Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hello.
Thinking of buying a passenger car with 125000 miles or more. wondering what kind of vehicles are in this category and can still go for another 125000. I know Honda and Toyota come to mind, are there any others? This one will be 10 yrs old as well. Is it better to have an older car in years and lower miles or newer car but still 150,000 + miles? Has anyone had either a civic or corolla from 10 yrs ago? What was your experience? Looking for anything helpful and also any big expenses these older cars can have
I really do t consider 125k miles high mileage considering many cars don't even need major service until 100k (coolant, transmission fluid, spark plugs)
Everybody says cars last forever these days. What they don’t tell you that even cars as old as 15 years had complex emissions and electronics. Be prepared for persistent “check engine” light that nobody can figure out how to fix. It’ll show you a code but there are dozens of possible causes and each one costs money with no guarantees of getting it fixed. And it is easy to turn them off long enough for you to sign the papers.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,690 posts, read 57,994,855 times
Reputation: 46166
Very Dependent on vehicle, care, driver, type of driving, and environment (for those in the rust belt).
I like the older cars (pre computer(Pre 1994 for my variety)). Many can literally go forever (longer than I will be living).
I do have some 'computer' enhanced cars that go 500k miles +. but they are a pain when / if the CEL goes funny.
A std 'computer' car could be expected to go 200k without significant issues. 300k if lucky.
I have a $0.10 / rule mile for Maint and repair. (I.e. if i have to pour $1000 into vehicle and repairs I expect a minimum of 10,000 miles return for that expense.) In reality I am less than 1/4the that expense (I can easily get 40k for $1000 in repairs, often 100,000). I calculate my costs including the price of the car and insurance / maint).
The highly used and abused 'heavy' minivans never cease to amaze me, as they typically ride the circuit for 200k+ miles.
I bought a manual 2002 Honda Accord in 2011 ($3500) that had 130,000 miles. It now has about 156,000. I've had to change tires ($300) and brakes ($200) once. I count that as regular wear. And slightly more major are the Evap canister and catalytic converter which was $400 and $300 respectively. Those are known issues at that mileage. The timing belt and clutch already replaced by previous owner. Otherwise the car has been bulletproof. I started using Mobil one high mileage oil and the engine is super quiet and smooth. Other routine stuff I've done are replacing belts, plugs, lights, shift knob, air filter, cabin filter, etc routine cheap stuff. I love that this car. But love no car payment more.
GMs from the late 80s on up with the 3800 series engines, when properly maintained will go 200k or more.
You can add the 3300 hundred to that list. I've had excellent results with both in Buicks. I had a Buick Century with the 3300 and I literally beat the crap out of that car through my 20's, it had 200K on it when I sold it and ran great. I neve put anything into that car except the normal stuff. My mechanic mentioned a customer with LeSabre 3800 that had 450K on it. Certainly not normal as the rest of the car is usually crap by then...
Hello.
Thinking of buying a passenger car with 125000 miles or more. wondering what kind of vehicles are in this category and can still go for another 125000. I know Honda and Toyota come to mind, are there any others? This one will be 10 yrs old as well. Is it better to have an older car in years and lower miles or newer car but still 150,000 + miles? Has anyone had either a civic or corolla from 10 yrs ago? What was your experience? Looking for anything helpful and also any big expenses these older cars can have
Hondas (but beware of Rust)
Toyotas
Mazdas
Nissans
I've had plenty of Corollas from the 80's and 90's. You just have to make sure it's still in good condition and hasn't been wrecked and put back together wrong, that's all. Tercels too. Celicas from that era - by now they're "leak buckets."
In fact I don't think I'd even want anything too "new" because the newer ones are made so that you have to take them to Toyota for EVERYTHING and I mean so much as checking the battery or oil levels - I've seen the newer Mazda 2's and looked under the hood and most of it is hidden by this panel that, like, ONLY Mazda even has the tools to open up. Later for that. As a woman I find that auto mechanics are "highway robbery" and I'm not as "made of money" as more than one college degree "should" dictate. (Case in point: I had one place charge me over $700 for a distributor rotor - a $14.99 part).
If the transmission falls out of one of your "bullet proof" Toyota's or Honda's....every mechanic on the planet is going to say:
"What do you expect, the car has 130,000 miles on it".
Mikey
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
