High used mileage cars, what's your cutoff?

Used to never buy anything with over 99,999 on the odemeter.

Now that I buy newer vehicles, I don't buy anything with over 999,999 miles on the odometer.

(this creampuff had only 386,000 miles on it)

Bought my Silverado with just over 200k on the odo (surprisingly difficult to find a reg cab, long bed, 5.3L)

Purchased my Prius with just over 150k

Currently looking real hard at a miata with 110k

Cousin_Eddie said:

If I am putting my wife in it, 75k max miles and it will be a Honda or a Toyota. I am a mechanic and I can fix anything, I just don't like the stress of having to on my wife's car. Strictly scheduled maintenance is all I want to do to it. She makes plenty of money so whenever my gut tells me that anything significant is looming I tell her to hit the eject button and move on to the next one. Significant is defined as more than a wheel bearing, brakes, water pump or the like. 

 

I no longer have a wife - problem solved. . . . . . . . 

The reason I'm DDing a car with 140k miles on it, is because I no longer have a wife. . . . . . 

Problem's back!!

NGTD said:

I no longer have a wife - problem solved. . . . . . . . 

color me jealous !!! 
 

I DD a car with 206k miles 

mr2s2000elise said:

NGTD said:

I no longer have a wife - problem solved. . . . . . . . 

color me jealous !!! 
 

I DD a car with 206k miles 

 

DD is 318k lol. 

Serious note miles don't matter to me when buying a car. 

Professor_Brap said:

mr2s2000elise said:

NGTD said:

I no longer have a wife - problem solved. . . . . . . . 

color me jealous !!! 
 

I DD a car with 206k miles 

 

DD is 318k lol. 

 

Serious note miles don't matter to me when buying a car. 

Same here 

woman or cars. It's the condition 

I prefer to have my wife. Her career carries me and my whims. I just continue to work at the fire department because retirement is so close (607 days). And I like her a lot too. Plus, boobs...

Mileage isn't as important as condition to me. Typically I buy cars/trucks with mechanical issues but try to buy ones that look good cosmetically. I can turn a wrench but I've learned that I'm no paint and body guy. 

Some recent purchases

- 2004 Ram 3500 5.9 Cummins 263k miles $3000

- 2002 Chevy S10 ZR2 4.3 323k miles $800

- 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.7 145k miles $1200

- 2000 Isuzu Rodeo 3.2 145k miles $360

If it's a project car I don't care about mileage. I will avoid previous accidents and electrical gremlins

I tend to grAvitate towards low mileage cars but I also tend to shop things built in the 80s and it's easy to find grandma fresh ones well under 100k. Aside from my first car that was a 50 dollar Toyota I've only purchased one car with over 100k on it. 
 

my most recent purchase only has 29k miles on it, a giant stack of receipts but looks like it's got 400k on it. I figure the body will rust off the thing long before the engine dies 

dropstep said:

I tend to grAvitate towards low mileage cars but I also tend to shop things built in the 80s and it's easy to find grandma fresh ones well under 100k. Aside from my first car that was a 50 dollar Toyota I've only purchased one car with over 100k on it. 
 

my most recent purchase only has 29k miles on it, a giant stack of receipts but looks like it's got 400k on it. I figure the body will rust off the thing long before the engine dies 

My most recent purchase came with 31 pages of dealer service records 

car looks mint inside and out. Opposite of yours

looks like it has 10k. But has 200k+

Three pages in and I missed this thread somehow.

I figured out my philosophy on high mileage cars about 5 years ago. If I find a vehicle with nearly 200k miles that I want to buy, Either it has had the engine or transmission or both replaced already or has been meticulously maintained by at least the first owner that I should be able to get at least 3 years out of the thing at 10k miles a year so anything priced under $1000 is a good buy.

If I end up having to put a rebuilt transmission in a truck I bought for 800 bucks (for $1500 installed) and I sell that truck a year later for $1500 sans the spare tire that some crackhead stole, I consider that a win.

The way I have experienced it, Poorly maintained vehicles may get 100K miles on them and still run but may need MAJOR repairs after you buy them, poorly maintained 200K vehicles do not exist (generally) because its way cheaper to crush a vehicle than replace the engine or trans or do any other expensive repair that can result from neglect.

Used vehicles with under 30k miles , the engine oil can be suspect but pretty much anything else can be maintained by replacing the corresponding fluid after purchase. Between 30k and 200k get that ppi done to catch any problems before they become yours.

I have 2 cut-offs.

1995 or older because no OBD2 so a sniff test and a quick visual is all that is checked for emmissions.

RUST none is acceptable.....

bentwrench said:

1995 or older because no OBD2 so a sniff test and a quick visual is all that is checked for emmissions.

I'm rethinking my position on that right now. Looking at NA Miatas you can get pre and post OBD2. However, with the OBD1 car I have no guarantee it will pass whereas the OBD2 will pass as long as the CEL is off. I live near many emissions exempt areas, so I have to be careful with that sort of thing.

In reply to ValourUnbound :

My problem became finding places that could still do a sniff test. When I got rid of my miata I was down to 3 within an hour drive. 

Highest I've bought at was 238k miles on an 04 Honda Pilot. Sitting at 272K now. As long as it is in good enough condition and good enough price, mileage doesn't really matter to me. 

For my wife's car, I like to keep it under 200K and "newer" as in 10-15yrs old. My oldest vehicle is 31 and newest is 9. Average is 24.8 years.

Interestingly, I seem to have more issues on my lower mileage cars (100k or less) than on the higher mileage cars (200K+). 

No cut off but I have a slightly sour taste for high mileage from my first car. Granted a 175k mike E36 that got BEAT on probably isn't a good measuring stick but that car nickle and dimed me to death. 
100k and up doesn't scare me but lower is better. 
I focus on value and I think the sweet spot for me is around $8k and needs something smallish. You get a lot of car for that money and a small investment of knowledge and parts. 

I'm a condition guy. My Jeep was very well taken care of by previous owners and it's at 293. It's also been in the garage/mechanic for the past few weeks but I'm okay with that.

High mileage guy actually got back to me and it looks like I'll go see it Friday or Saturday.  The other two didn't work out.

One of my buddies, the guy I usually go to for impartial and sensible advice broke it down by mileage, condition, and cost and it came out as advantage high miler. He also gave me this justification.

It has that "it's cheap so I can do terrible things to it" appeal