.

It remained a nice car to the end of its days with me. I finally gave it away to a friend's kid who needed a car as their family had a tough time in the widening gap between haves and have nots. The KBB value is essentially null for a 20 year cadaverlier. But I was an owner who maintained a car, didn't beat or torture it, didn't wreck it, doesn't let salt eat it, waxes with careful attention, uses full synth at 4K miles. I didn't have to dump a lot of money into it. Same 2.4L DOHC engine, same transaxle, same oem alloy rims, same body (no real bodywork as no wrekz), and same radiator. It did go thru a water pump, fuel pump, A/C compressor, and one GM ignition lock.

In my opinion, most cavs failed early because a certain type of careless customer liked to buy that affordable car. Not only did they not wax, they barely maintained it, drove it roughly, and hit things. Due to its low value, if the airbags go off after the car is like 8 years old AND there is zero damage to car bodywork (you simply set off the sensors), the insurance company will declare it totalled. Basically, you can't have an accident after 8 yrs or it's toast.

>don't buy a car that has more or near 100k

like a few have already said condition speaks more the 6 numbers on the odo.

My sister's mazda is "not running right" and creeping up on 90k. she turns her nose up at anything with 80-100k. I've shown her pretty much perfect cars that were in her budget and were outstanding value for the money but the mileage always made her say no. She ended up buying a dodge caliber with a cvt and 60k for what would of gotten her a nice lexus. the cvt on the caliber is starting to have the whine of death.

However. If you're buying a high mileage sports car like a wrx or a 350z, be a little more cautious. If the seller has 0 maintenance records then all the resent work they did NOT happen.Be prepared to fix everything they said they just replaced. This can also work in your favor though if you know how to wrench.

This. I would rather have a well maintained car with 150k on the clock than a ragged out car with 50k.

I never buy cars with less than 100k miles

Chassis condition is the single most important thing when buying older cars.

Repairing rusting sills or jigging a crooked chassis is far more expensive than replacing a fucked HG or just swapping in a lower mileage engine/box.

>rusting sills

Those can be easily patched up and Im not even talking about bondo.

Not by the average driveway mechanic. In the UK a decent bodyshop charges an absolute fortune for metalwork.

I own a first year Volvo S80 T6, a car rumored to have a dreadful gearbox. The car had ran 220k km when I bought it, now its nearing 290k, and it still works great because the previous owner was an old man who drove it like 20k per year and maintained it well.

How easily?

It's a nasty time consuming job. I'd rather do a motor or trans swap myself.

Then again, it might not be so bad if I wasn't a poor welder. I spend a lot of time grinding bad welds.

My second car was a 89' AW11 with 140k miles. Lasted me a good 6years untill the engine blew. I really wanted to hit 200k :(

Paid 1k. It is all about how well the previous owner maintained it. I treated it like my side bitch sadly.

Just grind/ cut out the rusty part and slap some sheet metal on top of the hole with some autobody adhesive. Just make sure both sides are clean. Now if you actually want it to look good then you might as well buy another car for the money it takes it to fix it.

>welding

Not worth the trouble, it will just rust from the inside out.

I thought you were talking about replacing actual rotted sills. Spot fixes aren't quite the same.

You're going to end up with an ugly piece of work if you just slap sheet metal on the hole.

At least take the time to work a piece into the back side of the hole. Fill with bondo.

My second car I drove for a bit was a modded 300zx with almost 200,000 mi on the dash. There were a few problems with it, misfire included, coolant leak, but it kept on going.

Really depends on the brand, car, previous owners, and how much you have to spend to keep it running.

Your parents told you that becuase they are weak minded and buy into the bullshit car salesmen tell them.

As long as it was well taken care of abd only a few owners with all documentation, its not something to worry about

That's the fucking lazy way.

You cut the section of rusted sill out, construct a new section with plate and then weld it. After that fill it with Waxoil to stop any future rot.

You should not buy a used car from a nigger also

Foreal or are you memeing

Not that guy but when I have gone to look at a car owned by a black person there was always tons of shit wrong the didn't mention in the ad.

I live in not-downtown toronto suburbs, I know like 2 black people and they're both basically white.

Then they're not niggers.....

Really. If their description is in broken, retarded sounding English I wouldn't trust them. Also if they say they have "rims" that are 24 inches they are most likely a chulo or hood nigger.

Decent people will take better care of her car, plus you don't know whether or not Jamal's car is on a list for being stolen or some shit.

I just bought a truck with 180k miles. I don't have any of the records except for the carfax report, which only shows oil changes at a dealership every 15k miles...with some being 8-9 month intervals.

The truck seems to run well, so I'm hoping the only previous owner just did his own oil changes every other time... If he did do 15k intervals at least it was probably synthetic oil.

There's no record of any parts being replaced which makes me kinda worried.

Well I guess there is a difference between black and nigger. And they're both 2nd generation Jamaicans.

Yes, but unlike welds, the sides that are in contact with the adhesive shouldn’t rust, ever. You could even use that stuff as filler and it wont crumble, unlike bondo.

>not having a car with plastic covers on the sills.
>caring how it looks like either way

Yeah, I am lazy.

If a job is worth doing it's worth doing right the first time.

I hope you're still around, but can someone tell me why it'll work in your favor if you know how to wrench? I understand the fixityerself reason, but is there anything else?
> INB4 Don't ask if you can't turn wrenches.
I can turn wrenches, did that for a few years.

No, I was actually taught I should never buy a used sports car, because the PO is guaranteed to have treated it like his personal chewtoy.
Shame I grew up to only like old cars.
That being said, I go out of my way to find unabused examples and will pay a premium to get them.

Back in the old days, that was the benchmark.

Manufacturing quality, better testing and better tolerances have made cars decent past 200k so long as regular maintenance has been performed.

You're able to spot the issues at hand prior to the purchase. If you're good at spotting issues the seller didn't mention and you're able to show the seller you're generally going to be able to negotiate a lower price.

Good to know, I've never tried using my knowledge on cars to negotiate yet, I'm going to look at a car today, might try this.

How is this wrong, other than no being a "factory spec" repair?

Are you also telling me I shouldnt repair my car with zipties?

Friend has a 300zx with about 250k miles on it. It has a record book about as think as two inches of the everything all the way down to spark plugs and break pads. The transmission went out in it and that's literally the only repair he's had on it.