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Feb 24, 2014 23:47:37 GMT
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So I maybe looking to change cars and might be looking at going diesel but not over convinced. My question is, how many miles is too many miles? I'm primarily a VAG man but all the VWs & Audis up to the £2000 mark seem to have between 140 & 250 thousand miles on them. Is it me or does this seem like a bonkers amount of miles? I'm not expecting a 60 thousand mile Golf to turn up on Ebay for £1200 but good God, 2 grand for a car that could have traveled to the moon and back seems a tad excessive. Or is it me?
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Feb 24, 2014 23:55:17 GMT
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I've thought that too, I'd run a vag tdi with mega miles but a PD would worry me what with the cost of fuel system parts like injectors and fuel pumps. Also it's not just the engine, the rest of the car has done those miles as well obviously, so suspension, bushes, brakes, g'box ect might be tired even if the engine isn't.
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Remember the days when sex was safe and motorsport was dangerous. Vintage bling always attracts pussy.
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I've got a 94 Coupe at the moment with 109k on the clock but it's been Cat C'd today because some knobhead drove into a car that then hit mine & dented the bonnet. I'm buying it back off the insurance company but thinking of replacing the bonnet and moving on. The one thing that gets me is this sheer amount of miles that anything VW or Audi has done to get within that price bracket.
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fred
Posted a lot
WTF has happened to all the Vennies?
Posts: 2,957
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Yup, they tend to fall into company car brackets, so most of them have been hackers well serviced but stellar mileage.
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Last Edit: Feb 25, 2014 0:13:41 GMT by fred
'79 Cossie ran Cortina - Sold
2000 Fozzer 2.0 turbo snow beast
'85 Opel Manta GSI - Sold
03 A class Mercedes
Looking for a FD Ventora - Anyone?
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1993 Fiat Panda Selecta 2003 Vauxhall Combo 1.7DI van 2006 Mercedes Kompressor Evolution-S AMG SportCoupé
"You think you hate it now, wait til you drive it"
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,926
Club RR Member Number: 174
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How many miles are too manystealthstylz
@stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member 174
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Modern diesels are usually a better buy at the 130k+ than low mileage as generally by that point all the curse word that was gonna go wrong (DMF etc) will probably have been replaced.
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My car is approaching 270,000 miles. Drives like a new car with no squeaks, rattles or wobbles. It feels taught, the interior (and exterior) are in lovely condition and I can say with confidence that it not only drives better, but also looks and feels better than the three other identical ones I test drove that all had less than half the mileage of this one.
I can't comment on VW group stuff (it didn't make it near my list of possibles) but the same principles apply to any car: buy on condition and history over mileage. Mine came with lots of paperwork for all the expensive stuff that tends to go wrong (clutch & DMF, injectors, timing belt with tensioners and water pump, lots of suspension stuff) all main dealer paperwork and all within a year leading up to me buying the car.
The best bit, I paid £1k for this car which stood head & shoulders above the others I looked at, all of which were nearly triple the price *because* they had a lot less miles (despite virtuly zero paperwork for any of them)
The moral of the story? Higher mileage cars that have been well looked after and serviced are not only better than lower mileage ones with little history, but also a damn sight cheaper. Too many people get hung up on what the odometer says and not what the car is telling them.
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I swear by high mileage ex company cars, my last car was a Rover 220 TD bought at 3 years old in 2002 with 120k on the clock I drove it for 11 years and just gave it routine services. I sold it on here last year with 250K on the clock, the engine and running gear was still great, bodywork on the other hand was shot. In 2007 I bought the misses a 2004 Seat Leon 130 Tdi with 97k on the clock, it now has 170K and apart from routine servicing it has also been faultless. (probably cursed it now) My wife now has a 57 plate Mini Cooper D that we bought in late 2012 with 85K on the clock, This car's clutch failed within a month of ownership(due to poor driving by the previous owner)so it still has to prove itself . I wanted to get her another VAG but she wanted a Mini , I have convinced her the replacement might have to be an Audi A1 I have to agree with PandaSelecta, if you want to stay with VAG choose the Seat option
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ferny
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 986
Club RR Member Number: 13
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How many miles are too manyferny
@ferny
Club Retro Rides Member 13
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Quick answer? It depends.
I had a year old Skoda Spuperb eat its ECU which had done 80k miles. While it was being repaired the Ford Galaxy with 4k miles on it died. Go look at the car and decide how it's been looked after and then go with your gut. If it feels right for you it probably is.
Yeah, diesel engines tend to go to higher mileages then petrol but some of them can keep going and going as well. People also forget that everything on the car will also have done the same amount of miles as the engine. The shell, all the suspension components, the seats, the leccy window motors, the clutch, etc etc. That's why it's best to go with your gut.
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IMHO, miles are less important than a good (genuine) service history.
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qwerty
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,416
Club RR Member Number: 52
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How many miles are too manyqwerty
@qwerty
Club Retro Rides Member 52
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My A4 1.9tdi has 185k on it. I bought it with 150k. The engine and gearbox have been fine up until recently when it has developed a water leak, think its just the thermostat housing not sealing properly after changing the thermostat. However I would be confident jumping into it and driving absolutely anywhere, it feels like it has plenty of life left in it.
The suspension has needed work, probably made worse by me lowering it.
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I just bought a Ford Focus Tdi this weekend, 253k miles on it, full MOT, 250 quid. Drives really nicely, if you put a bit of tape over the milometer you'd never say it had that many miles Youre always going to get the VAG tax attached to any Audi/VW, save yourself 1750 quid and look elsewhere
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tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
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I swear by high mileage ex company cars I wouldn't touch one myself as they're often owned by people like me. I did 60k miles a year for two years in a brand new company car Accord. I never washed it once, never opened the bonnet once, bounced up and down kerbs and verges and generally treated it like a workhorse. I also forgot to get it serviced once or twice. It was a great car and perfect for my needs but after 120k miles I'm not sure how much life was left in it. I look after my own cars, of course, but this was a hired company workhorse and treated accordingly (pardon the pun). Lots of VAG diesels were company cars, I'd be VERY picky about buying one, there are plenty about so take your time, OP
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i agree with mysterymachine and others that have said the mileage is not so important if the car has good service history etc the other thing to consider is location in the uk ,for example down here in cornwall cars tend to be more expensive than further up country, i used to live in the midlands and regularly traveled to tyneside and scotland to buy cars to sell back home as they used to work out considerably cheaper, so if your prepared to travel there are bargains out there
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g40jon
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,569
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People seem to still be in the dark ages with car mileage. 100k is nothing to a modern car (by modern, I mean anything built within the last 20 years) The 100k thing dates back to when cars would be rotted out within 5 years of rolling off the production line. In the past 13 years I have had maybe 3 cars with less than 100k on the clock, all the others have had well over 100k on the clock. All have been fine. My current line up of high milers includes an mx5 with 170k on the clock which I drive 30 miles a day going to and from work, the wifes seat cordoba 1.9tdi with 156k and a my polo g40 with close to 170k. All have previously been well looked after and all have been reliable. Had a dizzy fail on the polo, and a few minor wear and tear issues, but nothing major. I would sooner buy a well looked after car with percieved high miles (I'm of the opinion most modern cars are good for 250k without having to spend ££££) No way would I even consider a low mileage oil burner, it'll no doubt be clogged up, modern diesels need to be driven to work properly.
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I work for the NHS and I wouldn't want to buy one of our ex pool / lease cars as they are never serviced on time. Also do a lot of short runs and generally don't get treated very well. How ever I have no problems buying a high millage car if it has a good history and know where it comes from
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Mileage doesn't matter in the slightest to me, however people get hung up on it, prime example of this is me selling my combo van at the moment, its got 180k on the clock and all i get is people ringing up telling me its not worth a bean, a mate had exactly the same van but tatty showing 72k on the clock it sold instantly - I suspect he didn't tell them when we had it plugged into diagnostics it was showing 172k
To me its all about condition and if the owner looks clued up enough to have serviced it or to just have put oil in when the light stayed on.......
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My son bought a 200k mileage A3 2.0L TDI goes really well, 60mpg and still feels like a low mileage car. Impressed me but that is easy as I only drive home built cars.
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Agree with mystery machine. Only exception being ex police cars whatever it says on the clock triple that as they take a real pounding.
Here's a 50k pug 306 n/a on here for cheap money.
I had one and at 200k though scruffy ran like a dream. Mileage isn't everything I bought a 22k mile xr2i and it's cost me a lot of money to get round the neglect of sitting so long
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Lawsy
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,615
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Feb 25, 2014 11:34:43 GMT
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My A4 1.9tdi has 185k on it. I bought it with 150k. The engine and gearbox have been fine up until recently when it has developed a water leak, think its just the thermostat housing not sealing properly after changing the thermostat. However I would be confident jumping into it and driving absolutely anywhere, it feels like it has plenty of life left in it. The suspension has needed work, probably made worse by me lowering it. mines the same, i bought mine with 125k on it, B6 A4 from the original owner, non compnay car. stupdily tho i bought mine just as all the bits needed doing, its now done 135k and pulls like a train, just lowering it on cheap coilies was my biggest mistake.. anyway, it'll be up for sale soon as i don't use it anymorre, just got an Arosa, which has the same lump (in theory) but its a 3 cylinder PD, doesnt have the usual scene tax and was cheap and is dirt cheap to run.. i'm hoping the VAG scene tax will help me get good money back on my A4 so i can get a cool older retro motor again.. My advice, if its going to be a mile munching daily, make sure you get soemthing you don't want to tinker with, if its a weekend toy then don't really let the mileage put you off, service history and your gut are the things to go by
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