High Mileage Cars?

[iCraig]

Hello,

Just wondering what people think of high mileage cars these days? Are the days gone where 130k+ doesn't matter anymore?

The reason I ask is there is 2 diesel cars I've seen, one had 140k and the other 180k. Both have comprehensive service histories and drive fairly well, infact the 140k drives much better than a 90k car I test drove the other day.
They are both French cars and very cheap. Would you consider them if you were doing alot of miles and needed a cheap diesel?

Cheers
Craig

[NSR Mick]

Wouldnt buy a french car under any circumstances but that's another discussion.

My Beemer had 150000 on it when I bought it and it drives as well as my 100000 mile Passat and my 40000 mile Bora did.

With a French car at 100000+ the engine would be the least of your worries I would suspect.
____________________
If you dont like the way that I ride.......Stop trying to keep up!!!

[The View Askew]

Service history high milers are relatively ok, with diesel its a must engine oil was changed when required, motorway miles are better but you can't tell, check to see if parts that normally expire before this point have been replaced recently eg shocks/discs/belts/pads/wishbones/bushes/clutch ect.

Check the tyre tread, move steering from lock to lock, see if there is noise or play, make sure you drive it, test abs if it has it, as we have been through in great detail with siggi, it is bad news.

Check for electrical faults such as ecu errors or ecu light.

General interior condition is also a good tell tale, as is number of owners, see if mileage throughout history adds up.

It's always a gamble with a car THAT high though, I'd look for maybe 100k on a diesel, a 180k car will lose its big end bearings before long/cv joints/driveshafts all worn.
____________________
"Do what you always did, get what you always got"

[The View Askew]

Sorry just seen the word french, I am now assuming these are mechanically injected D Turbo Peuguot/Citroen models, not the HDI equivalent.

They are Isuzu engines and are reliable, and can be played with by shortening the wastegate arm on the turbo (gotta stick a gauge on it) and upping the fuel a the pump, and depending on whether having a lucas or bosch fuel pump can run on veggie oil and a bit of diesel.

I had mine on 114k-130 and it didnt let me down, but the chassis and everything attached to it was groaning, and the BIGGEST factor with these cars is, a citroen zxara IS a 306, and vice versa, a 405 estate is an exception to this problem - The cables from chassis into the doors, are silly taught when closed, and will crack up, fray, and snap, leaving you with no leccy windows.

If it's a D Turbo, the engines are good, the rest, is very very rickety in my experience.

Edit: my 306 also had a FREAKISHLY abysmal turning circle.

Edit: there is also the issue of there being NO space in the engine bay, and if you need so much as an alternator belt, the engine needs to come off the mounts, and labour on changing belts ect will be higher.
____________________
"Do what you always did, get what you always got"

[iCraig]

One is a 2.0 HDi Xsara, thats the one that has 180k on it. And the other is a Laguna II 1.9dCI Expression with 140k on it.

Its the latter I am considering the most, and I've had a good check over it and can't find much if at all anything wrong with it. Its only £1100 on a 52 plate too.

[Nb]

Steer well clear, and dont EVER buy a renault laguna 2. Especially the laguna 2 with a dci engine.
____________________
Cbr1100xx blackbird gone, mk4 golf gt tdi chav now
Colin1 wrote 'Im grateful for what i can get, which isnt all that much.'
Columbus travel insurance are crap!! Do not use!

[MarJay]

I would reccomend against anything over 100k that isn't German.

That renault, if the engine hasn't gone pop (which they are reputed to on the Laguna 2 diesels) then the shocks, bushes, bearings and linkages will all be shagged by now.

Personally I'd either pay more and get a car that has done around 50k, or go older and get a car that has done about 50k. Or go German.
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[The View Askew]

[thegubner]

I actually used to work with a lad who when asked about a cars high mileage would reply "well yeah that means its a good runner, its had loads of practice"




He also said I would earn loads of money as a car salesman the lying twat.

[Robby]

I wouldn't go so far as to say go German. I'd say go German, Japanese, or Italian.
And don't go audi, the double wishbone jobbies (all of them?) wear their bushes out around 150k, and last I heard you can't just buy the bushes, so its most of a new suspension assembly. My brother was stung for £700 for one corner on a 98ish A4.

[The View Askew]

[NiteMare]

i've ran citroen bx diesel estates for the last 14-15 years, two naturally aspirated 1.9 and this present one is the 1.7/1.8 turbo (xud engines) ...

my first had 185k miles on the clock when it finally got scrapped, engine was rattly when cold but fine once warm, it had lost the synchro on second both cv's were clattering and generally the car was on it's last legs but the engine was still pulling strong...

the second had 220k miles on the clock when i finally sold it with 10 months mot and tax (was sold on the basis it still had those and was just a runaround for the duration), it had a sweet engine apart from rattling until warm, bodywork was pretty beat up, tatty interior and intermittent hydraulics failure...

my present one has 185k miles on the clock, engine smokes like buggery when first started but clears pretty quickly, again scruffy bodywork and the engine is starting to show signs of being tired (leaks/burns a little oil) but i've thrashed it for the last 60k miles with minimal maintenance and still load it up to the gunnells and/or drag my 6x4 trailer with it, stuck 99% of a GL1100 inside it then hooked up my bike trailer with another GL1100 on it then dragged the lot up to Doncaster from Birmingham at a steady 60-70mph and still got 45-50mpg , bought the car 5 years ago for 325quid and probably spent no more than 150 on it in essential repairs (i fix things) the nearside windows don't open any more, the central locking is playing up and the car is generally used as a dustbin (unwashed, unloved)...

i'll be keeping it a while longer yet unless i spot a Xantia diesel estate i fancy or a 405/406 estate, i really like the peugeot XUD engine and wish they still made them rather than the fly by wire Hdi stuff, simple and almost bulletproof
____________________
it ain't broke...

i ain't fixed it enough

[MarJay]

[trevoriv]

My dad's K reg 2 litre petrol Mondeo GLX estate has been round the clock twice and that's with spending the last 6 years of it's life with half a ton of machinery in the back.

Granted it did once fail it's MOT on 8 counts and was deemed dangerous but a few hundred quid every few years gets it through it's MOT, in fact it just passed it's last once recently without a hitch and it's not even been cleaned or anything for a few years.
____________________
Past: '96 Thundercat, '02 ZX636R (A1P), '58 KTM 690 SM LC4 Current: '06 ZX636R (C6F)
Mudskipper wrote: Someone just has to sig that...

[Kickstart]

[Robby]

I sold my MR2 with about 100,000 on the clock and it was behaving fairly well, apart from the rust. It was 20 years old, so rust is allowed.

Your MX3 was shit and you know it, and scoobys are often on ebay with over 100k. The problem is that jap parts prices are generally higher, and when a car hits 100k it becomes worthless, so a difficult clutch change and some knackered shocks will write off a car.

Comparing like with like, I would expect a 150k diesel corrolla to be as good as a 150k diesel golf.

Now the VW fan boys will come in to suck some VW cock in defence, then go back outside and stretch their tyres some more.

[D O G]

[veeeffarr]

Funny you mention lagunas, was just reading this on PH lol:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=636551&nmt=Why%20do%20new%20shape%20laguna%27s%20sell%20so%20cheap?

[Phoenix]

Wouldn't touch a French car with that kind of mileage on, no way the engine will last and would be suprised if it's still running the original engine or at least one that hasn't been rebuilt in some way, the chassis won't last either.

I bought my current BMW on 168,000 miles without hesitating, on 178 now with no problems and am confident it'll get to 250 without anything major, you need to test drive a high mileage car to make sure the engine still feels tight and to make sure the cars not falling to bits though. German, Swedish or Japenese will all go for 250K easily if serviced properly, an unserviced car won't obviously, but will still probably last longer than a fully serviced French/Ford/GM. I'd trust a Hyundai to last longer than a french car.

As for Alfa 156s, a guy at work bought one not long ago and the engine broke permanently a week later, oil pump failed, he said it's a known problem apparently, his was only about 70,000 I think, his was the petrol not a Diesel.

[thegubner]

I know people keep saying don't go French but I bought a Peugeot 406 diesel with a quarter of a million miles on the clocks.

It had no problems at all, I even managed to sell it for a tenner more than I bought it.

A guy bought it for his Dad, the tax and MOT were running out when I sold it to him but he e-mailed me telling me it flew through its next ticket.


I know the French don't have a great reputation for cars but diesel 406's are belting motors. I have no doubt in my mind that with a service every year that car will make half a million miles.

My uncle had a 406 with over 300,000 on the clock, the clocks reset and go back to zero (on the earlier models at least) at 300,000.

That was a couple of years ago, its still driving about now.


Don't ignore all French cars.

[mooserx]

[Bendy]

[Cigaro]

I've known people with 504Ds to get 300,000 miles + from them.

As said, not all french stuff is crap.

[jayvfr]

[Kickstart]