[Closed] Buying a small van, is 125,000 miles high mileage

That's low for a 10 year old van tbf, many will do that in half the time.

Should be fine for a good while as long as you look after it.

10 yrs old, 125,000 = 12,500 a year so pretty standard I'd say.

Any vehicle at that age is a punt for any reason, not just mileage related - you could get an identical car at half the mileage and have more issues. But 125,000 is nothing for a modern car as far as the engine itself goes.

1.8 you say.

Not a transit is it.

If so the milage is the least of your worries at 10 yo.

Itll be on the cusp of needing the inner sills and wheel arches needing replaced. Not a job you want to be paying for.

My 9 yr old Caddy Maxi 2.0 TDI is on 210,000 and has been no problem.

What's the van?

It's not mileage but condition I'd look at.

Thanks all.
It's a LWB connect crew.
Condition looks good from what I can see, with a full service history.

Going to view it in next couple of days.

Check the mot history online

Look for any mention of corrosion or thick underseal

When you get there get under it.

Check the inner sills and check the wheel arches.

Thanks,
Will I just be checking for rust and damage.

Sorry know very little about cars/vans

It depends on what the 125000 miles are. Has it been scooting about on the motorway taking crew to work or has it been thrashed around town fully laden doing multi-drops? Mileage alone isn't that great for determining if a vehicle is worth buying or not IMHO.

Depends what you want to do with it.

No point saying yes thats too many miles if its your max budget and its a second car that'll only do a few miles.

If it's a main car and you're going to spend a fortune converting it to a camper and keep it for 10 years, maybe not a wise investment.

Fwiw my oh's fiesta is at 140k and emits a new and exciting death rattle each month/year and burns oil like a young Borris burns £50 infront of the homeless. My c-max is 3k behind it and wears the occasional part out, but appart from that is like new. battered but mechnically sound.

125k is nothing for a ten year old work van, but at ten years and 125k it's at the end of its "working" design life.

tbh in this class would look for a Hyundai iLoad or i800 if you need seats for a private vehicle.

People buying new vans want:

1) Cheap
2) Vast, efficient dealer networks open at 0600 so they get them fixed fast and locally when they break

Hyundai have neither of those qualities, so are much less likely to to have been been bought and thrashed day in and day out.

Hyundai seem more likely to be bought by owner-operators / small businesses (poor volume discounts) so likely driven with more care than fleet vehicles. They also all seem to have good spec, e.g. air con.

Look at a few ads and the condition of the vehicles. The prices are good vs the obvious VW, Ford and PSA options.

Thanks for all the advice.

I have a max of 5grand... Definitely can't go higher, so I know I won't be finding a fantastic condition van. But once I have it, it will be well looked after and serviced

It has to be an everyday vehicle too, must have rear seats and windows for the rear seats for my daughter.

I'll have a look at Hyundai ones.

Thanks

Berlingo
Partner
Kango

It similar or does it need to be a van?

My van is 12 years old and about that mileage, still drives great because I keep it well serviced but it is starting to need more routine repairs than it used to (£500-£1k per year typically).

Should get a nice van for £5k nonetheless, but may need to hunt around for private sales.

Why not just buy a Kangoo etc. then? Under £5k would get you a 2012 car, less than 50,000 miles. Seats fold flat, loads of space inside. Not brilliant to drive, but comfortable enough for 500 mile days. Personally if as a second or third car or just ocassional use I'd be looking at one of the older Berlingo cars - bide your time you could find a decent one for £1,500. I'd not be looking at ex builders van's ever.

I hope a 10 year old transit connect isn't 4grand......(you mention 1k under your max of 5k ).... Pants being pulled down.

As said above , look into a Berlingo or Partner. Cheaper to insure and tax and you can easily get 3 people and bikes in. With regard to mileage Taxi companies will not go abouve 250,000 miles for a diesel but they are obviously well serviced.

Thanks for all the replies and advice.
Will check out the other options

Buy on condition not mileage, 125'000 miles is nothing for modern engines

Friends have transit vans and estate cars on 200'000 miles with great body work and the engines run sweet but it can be the other parts that can suffer and cost to replace

Suspension bushes
Clutches
Dual mass flywheels
Brakes
Exhaust system corrosion
Egr valves
Etc......

These are all fixable but can cost quite a bit of money to replace and will be worn at 125'000 miles if they haven't been replaced yet

On the other hand Ive known people with cars that have 65'000 miles on the clock and need engine rebuilds due to a poor oil pick pipe design and longlife servicing schedules

Best to do as much research on what your buying as you can to find out about any known issues and check the service history for whats been replaced, people tend to concentrate on engine service history when looking at a car and not check what else has been replaced and when

Watch out for van speed limits too.

A van (crewvan inc) will have to observe lower speed limits than those originally sold as a passenger vehicle, or car-derived vans.

IIRC a transit connect is always classed as a van no matter the seats. But a Berlingo multispace is a passenger vehicle so has car speed limits.

Also watch for VAT on vans, check its included before getting excited by a low price.

Do you know for £5k you can get a massive 5y/o estate car?

£3700 2014 Ford Mondeo 100k miles 67mpg
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201909122148835

Or more van shaped:
£4k 2015 Ford Galaxy 122k mile...ex-taxi better than ex-builders van?
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201909122134677

Or take your pick from a variety of uncool massive 7 seat MPVs like citroen picasso c4. They will probably all drive and crash better than a van.

I have the same van as you mention and love it. Mines on alot higher miles though.
Regarding speed limits I'm sure if you get a tourneo you don't have to worry about it. Also I don't know if you are but if you just search tourneo you can get some bargain tourneo connects pop up that have been partly or miss advertised.
Mines an ex police connect with side windows and seats. Price wise they are expensive with the seats and windows but you could buy one at a fraction of your budget and invest in converting the rear seats and adding windows. They supposedly all have the footwells in even if they appear to have a flat floor, you just need to remove the plates.
You will want to check belts have been done including the wet belt. Clutch is ok and that the injectors are as well. Also check sills for rust.

Nissan Elgrand!!??

Not an el grand....

(Shudders)

I had an e50 elgrand as well. Was a great car but very thirsty. Connect is much more convenient.

Don't rush I'd say and keep looking.

I managed to find a 2010 lwb kangoo in immaculate condition with only 45000 miles on it and I over paid at £4000. This was a couple of years back and it's been faultless since.

Non worked vans are out there, you just have to be patient then very quick as they don't sit long 👍

Another vote for an elgrand, had mine 4 1/2 years its great bike and family transport. What it costs in fuel it hasn’t lost in depreciation or repairs 😀

Regarding speed limits I’m sure if you get a tourneo you don’t have to worry about it.

Only the tourneo connect sold as a car with all the windows is an mpv and has car limits.

Transit connect van and crew cab with rear seat are classed as vans. If you add rear seats and windows it's still a van.

Check the v5 if it says passenger car or mpv you are OK.

But 125,000 is nothing for a modern car as far as the engine itself goes.

Hmm.

Fuel injectors and turbos are a lottery.
A very expensive lottery.

If it's been fed cheap fuel and not idled after thrashing, then it's going to go pop sooner rather than later.

I think the days of ultra high mileage vehicles have passed.

Hyundai have neither of those qualities, so are much less likely to to have been been bought and thrashed day in and day out

There's another reason i800s /iloads don't get bought very often....

I'm sure those that do own them never drove it till after they were committed to the finance.