What kind of mileage would you be looking for on a 5/6 year old vehicle?

depends how much I plan to use it and how long I'll be keeping it for. If I'm only doing 5,000 miles a year and keeping it for 5 years, I'd be happy with something on 100,000 miles

I believe average miles for a diesel is 15k per annum?

So maybe use that as a basis....which takes you up to 90k for an early 17 plate I guess.S

Sounds like a lot, but if you're going to only put small mileage on it yourself, then not a huge issue. If like me, you do 20k per year for work, then I'd be looking for something around 50k.

Type of miles would be more important to me. I would take an 80k motorway cruiser over a 50k city driver.

Personally (and I'm currently looking for a car of this age - 18/19 plate) anything over 50-60k is a bit too much for me.

My current 2017 car (2.0tdi) has 53k on the clock.

However, condition is still more important than mileage.

For a diesel I'd want to see at least 10k a year, ideally more.

If its less than that, chances are its done a lot of short journeys and there's a higher risk of all the emissions gubbins going kaput from never having got properly hot.

Other than that, buy on condition, not mileage. Full service history, plus lots of receipts for other in-between bits. Matching good quality tyres, stone chips touched up etc. Generally feeling like the owner(s) have cared for it, not just used it.

If you are looking at a model that is commonly used by businesses then its likely to be high miles. I was after a Skoda Superb estate and just couldn't find one within reasonable distance and mileage.

Wanting a vehicle for towing i bought a Ford Kuga,2019,which isn't really a company car model and had one private owner with 26,000 on the clock.

Age is much more important overall than mileage, I reckon.  Also, a higher mileage car will have been used for mostly long trips, necessarily, so the engine may well be in better shape.

Condition of vehicle and how it got those miles are far more important than the miles IMO.

I would expect 15k a year average.

My last three cars were all 5 years and 70k(ish) miles when bought, all three have doubled that age and mileage with us. No significant issues beyond service and wear and tear items.

Depends on the service book really, mileage doesn't bother me, unless it's done "moon and back" levels and it looks like it.

Also consider how many miles before a cambelt change is due or how many miles since it was last done.

I had a 308SW as a company car & put 75,000 miles on it in 3 years with no problems. The miles were put on due to a 90 mile round trip commute on dual carriageway (extremely rare to be in traffic jams).

For a diesel I'd be looking for a similar use pattern rather than plenty of stop/start short journeys.

Condition more than anything.

And modern cars are so good that any problems are unlikely at any age. Even when people say "JLR V6 Crank shafts self destruct", "Ford/PSA Turbo's wear out", etc, what they mean is probably <1% of the actual cars ended up with that issue.

Compared to buying a car in 1990 where you could entirely likely end up with a bill for a crank re-grind and +20 pistons at 100k.

Personally I'd buy a car with 150k-200k on it without much more thought, what you'll save on the sale price and onward depreciation will dwarf the probability x magnitude of any bills.

It would depend on the price and condition - obviously I'd expect to pay less for a high mileage 6 year old than a low mileage example.
<p style="text-align: left;">I bought my current car at about 6 years old and with over 100k miles on it. Since then it's had a pair of front shocks and rear brake pads but that's about it, though the DPF went lifex at 150k miles so there's a permanently stored warning about that.</p>

couldn't care less, id be either preferring the expensive jobs, clutch, belt/chain etc were either just done, or a million miles off or reflected in the price, at 80-100k is usually were stuff like that is getting done.

rest of the history and condition would be considered, this car i bought at 103k after having all that stuff i cared about done, and i paid the premium price for the privilege. Previous car i bought at 203k and didnt think twice after chatting the the owner.

Also consider how many miles before a cambelt change is due or how many miles since it was last done.

With most modern cars you'll hit the age when a cambelt is due rather than mileage. For instance the ones I'm looking at have it due at 4 years old or 120k miles (I think) and there's not many that have done that mileage.

Also, a higher mileage car will have been used for mostly long trips,

That's not a guarantee now, especially since everyone is WFH and not commuting. My car has done 2500 miles since November and around 1800 of them were in 2 weeks going up to Scotland and back (and driving round in the day when there).

andy4d - How would you know where the miles were done?  I think the only thing you really need is a good service history and average mileage is 12k per annum.

As usual, there's lots of talk of higher mileage cars and less stress on the engine due to motorway trips etc, but, purely anecdotally, I have a 12-year-old Quashqui 2.0tdi with 48k on the clock. It's never had any issues with DPFs or any kind of engine issues (just the usual wear and tear items that you'd expect). It starts first time every time and it drives like an almost new car.

i think people who worry too much about milage tend to have formed there opinions in the 90's when a cavalier with 100k would be a smokey old wreck.

so long as a car has a convincing history then milage is just not an issue for me. say something sales reppy like a 5 series - 60k in its first 3 years, all dealer serviced, then a private owner whos done another 40k in the next 2 years, a couple of invoices for the odd worn bush or shock absorber and a set of branded tyres to show its not been run on a budget, i'd be fairly confident that was a good buy.

or

5 year old Focus, spends its first year on a Hertz hire fleet, gets sold at auction with 15k hard hard miles on it, and gets bought by a private buyer as a second car. only does school runs and trips to tesco so only does another 15k over the next 4 years. engine oils never been hot. gets serviced once in that time. ditchfinders all round because it never goes on the motorway. up for sale because its developed a knock in the suspension and the exhaust is looking a bit frilly. 30k on the clock but it will be a guaranteed moneypit.

How would you know where the miles were done? I think the only thing you really need is a good service history and average mileage is 12k per annum.

Make a judgement on the mileage, car and the owner.

Berlingo with EuroCarParts bleached onto the paint and 200k miles in 5 years - it's knackered from driving round town 8 hours a day.

SUV with 50k miles in 10 years with a worn interior and owned by a family - it's probably spent a lifetime idling with the engine cold outside the school gates.

Skoda Superb Estate with 150k miles in 4 years and an ex fleet car. Unlikely to have been anything other than a sales rep.

12 - 15k per year is about average...but...a lot of people did very low mileage in 2020 and 2021 so you could expect less than the norm at the moment.

For what it's worth, I've just bought a 2019 car with 22k miles on it. There are a lot of cars that aren't doing as much mileage as they once did.

That’s not a guarantee now, especially since everyone is WFH and not commuting. My car has done 2500 miles since November and around 1800 of them were in 2 weeks going up to Scotland and back (and driving round in the day when there).

You're arguing the opposite - that low mileage cars can also have done long trips, which is true.  However, for a car to have high mileage it is highly likely to have done long trips because doing short trips doesn't rack up the miles.  So if you want a car that's done long trips, you would be more likely to get one with a younger car that's done more miles.

As usual, there’s lots of talk of higher mileage cars and less stress on the engine due to motorway trips etc, but, purely anecdotally, I have a 12-year-old Quashqui 2.0tdi with 48k on the clock

Doing short trips doesn't cause problems. Doing only short trips does.  You can do lots of short trips but as long as you get a long one in relatively regularly, you're fine.  In a diesel, the DPF does not have time to regenerate if you only do short trips.  However, it will eventually fill up and give you a message, or at least throw a code.  If you have a car that doesn't have a code or message then you're fine.  DPF problems occur when something else is wrong with the engine causing it to smoke, and the car can't regenerate.   People blame the DPF when it could easily be something else causing smoke, and you wouldn't see it, and the DPF is just doing its job.

worry too much about milage tend to have formed there opinions in the 90’s when a cavalier with 100k would be a smokey old wreck

they probably got the idea from their parents who had cars in the 60s/70s that needed a decoke every 10,000 miles!

My wife had a Rover 214 (with the infamous K series engine)- bought 4 years old in 96 with c 60,ooo miles and sold in 99 at 120,000 miles -most of the extra miles were from her daily commute on the motorway. No problems at all with it and it was running well.

You’re arguing the opposite – that low mileage cars can also have done long trips, which is true. However, for a car to have high mileage it is highly likely to have done long trips because doing short trips doesn’t rack up the miles. So if you want a car that’s done long trips, you would be more likely to get one with a younger car that’s done more miles.

True, but on the flip side you could quite easily rack up lots of miles doing slow/short journeys.

There's no guarantee either way. Mot history is a good start, you can see any change of use (sudden drop/increase in miles) and if there's been a few advisories on a 5 year old then that would be a red flag for me.

i think people who worry too much about milage tend to have formed there opinions in the 90’s when a cavalier with 100k would be a smokey old wreck.

Those people keep on telling me my car should be changed before it blows up, have been told that ever since I tucked over about 80k. Currently about to hit 175k and haven't had anything go wrong bar a connector for the lambda sensor that got loose and crusty from water ingress.

Just beware of the clocked lease cars, there's a lot of them out there. I know of one that was leased by a young lad, an A Class with AMG kit on it. Spent almost every night out, idling in car parks then gunning it between traffic lights. I know it had well over 80k on the clock when it was due for handing back as I saw the Mileage Correction guy working on it as I was walking to the shop, was being advertised a few weeks later by a local garage with 24k on it and a FSH.

I'd personally rather a medium to high mileage car with regular history showing gradual increases.

I know it had well over 80k on the clock when it was due for handing back as I saw the Mileage Correction guy working on it as I was walking to the shop, was being advertised a few weeks later by a local garage with 24k on it and a FSH.

How do you do that with modern cars? (Genuine question).

johndohFree Member
I know it had well over 80k on the clock when it was due for handing back as I saw the Mileage Correction guy working on it as I was walking to the shop, was being advertised a few weeks later by a local garage with 24k on it and a FSH.
How do you do that with modern cars? (Genuine question).

Get somebody dodgy round to reprogram the ECU in the instrument cluster, etc

e.g.

http://mileage-corrections.co.uk/cars/mercedes-mileage-correction/

I suppose I should have known that it could be done (I just thought that manufacturers would have found a way of securing the data – certainly with newer cars that could record data over the air to a central database).

Thanks for the replies.

So it's a van on 127k miles with impeccable service history and claimed mainly motorway mileage.

Clutch, belt and fuel pump changed at 100k

I only expect to do 5-7k miles per year, and hope to keep it for 10 years (my current van has been with me that long)

Thanks for the replies.

So it’s a van on 127k miles with impeccable service history and claimed mainly motorway mileage.

Clutch, belt and fuel pump changed at 100k

I only expect to do 5-7k miles per year, and hope to keep it for 10 years (my current van has been with me that long)

With vans you sort of expect a bit higher mileage - but it should be ready to tell just by the condition if it's been looked after by a single owner, or treated like a mobile toilet by about 20 different unsympathetic builders... 🤣

My old Octavia was four years old when I bought it for £5k, and it had 82,000 on the clock. I gave it away after 15 years, and nearly 180,000 miles with an iffy turbo, and after getting £628 from the insurance after an accident, and kept the car for a further two years. It ended up going to Poland with the son of one of the Polish bodywork guys at work because work insurance wouldn’t cover it as a pool car. Last I heard it was somewhere like Lithuania.

Other than topping up the oil and water, and replacing various parts for MOT’s, it never had anything done to it.

Including a service. Seriously, I never bothered getting it serviced, it just kept going. Remarkable motor, it was the 1.9 TDi, 110 bhp, I did actually drive it like I stole it.

Bought my Golf Gtd at 4 years old with only 27k on clock(well below average) few tell tale scuffs on interior plastics hints it was a builders/joiners motor !!

Now approaching 50k after 3 years ownership and it’s only had set of pads and servicing.

Most reliable car I’ve owned.

Mileage means bugger all 🤷‍♂️

When deciding about whether mileage really matters just bear in mind that for 2020 and 2022, mileages of most cars were significantly reduced- even for repmobiles thst usually do 20k.a year on the motorway.
I got a 2018 plate Kuga diesel about a year ago. 1st year 11-12k, 2nd year about 6-7k (as that went into the 1st lockdown) and then years 3 and 4 had absolutely sod-all miles.
Look at the year to year mileage, not the average and bear Covid restrictions in mind when trying to determine the nature of the driving they've seen.

Clutch, belt and fuel pump changed at 100k

I would question why the clutch needed doing at 100k if it was mostly motorway miles, indicates either it wasn't, or those miles were heavily laden.

However, maybe it was done because the belt needed doing and it made sense to do the clutch whilst in there

Good point, my 16 year old vivaro is on almost 160k and it's original clutch.

I'll try to find out the original owner's line of business (it's one owner from new), but it doesn't look like it's spent it's life on building sites or anything.

We've two cars of that age, my OH's has 35k and mine 60k.

Pre-Covid mine would've have about 120-140k by now, and when I was doing big mileage it'd have long ago been swapped.

But for commercials and the like, could easy be 200k at that age - my middle lad does 45-55k pa in his.

I know it had well over 80k on the clock when it was due for handing back as I saw the Mileage Correction guy working on it as I was walking to the shop, was being advertised a few weeks later by a local garage with 24k on it and a FSH.

Surely that'd be obvious from MOT history?

Surely that’d be obvious from MOT history?

If Leased from new on a 3 year lease.....won't have had an MOT

New development.

Van had what appears to be a full engine rebuild last year, following oil leak from timing cover. DPF was blocked at same time.

Is this good, bad or neutral?

Is this good, bad or neutral?

Neutral, unless there's some reason to suspect it's an ongoing issue.

What did they do to fix the DPF? If it's just been removed, the ECU programmed to ignore it, or any sort of bodge like that then I'd run a mile. If it's done a normal years worth of miles since and there's no evidence of more leaks or the DPF blocking again then I'd not be concerned.

Did the DPF become blocked? If so, why? That is a big question. Has that issue been fixed?

New development.

Van had what appears to be a full engine rebuild last year, following oil leak from timing cover. DPF was blocked at same time.

Is this good, bad or neutral?

It's not a T5 VW with the 180bhp BiTdi engine, is it?

Van had what appears to be a full engine rebuild last year, following oil leak from timing cover. DPF was blocked at same time.

an oil leak would almost certainly not necessitate a full engine rebuild - the latter is used in far more terminal problems. Do you have more details on the exact fault and work? a leak from a timing cover would normally involve taking the cover off, putting a new gasket on, and closing it back up again

Did the DPF become blocked? If so, why? That is a big question. Has that issue been fixed?

Unclear and something I'm trying to investigate.

It’s not a T5 VW with the 180bhp BiTdi engine, is it?

No, 2018 Trafic

an oil leak would almost certainly not necessitate a full engine rebuild – the latter is used in far more terminal problems. Do you have more details on the exact fault and work? a leak from a timing cover would normally involve taking the cover off, putting a new gasket on

There does seem to be a discrepancy between what the dealer said (rebuild) vs. what the paperwork I've seen a picture of supports (unclear but closer to your description). Would that be a £1.5k+ job?

No, 2018 Trafic

surely there is enoguh of them you dont need to mess with one thats been messed around with. - unless its cheap - and now we know why its cheap.

blocked DPF and oil leak plus partial rebuild has me at their being back pressure pressuring the engine and seals - you could end up chasing oil leaks all over.

Van had what appears to be a full engine rebuild last year, following oil leak from timing cover. DPF was blocked at same time.

Is this good, bad or neutral?

I would say BAD, given that's a massive overhaul of the engine and then they want to sell it soon after. Ongoing issues??

I'm cooling on this one, yeah.

Looking at another now and have a different question, if anyone's still reading...

Do lease vehicles get serviced as part of the deal? I'm looking at a former lease van. There's no history with it but the owner reckons the lease company told him it was done, but they can't (or won't) provide documentation.

Owner seems very genuine, van looks very tidy.

Do lease vehicles get serviced as part of the deal? I’m looking at a former lease van.

Only if they've taken a full maintenance contract. Otherwise it's like any other form of car/van purchase.

an engine rebuild is certainly more than £1.5k. a blocked dpf replacement plus a gasket change could easily be that much though

Only if they’ve taken a full maintenance contract. Otherwise it’s like any other form of car/van purchase.

I think if you don't take the maintenance option you are obliged to have it serviced at the proper times as part of the contract - which is fair, because it's their vehicle.

I’m looking at a former lease van. There’s no history with it

Mercedes van by any chance? The service record is all online, no paper book, and you can get a copy from Merc or any garage that has access to the system.

It's a Vauxhall, cheers for the servicing comments.

I don't feel I'm being hoodwinked, but it's obviously still something of a gamble.

My current van was a vaguely similar story when I got it actually and that has been awesome.