Would you spend £11/12k on a car over 80k miles?
Discussion
Hello Again Folks,
I posted a few weeks ago looking at if people had owned either a 640d F13 or a TTS 8J, to my surprise (or maybe not as they're both quite decent cars in many respects) someone even had both at one point!
I wanted to ask how apprehensive you would be if you were buying a car and spending for you/ for me what is a large sum of cash 11-12k that was at that mileage?
I worry about resale potential and just generally things that could go bad, hence why I was previously convinced I would not stray over 70k miles for a TTS or 80k miles for the diesel 6 series. These are bottom of the range mileages you can get for that price.
So what are peoples thoughts, have you and would you buy again your main car at high mileages? did you manage to get [b]some[\b] money out of the car when you came to sell or did you just run it in to the scrap yard? - (I wouldn't want to do the latter!)
Thanks again!
I posted a few weeks ago looking at if people had owned either a 640d F13 or a TTS 8J, to my surprise (or maybe not as they're both quite decent cars in many respects) someone even had both at one point!
I wanted to ask how apprehensive you would be if you were buying a car and spending for you/ for me what is a large sum of cash 11-12k that was at that mileage?
I worry about resale potential and just generally things that could go bad, hence why I was previously convinced I would not stray over 70k miles for a TTS or 80k miles for the diesel 6 series. These are bottom of the range mileages you can get for that price.
So what are peoples thoughts, have you and would you buy again your main car at high mileages? did you manage to get [b]some[\b] money out of the car when you came to sell or did you just run it in to the scrap yard? - (I wouldn't want to do the latter!)
Thanks again!
Yes, in my opinion perceived "high mileage" is not a problem at all.
A few years ago I needed to buy a car to ferry me to and from a project house that I had going on.
I got an Audi A6 estate, with 110k on the clock.
In the two years I owned it, I put 30k on it and it needed the following repairs:
CV joint (£28)
Window regulator (£30)
Battery (£70)
Brake hoses (£140)
Thermostat (£100)
Servicing and consumables (I did most of the work myself) cost £1,000, because it included tyres (£400) and a timing belt change (£330).
The best part? Depreciation wise, it only cost me £200.
Pretty sobering when my current car (which wasn't even new) depreciated by £15k in my first year of ownership alone...
A few years ago I needed to buy a car to ferry me to and from a project house that I had going on.
I got an Audi A6 estate, with 110k on the clock.
In the two years I owned it, I put 30k on it and it needed the following repairs:
CV joint (£28)
Window regulator (£30)
Battery (£70)
Brake hoses (£140)
Thermostat (£100)
Servicing and consumables (I did most of the work myself) cost £1,000, because it included tyres (£400) and a timing belt change (£330).
The best part? Depreciation wise, it only cost me £200.
Pretty sobering when my current car (which wasn't even new) depreciated by £15k in my first year of ownership alone...
I've always bought low miles in the past but it's not done me any favours. My last car was a 6 year old BMW 325i with just 40k miles and of course I paid over the odds for that mileage. A year later all the injectors needed replacing as a result of coking up which is quite common on modern direct injection engines. They need to be used. I sold it recently for a fair price but actually the mileage wouldn't have made much difference.
My current car is a 2017 Fiesta ST3. It had 67k on it but just one owner and full history. Sold by my local Ford dealer. It was about £3k cheaper than any other with reasonable mileage so I went for it. I've had it 4 months and it's just about to turn 70k. Loving it so far.
My current car is a 2017 Fiesta ST3. It had 67k on it but just one owner and full history. Sold by my local Ford dealer. It was about £3k cheaper than any other with reasonable mileage so I went for it. I've had it 4 months and it's just about to turn 70k. Loving it so far.
Looking at mileage on its own is a red herring. It's worth looking at HOW that mileage was reached.
You're looking at two cars of the same age.
One has 40k miles but it's been used in an urban environment, mostly short journeys of under <5 miles where the engine is barely warmed up, and the owner has used routes with lots of speed bumps and potholes, and they haven't necessarily driven with care over the bumps.
The other has 80k miles, but it's been primarily motorway miles.
Still prefer the 40k car?
You're looking at two cars of the same age.
One has 40k miles but it's been used in an urban environment, mostly short journeys of under <5 miles where the engine is barely warmed up, and the owner has used routes with lots of speed bumps and potholes, and they haven't necessarily driven with care over the bumps.
The other has 80k miles, but it's been primarily motorway miles.
Still prefer the 40k car?
Yes, and I have in the past. For me it all comes down to the service record - I'd prefer a full service history high miler to a low mileage with minimal records.
If you are looking at an F13 then the record should be in the iDrive anyway although I still like a paper folder with a car with receipts as this will show more detail (particularly if serviced outside of a main dealer). I have an F12 640d vert' and love it although mine is the other end of the spectrum and silly low miles when I bought it in May.
Good luck with your future purchase
If you are looking at an F13 then the record should be in the iDrive anyway although I still like a paper folder with a car with receipts as this will show more detail (particularly if serviced outside of a main dealer). I have an F12 640d vert' and love it although mine is the other end of the spectrum and silly low miles when I bought it in May.
Good luck with your future purchase
I've had over 30 cars in 22yrs of driving and only 5 of those have been sub 100k miles when purchased.
No major failures / horror stories to report on any of them....just routine servicing and the usual consumables.
Not wanting to point out the obvious but buy with your eyes open when viewing the car in person, do as much research on the car before viewing in regards to service history, mot history etc. It's not a new car so keep an eye/ear out for worn suspension bushes, wheel bearing hum, clutch judder, dual mass flywheel rattle etc etc (delete as appropriate).
It seems that it is only our little islands mindset that a car will spontaneously give up at 100k miles - it wouldn't even be a conversation starter in mainland europe!
Happy shopping!
Cheers,
Chris
No major failures / horror stories to report on any of them....just routine servicing and the usual consumables.
Not wanting to point out the obvious but buy with your eyes open when viewing the car in person, do as much research on the car before viewing in regards to service history, mot history etc. It's not a new car so keep an eye/ear out for worn suspension bushes, wheel bearing hum, clutch judder, dual mass flywheel rattle etc etc (delete as appropriate).
It seems that it is only our little islands mindset that a car will spontaneously give up at 100k miles - it wouldn't even be a conversation starter in mainland europe!
Happy shopping!
Cheers,
Chris
I bought a BMW 525d tourer with 94k on the clock for £12k, ran it for 3 and a half years and 33k miles, traded it in and got £6.5k for it.
It never broke down, but did suffer a couple of (cheap to fix) electrical problems - tailgate switch and air suspension relay. Sorted those myself for pennies. The only mechanical failure was the wiper linkage - cost me £160 at the main dealer.
Back in the day when I had company cars, they all went back with over 120k on the clock after 3 or 4 years, and were perfectly reliable - Escort, Cavaliers, Vectras and a Mondeo.
Properly maintained high-mileage cars are fine.
It never broke down, but did suffer a couple of (cheap to fix) electrical problems - tailgate switch and air suspension relay. Sorted those myself for pennies. The only mechanical failure was the wiper linkage - cost me £160 at the main dealer.
Back in the day when I had company cars, they all went back with over 120k on the clock after 3 or 4 years, and were perfectly reliable - Escort, Cavaliers, Vectras and a Mondeo.
Properly maintained high-mileage cars are fine.
I bought an E91 325i in 2018 on 132K miles with full BMWSH and ran it for a year and another 7K miles and had no issues with it.
It wasn't dear in the first place, but I got a decent price for it. Then I replaced it with an E90 330i that had done 107K and it's still running just fine on 114K.
I realise these cars were much cheaper than your budget, but the principle is much the same.
Anyway last December I blew more than your budget on a 76K miles Z4M Coupe and have no regrets whatsoever. It's just fantastic.
80K is nothing for a 3 litre turbo-diesel, but you may lose some value when it hits that 100K barrier most people in the UK are so frightened of! You might avoid that if you got a cheaper one already past 100K.
It wasn't dear in the first place, but I got a decent price for it. Then I replaced it with an E90 330i that had done 107K and it's still running just fine on 114K.
I realise these cars were much cheaper than your budget, but the principle is much the same.
Anyway last December I blew more than your budget on a 76K miles Z4M Coupe and have no regrets whatsoever. It's just fantastic.
80K is nothing for a 3 litre turbo-diesel, but you may lose some value when it hits that 100K barrier most people in the UK are so frightened of! You might avoid that if you got a cheaper one already past 100K.
100k is such a UK thing... In Europe 100k is run in.
Ive got a 640d, its on 70k and still feels pretty much like new. I had it at 20k and it doesn’t feel much different at all. This car will easily do 350k before a rebuild. At 100k I expect it to feel how it does today, and that’s with a remap too just shy of 400bhp / 750NM. Doubt ill sell it as it wont be worth much.
Bought a 2014 Cayenne as I needed a truck, something to put our Rottie in and a car for the Mrs to get about in. 105k on clock, 1 owner, mainly motorway miles. Saved 10k in purchase costs as I was looking at 60k mile examples., Its mint runs like a dream.
BUY ON CONDITION
Buy the previous owner as much as the car itself, I only buy private as I want to meet the previous owner in their home etc, you can tell if a person looks after their stuff
Ive got a 640d, its on 70k and still feels pretty much like new. I had it at 20k and it doesn’t feel much different at all. This car will easily do 350k before a rebuild. At 100k I expect it to feel how it does today, and that’s with a remap too just shy of 400bhp / 750NM. Doubt ill sell it as it wont be worth much.
Bought a 2014 Cayenne as I needed a truck, something to put our Rottie in and a car for the Mrs to get about in. 105k on clock, 1 owner, mainly motorway miles. Saved 10k in purchase costs as I was looking at 60k mile examples., Its mint runs like a dream.
BUY ON CONDITION
Buy the previous owner as much as the car itself, I only buy private as I want to meet the previous owner in their home etc, you can tell if a person looks after their stuff
jonamv8 said:
BUY ON CONDITION
Buy the previous owner as much as the car itself, I only buy private as I want to meet the previous owner in their home etc, you can tell if a person looks after their stuff
This. I’ve been looking around, and been give advice, buy on condition. Buy the previous owner as much as the car itself, I only buy private as I want to meet the previous owner in their home etc, you can tell if a person looks after their stuff
Easy to buy a car from dealer, but don’t know much about the history. Paperwork (if there’s any) can help with knowing how the car, but as jonamv8 said, it’s good to meet the previous owner, they’ll explain a lot more than any dealer.
Yes. I've spent more on a 911 with higher mileage. It drives great.
Bit of a tangent but that's 2 very different cars you're looking at. If you're worried about losing money then I think the TTS is the way to go. I'm looking for a cheap run about at the moment and there's a hell of a lot of cheap high mileage 6 cylinder German diesels at the low budget end. I can only see leggy luxury diesels becoming even less desirable in the future.
Bit of a tangent but that's 2 very different cars you're looking at. If you're worried about losing money then I think the TTS is the way to go. I'm looking for a cheap run about at the moment and there's a hell of a lot of cheap high mileage 6 cylinder German diesels at the low budget end. I can only see leggy luxury diesels becoming even less desirable in the future.
So I ran my 2005 c class coupe cl203 with the 220 cdi engine from 100 to 180k. Always got it serviced on time.
I had been through in that time 2 turbos (granted the first one had an improper seal and caused an unknown to me oil leak for 2 years). That was a lot of labour and parts as it was twice on both.
I cant remember exactly in what but there was a broken bolt in the which required some drilling and re-threading which I'm sure I was ripped off for. Cant for the life of me remember what it was. But was shown it.
Also a steering rack and all new front suspension arms due to many bushes having play.
It now came time to replace all the brakes and discs, which was fine in principle. But the rear brake dust sheilds which hold the handbrake had rusted away and require a longish job to fit (as the hub bearing is pressed on). And I have 2 rear calipers seized as well. - it was at this point I decided enough was enough and was so sick of fixing things!
Hence my initial question and apprehension. However there has clearly been a lot of lessons for me in this thread! I think I was definetly equally worried about resale as I was maintenance.
Also they are very very different cars indeed! Just two cars in the either large or small coupe range for the price I would buy! Think I'm still leaning TTS but it changes daily! Thanks so much all for the comments so far.
I had been through in that time 2 turbos (granted the first one had an improper seal and caused an unknown to me oil leak for 2 years). That was a lot of labour and parts as it was twice on both.
I cant remember exactly in what but there was a broken bolt in the which required some drilling and re-threading which I'm sure I was ripped off for. Cant for the life of me remember what it was. But was shown it.
Also a steering rack and all new front suspension arms due to many bushes having play.
It now came time to replace all the brakes and discs, which was fine in principle. But the rear brake dust sheilds which hold the handbrake had rusted away and require a longish job to fit (as the hub bearing is pressed on). And I have 2 rear calipers seized as well. - it was at this point I decided enough was enough and was so sick of fixing things!
Hence my initial question and apprehension. However there has clearly been a lot of lessons for me in this thread! I think I was definetly equally worried about resale as I was maintenance.
Also they are very very different cars indeed! Just two cars in the either large or small coupe range for the price I would buy! Think I'm still leaning TTS but it changes daily! Thanks so much all for the comments so far.
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