Would you buy a car with 100 thousand miles or more?

[Angels_Unaware]

Our three 100,000+ mile vehicles are all General Motors cars. My DH (an ASE certified mechanic) has always insisted on General Motors, rather than Toyota, because the parts are cheaper than foreign parts, and he thought they were the most reliable American cars. Years ago, he used to also insist on it because repairs were easier, but with the changes in technology they are somewhat comparable now.

 

[TexCatholic4JMJ]

Neither myself or DH are mechanics, nor do we have the time or knowledge to learn how to fix our own vehicles. So No we wouldn’t

Can’t blame you. I have a car well over 100,000 miles (170, 000+) and my repairs to it
are minimal. I do have it serviced regularly (every 3 months), but worn out parts, etc. have
been reasonable and the car has been very dependable.
However, I have had a car that broke down constantly. It had about 50,000 miles on it
when I bought it. Checked out really well, but it was cosmetic, and once on the road,
it stopped (to check scenery?) and stranded me countless times. (And I could not
even contemplate replacing it, so I kept hoping this last repair would be the last repair!)
That car was replaced finally (kids got together to gift it to me) with a car that had
95000 miles! It had belonged to one of them and they knew how dependable a car it
was. It’s still going strong after I’ve put 75,000 miles on it.

 

[TexCatholic4JMJ]

Oh, yeah. My current car is a Camry

As an aside, you know that our old cars are now been threatened. They’ll even give us
$3000 to replace it with a golf cart.

 

[msugeotech]

Isn’t that great??? Now if I can just find a four wheel drive Smart Car with a class 4 towing hitch and 3rd row seating I’ll be set!

Nevermind the fact that we’d all be killed if I crashed into a hot dog stand…

Oh, yeah. My current car is a Camry

As an aside, you know that our old cars are now been threatened. They’ll even give us
$3000 to replace it with a golf cart.

 

[Neil_Anthony]

A friend and I were having a debate and I thought that I would see what yall thought.

Would you buy a car with 100 thousand miles or more?

My friend says “no because they are used up and are junk”

I feel like its an individual car thing (and I am in the automotive field). Yeah I have seen some cars with over 100 thousand on them break but I have seen cars with way less then that break. And I have seen cars (my Dads car lol) with over 200 thousand and still runs great. I think its more how you take care of and maintain the car. My car has 71thousand and I plan on driving it as long as I can. Even if it ends up at 300 thousand lol.

I would only buy it if I had the time and knowledge to do repairs on it myself.

 

[whatevergirl]

*Only if it were a Honda or Toyota, because they hold their value better than american brand names cars. And only if the car was going to be driven minimally, like if you are buying it for a teen to scoot to school or friends’ houses and back, etc. It wouldn’t be a car I’d trust driving long distances, or on the highway much. Just my opinion. *

 

[slyboots]

My Volvo (I have had several) weren’t worn out even by 200,000. They were still great cars.

 

[TexCatholic4JMJ]

*Only if it were a Honda or Toyota, because they hold their value better than american brand names cars. And only if the car was going to be driven minimally, like if you are buying it for a teen to scoot to school or friends’ houses and back, etc. It wouldn’t be a car I’d trust driving long distances, or on the highway much. Just my opinion. *

I used to think like this as well. But a lot of the miles I’ve put on the car has been it
driving from El Paso to Austin, over 1000 miles round trip. Its really comfortable as
well.

 

[Angels_Unaware]

I used to think like this as well. But a lot of the miles I’ve put on the car has been it
driving from El Paso to Austin, over 1000 miles round trip. Its really comfortable as
well.

You’re right. My DH has said he would take our oldest car, an 89 Pontiac, over the road without hesitation because he knows what kind of condition the car is in, inside and out.

 

[smallcat]

Absolutely, if the price were right! Shoot, if the car is selling for $500 and I can get it to last even 6 months without repairs, those six months are still cheaper than buying a new car, right? (caveat, as others have said: I would, of course, want to check out the history of the car.)

 

[withwind]

A Toyota Camry with 100,000 miles has a lot of dependable service left in it.

My Toyota camry 1997 has only 105K and I have kept it well. If I continue to do so, I could probably get 7 or more years.

Toyota is good car.

 

[CatholicSam]

“Would you buy a car with 100 thousand miles or more?”

I would have to go with the car with 100 thousand miles, not the car with more.

Seriously, I drive a '97 Buick Century with almost 180K miles. It runs very well and is a reliable car that has been properly maintained. We have “put it out to pasture” though, and I mainly just use it for quick trips around town, maybe 20 mile trips max, or as a backup commuter car for DH when his car is in the shop. For the longer trips we use DH’s car that is newer and has under 100K miles on it.

I would add that it depends on the previous owner–did they take care of the car? Getting a car with many miles on it from an elderly couple heading to the retirement home is probably going to be a good bet. That’s where our '97 came from!

 

[psr13]

*Only if it were a Honda or Toyota, because they hold their value better than american brand names cars. And only if the car was going to be driven minimally, like if you are buying it for a teen to scoot to school or friends’ houses and back, etc. It wouldn’t be a car I’d trust driving long distances, or on the highway much. Just my opinion. *

We drove the Camry that had over 250,000 miles on it from California to Kansas and back. That’s when the alternator blew, but it would have gone anyway. The Accord we have now that had about 170,000 miles on it at that point we drove from Illinois to California the long way. No issues whatsoever. We also put a lot of miles on it. The only things we have had to do mechanically were to switch the brakes and the ignition switch.

 

[purplesunshine]

I have a 2000 chevy malibu that I got with 95k. The first two weeks I had it I had an ABS problem and a flat tire. From that point on I haven’t had an major problems. That was a year and a half ago. It now is going to be 120k soon and runs wonderfully. A bit too much rust for my taste but getting 25mpg city and 28mpg highway so it keeps me happy.

I’d buy a VW with over 100k

 

[forever_always]

Honda’s last forever, but honestly, if I was putting money out for a car, I would rather spend a little extra to get a car with low miles so that it would last longer.

 

[manualman]

I voted NO, but not because I wouldn’t OWN a car with over 100k. I just wouldn’t BUY one (presuming that means what it usually does - getting it from a stranger). At that kind of mileage, further longevity is less about what brand it is and more about how well it was maintained in its first 100k.

A Honda that gets irregular oil changes for 100k and no other maintenance could be a nightmare while even a Hyundai might be reliable for 180k with excellent maintenance (05 and later ones, anyways…).

I’ve got an 03 Honda minivan with 130k right now and have previously owned an 1983 Oldsmobile Ciera and a 1995 Saturn SL that had similar mileage. The Olds had some issues, but it had 12 hard Wisconsin winters under it when I got a great job and bought the Saturn. No engine or tranny problems though. The Saturn only departed once I got a company car. Last I heard, it was still doing well at 150k. The Honda van is doing great and I’m not hesitant to hook our popup camper up and work it hard all day long.

But I’d never buy a used Honda with 100k on it from someone I didn’t know. Market value of those things is still around 1/3 of NEW value and for all you REALLY know when you buy from a stranger, the brake fluid could still be original, the ATF could still be original (or recently changed the first time for sales inspections!). Price a Honda tranny lately? How’s $3,000 sound for fun? Yikes! ABS brake controllers, calipers, power steering rack, torque converter… The list of neglect risk is very long and it can be very hard to tell on inspection.

My preference is to buy base models brand new and drive 'em for at least 150,000 miles. If they still seem reliable, I’ll keep going from there too. It’s hard to find used base models and I’d rather know it was treated well from the beginning than get some silly googaa feature like power seats or GPSnav.

 

[leonie]

We bought a 15 passenger van with 184,000 mi. My dh bought his work jeep for $850. It has almost 200,000 mi. He has been driving it for a year. His only repair was an alternator.

Our thought is drive it until it needs major repairs, junk it and buy another cheap work truck and drive it as long as it lasts.

 

[Rascalking]

*Only if it were a Honda or Toyota, because they hold their value better than american brand names cars. And only if the car was going to be driven minimally, like if you are buying it for a teen to scoot to school or friends’ houses and back, etc. It wouldn’t be a car I’d trust driving long distances, or on the highway much. Just my opinion. *

Maybe it’s just me and my luck with cars, but I had a Geo Metro for my high school/college car that finally died with it’s 4th owner, having gone through over 300,000 miles. I drove it for over 200,000…mostly silly college road trips…long distances though.