Buying a car - mileage?

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Morning all, looking a buying a car. How reliable are recorded mileages now? Are they easily doctored? If so, how do you verify, because some cars can easily absorb 100k miles and still look reasonably fresh.
 
It'll be the old fashioned ways, such as worn rubber on pedals, polished smooth steering wheel and gear shifter, probably a lot of stone chips on bonnet and saggy driver seat
 
You should be able to look at the MOT history on the DVLA website where the mileage will be recorded.

If it looks iffy on there and there are the tell-tale signs as above then I'd walk away.
 
Most modern cars are good for a lot of miles as long as they're looked after. TBH, I'd rather have a 100,000 miler repmobile than the same age Mum's taxi at 50,000.
 
Check on here and see if the mileage numbers increase consistently: https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history


Nod said:
Most modern cars are good for a lot of miles as long as they're looked after. TBH, I'd rather have a 100,000 miler repmobile than the same age Mum's taxi at 50,000.
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Would you like to buy my 111K miles Mercedes with quite a few stone chips on the bonnet and slightly saggy driver's seat? :p

But I agree, mileage no longer truly indicate car's condition. I'd rather get a regularly serviced motorway runner (like mine) compared to low mileage car that sits stop-start traffic and regularly drive over pot-holes.
 
No. Mercs are often ex-taxis and I have a nice car already so don't need a saggy seated Teuton!
 
Thanks All.

@BruceMo. Ive seen a few cars that definitely don’t show signs of high mileage, and have done > 100k miles. You used to be abel to tell from steering wheels, seats etc., but I'm not so sure any more.

@Russ77 and @wuyanxu Thanks for the links, wasn’t aware of that page (I haven't bought a car in nearly 10 years, so wasn’t aware of such pages!)

@Nod. Agreed, most cars are good for serious mileage.

I am still torn between buying a high mileage 3 year old, or a lower mileage 5 year old. The car i am looking it is a Ford Galaxy, and there are some seriously cheap 3 year olds around - 62 plates with 120k going for around £8k. They are low spec (taxi black, zetec, wind down rear windows, steel wheels), but are fully serviced, and have had the cam belts and pumps done as part of the 120k service at a cost of around £800. I'm not sure I would be happy getting a taxi lookalike, Galaxy's look so much nicer in a light metallic IMHO. But the low specs will have less to go on, and round and round my thinking goes!
 
Had several cars at 100k+
My best was a 1.9tdi Audi A4 Avant, did almost 300k in that before I sold it
I only paid £900 when I first brought it, sold it for £400 to a polish guy
Best car I've ever owned
 
The problem is indeed that cars really can take it now. And besides normally maintenance items they show barely any wear.

So whilst old fashioned indicators like shiny steering wheel, sagging seat, worn on one side, rubber on pedals word etc can still give a visual indicator it rarely reflect the kind of mileage or double that we are talking about. Cars and materials have become that good.

Then there is the mot records, naturally they don't work for cars less than three years old. And those knowing what they are doing will correct that before the vehicle goes in.

So me, well I rely on my computing forensic skills and hook up my laptop and poke around underneath the bonnet 2016 style; ie without getting my hands dirty yet in full control.

Only for old mechanical beasts I'll do it the old fashioned way like my dad and grandad told me.
 
It's also a 'pays your money take your chance' type of deal.
As my runaround, dump run kind of car I brought an 02 plate skoda Octavia, 120k on the clock and paid £300. It's lasted a year so far, so I'm quids in and not concerned if and when it gives up the ghost. If it was £10k I might worry a little more
 
my 05 mondeo 2.0tdci sounds like a tank has 120,000 plus on the clock ,cost me a grand when i bought it 18 months ago to replace a newer car that was uneconomical to repair ,it goes like s*** off a shovel ,returns between 55-to 60 mpg,and 45mpg towing the caravan .running costs over 18 months 2 new tyres ,,wheel bearing ,nothing else no saggy seats everything works as it should .dont knock the oldies sometimes there goldies
 
When I was checking the MOT site before buying a car I decided to check on some of my old cars. One was a Fiesta R reg (1998) which I sold in 2006 as things were beginning to wear out. It is still no the road, MOT last month, it has only done just over 8000 miles, plus the 100 000!
 
Rapscallion said:
Thanks All.

@BruceMo. Ive seen a few cars that definitely don’t show signs of high mileage, and have done > 100k miles. You used to be abel to tell from steering wheels, seats etc., but I'm not so sure any more.

@Russ77 and @wuyanxu Thanks for the links, wasn’t aware of that page (I haven't bought a car in nearly 10 years, so wasn’t aware of such pages!)

@Nod. Agreed, most cars are good for serious mileage.

I am still torn between buying a high mileage 3 year old, or a lower mileage 5 year old. The car i am looking it is a Ford Galaxy, and there are some seriously cheap 3 year olds around - 62 plates with 120k going for around £8k. They are low spec (taxi black, zetec, wind down rear windows, steel wheels), but are fully serviced, and have had the cam belts and pumps done as part of the 120k service at a cost of around £800. I'm not sure I would be happy getting a taxi lookalike, Galaxy's look so much nicer in a light metallic IMHO. But the low specs will have less to go on, and round and round my thinking goes!
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Are you sure those taxi black Galaxies aren't actually ex taxis? They sound like the sort of vehicles that Addison Lee use.

Given the choice I would personally go for an older, lower mileage car. At least there's a reasonable chance it's had a private owner who's taken care of it. No guarantees what you're getting with any car though.
 
Addison Lee have a HUGE bodyshop and it was rammed full when I walked past it last year!
 
Nod said:
Addison Lee have a HUGE bodyshop and it was rammed full when I walked past it last year!
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And that is just the drivers :) you should see their cars :eek:
 
My motor is 2 years old on 1st April and has just over 15k miles on it as a working daily vehicle as well as social use. You can maybe guess I like to work local, hats off to you high mileage commuters. That would kill me, I'm always amazed when it seems not to bother people who do it year in year out
Maybe not too relevant to this thread but I've seen high miles mentioned a few times and I thought I'd check my speedo today and I was a wee bit surprised it was so low
 
BruceMo said:
My motor is 2 years old on 1st April and has just over 15k miles on it as a working daily vehicle as well as social use. You can maybe guess I like to work local, hats off to you high mileage commuters. That would kill me, I'm always amazed when it seems not to bother people who do it year in year out
Maybe not too relevant to this thread but I've seen high miles mentioned a few times and I thought I'd check my speedo today and I was a wee bit surprised it was so low
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Lol my wife does more than that on the school run :eek:
 
dejongj said:
Lol my wife does more than that on the school run :eek:
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I often work in my street or very local. I do most miles in a typical day going to my favourite food stop :D
I'm slogging this week, must be nearly three miles away from home but it's a nice wee job for a woman who looks after her builders so mustn't grumble
 
BruceMo said:
I often work in my street or very local. I do most miles in a typical day going to my favourite food stop :D
I'm slogging this week, must be nearly three miles away from home but it's a nice wee job for a woman who looks after her builders so mustn't grumble
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For some reason, the way you formulated that, I've now got this vision of a scene from "Confessions of a window cleaner" in my mind. Lol what ever works for you, you dirty fox. :) ;)
 
boogie man said:
Are you sure those taxi black Galaxies aren't actually ex taxis? They sound like the sort of vehicles that Addison Lee use.

Given the choice I would personally go for an older, lower mileage car. At least there's a reasonable chance it's had a private owner who's taken care of it. No guarantees what you're getting with any car though.
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Hi Larry - That’s exactly what they are.
I would love to get a low mileage model, but there aren't exactly the many. Heres how many Galaxys there are for under 8k on auto trader:-
41D5pQirFM-1200x1200.png


Just 10 under 60k, and just 2 diesel / autos. Those are both 57 plates, so 5 years older than the 62 plates addison lee are selling for a similar price with 40k more miles. More £'s needed i think!
 
BruceMo said:
My motor is 2 years old on 1st April and has just over 15k miles on it as a working daily vehicle as well as social use. You can maybe guess I like to work local, hats off to you high mileage commuters. That would kill me, I'm always amazed when it seems not to bother people who do it year in year out
Maybe not too relevant to this thread but I've seen high miles mentioned a few times and I thought I'd check my speedo today and I was a wee bit surprised it was so low
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One of my recent jobs was very local, a tank lasted 3 months!
 
dejongj said:
For some reason, the way you formulated that, I've now got this vision of a scene from "Confessions of a window cleaner" in my mind. Lol what ever works for you, you dirty fox. :) ;)
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Did that movie involve cheerful senior citizens? Never seen anything like that in my innocent lifestyle :D
 
Rapscallion said:
Morning all, looking a buying a car. How reliable are recorded mileages now? Are they easily doctored? If so, how do you verify, because some cars can easily absorb 100k miles and still look reasonably fresh.
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I doubt you can verify careful coverup. VCDS (VAG only) has a script to check mileage on older cars against other parameters but I wouldn't rely on it.

Interior or exterior wear can vary hugely. Kids or builders and alike can make 50k car look destroyed while a careful owner can keep his / her in mint shape to 150k or more. It will be the internals that you really need to pay attention to and again mileage is not the only way to go for it. Suspension is the first to go if driven on crap roads and salt in the north really doesn't help. With age all rubber starts to perish so prepare to replace those. Many owners don't use correct oils, don't change gearbox oil or even engine oil. That could land you a wreck with as little as 60k. I'd rather get 150k motorway only car than that.

It really needs to go up on a ramp at trusted professional garage before you part with the money or you may as well can buy a very cheap known wreck and spend the money getting it perfect. From experience I'd avoid 2nd hand resellers and go private.
 
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I bought a jap import hilux surf with 200.000 miles on it, I added another 15000 and it drove like new, regret ever getting rid of it, just don't buy a fiat.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
. Many owners don't use correct oils, don't change gearbox oil or even engine oil. That could land you a wreck with as little as 60k. I'd rather get 150k motorway only car than that.
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That's probably a because gearbox oil change won't be part of any service schedule. Unless an owner has difficulty selecting gears etc, gearbox oil doesn't need changing on modern cars and hasn't done for quite a number of years. I bought a 1998 car new, owned it for 12 years, it covered almost 270k miles and never had the gearbox oil changed.
 
ST3 said:
That's probably a because gearbox oil change won't be part of any service schedule. Unless an owner has difficulty selecting gears etc, gearbox oil doesn't need changing on modern cars and hasn't done for quite a number of years. I bought a 1998 car new, owned it for 12 years, it covered almost 270k miles and never had the gearbox oil changed.
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VW DSG box oil must be done every 40K. Most other dual clutch are similar. Many mercs may not list that as requirement but unless done by 100k many owners report worse behaviour... I guess I wouldn't buy a VW from you then.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
VW DSG box oil must be done every 40K. Most other dual clutch are similar. Many mercs may not list that as requirement but unless done by 100k many owners report worse behaviour... I guess I wouldn't buy a VW from you then.
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And many boxes are sealed for life. Yes my VW DSG has to be changed, and yes my Audi and Mercedes are sealed for life.
 
the black fox said:
my 05 mondeo 2.0tdci sounds like a tank has 120,000 plus on the clock ,cost me a grand when i bought it 18 months ago to replace a newer car that was uneconomical to repair ,it goes like s*** off a shovel ,returns between 55-to 60 mpg,and 45mpg towing the caravan .running costs over 18 months 2 new tyres ,,wheel bearing ,nothing else no saggy seats everything works as it should .dont knock the oldies sometimes there goldies
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My 05 mondeo is just about to click 200,000 and fingers crossed its fine!
 
dejongj said:
And many boxes are sealed for life
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That's what they claim in the manual however you can certainly change the oil in most and it appears to be a good way to fix a gearbox that has yet completely grenaded. Basic chemistry and physics laws suggest that oils degrade due to oxidation and temperatures and there are small metal filings being chipped away with age and that doesn't help. Probably "for life" means 3 or 5 years at most according to manufacturers wishes.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
That's what they claim in the manual however you can certainly change the oil in most and it appears to be a good way to fix a gearbox that has yet completely grenaded. Basic chemistry and physics laws suggest that oils degrade due to oxidation and temperatures and there are small metal filings being chipped away with age and that doesn't help. Probably "for life" means 3 or 5 years at most according to manufacturers wishes.
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All gearboxes will have a magnet inside them to collect any metal filings. Gearbox oils have anti oxidant additives too.
 
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