High used mileage cars, what's your cutoff?

I've been car shopping (when am I not car shopping?) the last few months. I've looked at a lot of cars but haven't found anything that is, to me, the right value. What I have not looked at is late model high mileage cars. Commuters, I assume, these are cars that are 5 or a little more years old that have seen 20-30k/year but appear to otherwise be in excellent, well maintained condition.

I would not previously consider buying a car with 100k on it, though my truck has more than that mileage and I have no concerns about driving it for another 5 plus years. I know that doesn't make sense, so I'm asking, if you're looking at used cars, what is your cut off in terms of mileage, and what is the sweet spot between age, mileage and price?

I know it will vary between makes, and my assumption is that most cars are fairly good these days

My last 3 vehicles all had over 200k on them when I bought them. Looks like my next one will be pushing that too.

But I live in Pennsylvania, rust and inspection stickers are far more important than mileage.

My last two purchases:

Tacoma 256K miles

Integra GSR 201K miles. 

When I was young and rich, my cut off was 100K. Now that I am old and poor, my cut of is 300K.   I used to dream of owning Diablos and F355s, these days I dream of Honda fits and Yaris. Lesson in life: buy condoms.

If a car has higher mileage but ISN'T cheaper, I'm miffed. I for one may recognize that it's not actually worth much less than a lower mileage car in otherwise equal condition, but i'm counting on a majority of people believing it is so i can get better deals. 

It's so easy for an owner to put more 'hidden damage' on a car in <100k than a good owner will put on with >200k of excellent care. The mileage almost doesn't matter to me. I judge on the condition i can reasonably assess and recognize that a lot of the rest is a total crapshoot. Are a bunch of records nice? Sure, but i'm not willing to pay extra for them because they aren't a guarantee, just.. nice. So basically, a high mileage car with a bunch of records at a depressed price is pretty much my sweet spot. 

Drove a Porsche with 161k to work today. Not high mileage, but a lot of people would be nervous already. It's given me some minor issues but nothing that i consider out of line with its age/mileage. It's a Cayenne, and Cayennes are cheap mostly because people are scared of them. I'm happy with the value quotient. If people weren't scared of them then they'd be more expensive and it'd be a worse value. I basically depend on other people's automotive paranoia to be able to buy any functional car at what i consider a good price. 

Thanks. I also live where rust is a reality, though not until cars get a little older than I'm looking.

Here's a hypothetical scenario, miles and US$ used.

Car 1 is $3400 and 86k

Car 2 is $1800 and 180k

Cars are otherwise identical. It would be a light project and commuter, 15-20k/year, and I would probably keep the car less than 5 years as I normally do. I'm intrigued by the cheap buy in on the higher miler, but the idea of buying a car with that kind of mileage is scary to me. The cars I'm looking at all have lot's of high mileage examples out there, so I'm encouraged by that

EDIT: Probably not the best example because even the more expensive one is still cheap, but I'm also looking at cars in the $10k range, with low and high milers too. Car 2 does come with $1000 worth of aftermarket 18's and snows on factory 17's

In reply to Mr. Peabody :

In that scenario I'd buy the lower mileage/pricier vehicle because the price delta isn't a deterrent to me and the 94K miles are enough to last me 12-15 years.

Mr. Peabody said:

Thanks. I also live where rust is a reality, though not until cars get a little older than I'm looking.

Here's a hypothetical scenario, miles and US$ used.

Car 1 is $3400 and 86k

Car 2 is $1800 and 180k

Cars are otherwise identical. It would be a light project and commuter, 15-20k/year, and I would probably keep the car less than 5 years as I normally do. I'm intrigued by the cheap buy in on the higher miler, but the idea of buying a car with that kind of mileage is scary to me. The cars I'm looking at all have lot's of high mileage examples out there, so I'm encouraged by that

Yeah, I'm not big on high-mileage cars either. 

Since this isn't much money, I'd go for the lower mileage car personally.

Depends how old. At a certain point miles don't matter, it's all about the condition.

My uncle had a ranger he bought new that he drive every day for years, but it had only 11k miles on it.....because all he did was sit in traffic for hours a day. He never changed the oil, because " it didn't have enough miles" or did any maintenance on it. He had it like 4 years and sold it. It was overheating from sitting in hot California traffic for hours on end with the a/c blasting( which was aftermarket and done poorly).

Would you rather have that or a car that has 80k and was taken care of?

I bought my 99 Land Cruiser with 420k miles on it for $6k. But it was dealer serviced the entire time.

a big factor for me is where/how its kept.  i've had lots of experience seeing what harsh sun does to paint/weatherstripping/fabric or leather degredation.  or mold, or bugs, depending on where it sits and how long it sits.  i don't like the idea of engine/trans seals getting dry either.

driven infrequently and kept outside: maybe 75k, and depends on region.

driven often, kept garaged: maybe 150k+ or more?  i've seen some high miles cars that almost look factory with great looking rubber, fresh interiors, good clearcoat, etc.

Antihero said:

It was overheating from sitting in hot California traffic for hours on end with the a/c blasting( which was aftermarket and done poorly).

and to your point - highway miles are super easy on a car.  just sitting there, very little load, lots of cooling air and good fluid circulation.  i'd much rather take that with high miles than one that had half the miles but sat cooking in traffic or constantly going up and down the gears.

also depends on the car. I wouldn't worry about a 150k mile accent. But I wouldn't buy a 150k mile cobalt.

350k my limit.  bought a rav4 with that many miles, and didn't fix it, just used its wheels and tires for the other one I bought with 280k that now has 310k.

My pattern is to buy at about 60-80 thousand miles, and approx 5 years old, maintain them diligently, and drive them for a decade.

My current 2004 daily was bought in 2009 with 60k, now at 155k. I keep the miles down by alternating the commute duty with my 88 Silverado. I'm only going to replace it if it has major problems, or if the original owner, unmodified WRX wagon I've been stalking for 3 years finally comes up for sale.

My wife assumes anything about 100k is a waste of money and a ticking time bomb.

So I bought my BMW at 150k and so far, at nearly 185k, it's still going no matter how hard I try to break it.

I'm in need of a new daily to turn the BMW in to a project and this time I'll likely limit myself to 90k-130k most likely. Lets me buy something pretty new and stay under $10k.

I'd buy one with a million miles if I could. It's like going for the high score in the arcade, except someone else has already done most of it. 

150k is about my cutoff point. I've never owned a vehicle with less than 110k miles on it though.

Helped teenager HS daughter get a used car.  

As new as possible

As cheap as possible.  

As clean as possible

As reliable as possible

As rust free as possible 

2009 Civic, 209,000 miles - super clean, lots of highway for work, anal accounting manager who worked for Walgreens Corporate.   Base LX with leather?  The dude had the seat covers changed and the original cloth mint ones are in my garage. 
 

I have no problem with this.  
 

For me, it's a more nuanced question and more to do with the relationship between condition, miles, price, and age.  I'd be wary of a 3 year old car with 300k on it way more than a 20 year old car with the same. In a similar vein, I'd take a high mileage Montana or Wyoming car over one from, say, the northeast or L.A. That's my two-cents, for whatever it's worth. 

bobzilla said:

also depends on the car. I wouldn't worry about a 150k mile accent. But I wouldn't buy a 150k mile cobalt.

Funny you should say that. I was just thinking about this over lunch and how unimportant mileage is becoming because cars are just so good these days.

I sold my Wife's Cobalt at 144 (240 km) because it was 11 years old, starting to rust and I didn't want it to become a problem. I would not have hesitated to drive that car anywhere.

That was 3 years ago and we still see it on the road.

mr2s2000elise said:

My last two purchases:

 

Tacoma 256K miles

Integra GSR 201K miles. 

 

When I was young and rich, my cut off was 100K. Now that I am old and poor, my cut of is 300K.   I used to dream of owning Diablos and F355s, these days I dream of Honda fits and Yaris. Lesson in life: buy condoms.

This hurts because it's so true. 

Look at the condition of the car.  I would much rather have a 300k mile car that looked and felt well taken care of than a car with 80k that was neglected.  Dirty/shredded interiors are generally a good tipoff that the PO was the kind of person who didn't care as long as it still moved under its own power.

I have never been able to afford to be choosy with regards to mileage, but with one exception, reliability was inversely proportional to mileage.

Ill always buy higher mileage if the the seller can show its cared for.  I could care less about mileage as long as I see maintenance is being mostly taken care of

Totally depends on the car, but mileage is the biggest indicator of how much it's been used.  Period. (unless it's an emergency/construction vehicle, then hours are considered as well)

W210 diesel I bought with 114k, and that was pushing my limit
73 AMC Hornet I bought with 7.4k (not a typo)
73 Impala S/W I bought with 58k
94 Mazda I bought with 88k

100k is my pretty hard cutoff unless it's something that is particularly desirable OR has a proven track record of going a long time.  I don't really care how old it is, but it has to be low miles.  I will straight up PASS on anything with higher miles.  That's just more time for potentially deferred maintenance, cheap fluids, and abuse.  Also, when I go to check out a private sale used car, I make the seller start the test drive.  I can always tell how they drive and it's an indication of how it was treated.  Even if they're pretending to be a good, calm driver just to trick me into thinking it was babied, that means they are likely an adaptable and aware driver.  A bad driver is always a bad driver.

Obvious caveats... I bought a 62 Caddy SDV with 564k on it because I wanted it and didn't care.  I bought the 67 LeMans from Duke with 240k+ because it was my dream car and I knew it would undergo a complete drivetrain swap and resto-mod.  (strangely though, it has been one of my more reliable vehicles)

But if I'm buying a vehicle that will be a DD... 100k or I'll likely pass.

I'd buy one with a million miles if I could. It's like going for the high score in the arcade, except someone else has already done most of it. 

Yes!! At times I've been a little miffed that I seem stuck around the ~350k mark. I've owned a few in that region but never anything in the 4s yet.  

Mr. Peabody said:

I would not previously consider buying a car with 100k on it, though my truck has more than that mileage and I have no concerns about driving it for another 5 plus years. I know that doesn't make sense, 

It makes total sense to me.  If I buy a low-mileage car, I'm maximizing my chances that it isn't wasted or on its last legs.  Then if I drive it for another 100k, it has established a pattern of being able to trust it.  I know the car.  If I'm buying someone else's used pile, I have no idea how they treated it.

I would rather go older in years to get to my price point than higher in miles.... except in cases where the older model presents a real shortcoming.  For instance, as I'm casually (still) shopping for an XJR, I don't want to go older than the Ford years or far enough back to get the Nikasil cylinder liners.  In the case of my truck, I got a 94 Mazda B4000 with 88k because it's a Ford Ranger that only had cosmetic changes for 20 years.  Don't like the seats and steering wheel?  Junkyard for a 2009 Explorer trip.  In that case, the only real benefit to getting newer with high miles would have been maybe a little more power.  Instead I went older and found a rust-free FL gem for the same price as a newer one with twice the mileage.