Tuscan mileage

[salty-nlv]

Should a potential new buyer be put off by higher (relatively!!!) mileage?

i.e would higher mileage make people more comfortable that it had been run in and most problems fixed?

I am looking to buy 2nd hand Tuscan and would like advice on whether I should look at cars just after the 6k service or whether 11k cars have too much mileage comparitively. All opinions welcome.

[Beano500]

Personally, I would prefer a car with a "sensible" mileage, probably anything from 4k to 12k per annum on average. I would rather that it had everything sorted - not so much that I would expect it to be perfect, rather that it would be a continuous maintenance programme for the future instead of a heap of bills all in one go! You would also have assurance about how well it had been run in and warmed from cold starts.

Conversely, one that had been run in poorly and thrashed from cold might not show up on a very low mileage.

[Beano500]

Post scrpt: I WANT a Tuscan, three years old, 20k and for about £20k, in the right colour.

Ho hum - next year maybe

[TUS 373]

I bought mine 2nd hand with just over 11K on the clock. Main reason was that I felt more comfortable that it had been nicely run in and functioning healthily. More importantly, the car had just received its 12K service and had the tappets adjusted which is a higher cost service - £2000 in all spent by the previous owner. So I would recommend that if you go for something with that kind of miles, make sure it has had the work done before you buy it - and not just an 'ordinary' service. All should be well then.

[salty-nlv]

So what is the difference between teh 6k service and 12k service? is it just the tappet adjustment?

[TUS 373]

And about £600 difference minimum! I cannot tell you the specific difference myself except that the 6K is called an intermediate service and the 12K is a major. The tappet adjustments is time consuming with something in the order of 4-5 hours labour IIRC. Mine is booked in for its 18K at TVR in April - quoted me £420 inc VAT. They said the 'big' service is quite a bit more!

[fish]

Tappets on the speed six generaly need adjusting at each service even though they say every 12k, they do normaly only need 2-3 doing though which is alot cheaper so if you work on 500-700 per service you aren't normaly far wrong unless a components gone.

[shorts!]

I don't think you should worry about big mileage cars. The ones I would worry about are the low mileage ones. Perhaps they are a 2nd or 3rd car, don't get driven much, spend most of their time stationary maybe in a damp garage or even outside. The damp in a lightly used car certainly affects the electrics more and I'm sure a regularly used motor is better lubricated by running than a stationary one. I'd not buy a car that had only done a few thousand miles a year as the owner clearly doesn't enjoy their car enough and I'd suspect it may not have been run in carefully or warmed up nicely before being thrashed.
I'm currently on my third TVR all bought from new and all have felt and run sweeter at 20k than at 4k miles. They've all felt just as good at 40k.Go on, buy a car with mileage. Check with the original owner about its running in and its warming up. If they're not interested enough to talk to you about it then they probably weren't interested enough about it when they got the car. Find another. Mileage isn't to be feared, just poor maintenance.

[salty-nlv]

The car is on a sale or return at a dealer, so unable to talk direct to vendor, just have to count on dealer checks and service.