170,000 mile Yaris - Am I mad?

[dmanf1]

My 3 series recently got written off in an accident while parked and while I am disputing the settlement amount, the cheque in the post for a new car won't be long.

However at around £1300 it won't buy much and high mileage BMW's at that price could be a reliability gamble (diesel turbos and 4 cylinders) or thirsty.

I have stumbled across a 2002 Yaris T Sport in black for £695 locally. Full service history, looks clean and I can't see any advisories in its long history relating to anything more than brakes and a windscreen chip. 170k is mighty mileage for a 1.5 though I would have money in reserve should any minor issues arise. It looks like a fun chuckable car providing it will fit our pram in the boot!

Am I nuts?

[HorneyMX5]

It's Japanese, it'll be fine. Just do the usual checks. Great fun little things to drive as well.

[NicheMonkey]

Go for it! That's cheap enough. I borrowed a friends t sport for a week while my own car was having work done and it was a hoot. That car has 143k on and I know it's gets driven with zero mechanical sympathy (used as a curry house delivery car) and it drove quite well actually.

Japanese cars from that era can take a hammering even with high mileage just keep it topped up with oil.

[dmanf1]

Cheers for the advice. I'm going to arrange to view it soon but I think providing it pulls and the service history is good I'm going to take the plunge. If it's been looked after 170,000 miles is going to be better than a battered one with 70,000.

[SteBrown91]

Should be fine just check the basic, i.e. Oil levels, check for smoke etc

[HustleRussell]

I don't think it's cheap enough. It could soldier on for some time yet but I can't imagine the seller's phone is ringing off the hook at £695.

[Blaster72]

Sounds expensive to me too, £500 is more like it and even then it could be £500 down the drain - why are they selling it and is the mileage genuine or has it been tweaked a bit??

[james_gt3rs]

It would have to be silly cheap to buy it because there will be lower mileage ones for not a lot more.

[MorganP104]

dmanf1 said:

If it's been looked after 170,000 miles is going to be better than a battered one with 70,000.

This.

Also, as others have said, it's a £500 car, all day long.

[dmanf1]

Thanks, after a bit of research you can find tidier low mileage examples quite cheap though they are rare. I will see if I can find another closer to me and view this as well. No harm in offering £500...

[jamoor]

dmanf1 said:

Thanks, after a bit of research you can find tidier low mileage examples quite cheap though they are rare. I will see if I can find another closer to me and view this as well. No harm in offering £500...

Exactly or meet somewhere in the middle, probs worth spending a bit more if it's local.

Just make sure its a 170,000 mile minter rather than a 170k nail.

[HustleRussell]

I'm no Mike Brewer but if I viewed the car and decided I wanted it, I'd go in lower than £500 with a view to paying no more than that amount (hopefully less). The number of people who will consider a 170k mile Yaris must be vanishingly few.