High mileage or low mileage fo specialty cars (like Jags, Range Rovers, BMWs, Mercedes, Audi) (vehicles, joint)
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And saying "man, I don't think I could own a 100k mile Jaguar."
I have a theory, after owning a number of vehicles that conventinal wisdom says are trouble prone (from Jags and BMWs to Range Rovers)... high mileage is better than low mileage.
Why?
High mileage versions obviously spent more time on the road than in the shop, or if they were in the shop, they got the common trouble areas fixed by the time they reached that high mileage. And generally a high mileage car in good condition wont' have much in teh way of deferred maintenance, otherwse it would have broken already.
Low mileage cars either spent more time in the shop than on the raod, OR they still have all their trouble areas ahead of them.
Judging from what I've seen in my own fleet (over 130 cars in 38 years) and in that of fellow owners, it seems that 100-120k miles is the sweet spot. Most of the big ticket items will have been changed by then, and you'll get 40-60k more relatively trouble free miles out of them with just normal maintenance and maybe a couple small repairs before something major needs to be dealt with. For example, in the BMW 7 series I had, the cooling system and suspension tended to be done before 100k miles, and then the timing chains needed to be done by 150-160k miles. That's a 5-6 year driving window of just small things if anything.
As you can see by this shot of my driveway when I bought the BMW, I tend to drive things that people are scared of, but all of them in that picture were reliable AND had high mileage (the Fiat had 120k, as did the Range Rover, and the BMW was at 143k in that shot). 50k miles alter on that BMW, with only minor repairs and normal maintenance and this was my driveway:
the Range Rover in that shot had 100k miles.
The Jags in my links above are cars I'm actually looking at, and they should have most of their problem areas already dealt with (though I'd say there's about 50k miles to a timing chain repair on both of them, and I'd want to do the high pressure convertible top hose reliability kit as soon as I got one).
What say CD? What's your "sweet spot" when looking at used specialty cars?
It all depends on the car and model. I see the 740 but I bet you would not touch the early 745 would you?
I woudn't touch the E65 745i, but that's because I find them ugly. But the facelift version, especially in Sport form, looks much better and I have looked at them before as the prices have dropped on higher mileage ones to under $15k:
The first autotrader car you posted has been for sale for a long time, it has 2,500 views and hasn't sold! I'd wonder about that. You should get it for less with those stats alone, if you chose to buy it.
I have been toying with the idea of getting a BMW E39 in a 5spd but I guess due to the age of the car, the ones I have come across are close to 200k. I was thinking in the low 100k would be ideal. What mileage would you guys be comfortable at for this particular car?
The first autotrader car you posted has been for sale for a long time, it has 2,500 views and hasn't sold! I'd wonder about that. You should get it for less with those stats alone, if you chose to buy it.
The reason I dont' wonder about it is most peopel think they are pretty but woudn touch one with a 10 ft pole due to internet reputation. Which I don't buy into. But yeah, the prices are always negotiable. I'd say I could get either one for under $10k, which is a screaming deal.
100k or so. For some reason people tend to think cars are gonna melt away at 100001 miles. I can do a lot of my own work but I just don't care for high priced maintenance. A friend has a c320 and he needs some cam sensors and I think timing chain. $4500 is what it's gonna cost. On a 8-9 year old car that's maybe worth 7k on a good day. And now he doesn't have the money he used to.
The depreciation on many of these cars is massive. So the price probably doesn't change all that much based on a few miles here and there.
I owned a Jaguar to 127,000 miles. It wasn't a nightmare - I liked it a lot. But I was apparently lucky to not experience a problem with the timing chain tensioners. Two thermostats failed in the first 50K miles. One unusual repair was the shift linkage (J shifter) had to be replaced. Not cheap. The power window on the driver's side broke. Not cheap.
I don't think there is a single answer that works for this thread. I think it depends most of all on each car and its previous owners. My friends that had older BMW 3-series all had increasing problem rates as their cars approached 100K. And the problems were similar - transmission, front ball joints, power windows. Just like the 7 series a while ago had problems with the cooling system I think you need to understand where the risks are for each car.
100-120k seems to be the sweet spot for a lot of those cars. BMWs in the past 10-15 years seem to have cooling system issues that appear between 75k-100k miles. Land Rover LR3s likely had their air ride issues resolved by that mileage. Ultimately it comes down to the individual cars and their care, but I would much rather have a well cared for car with 130k on it than one with 40k that was neglected.
I currently have a 2004 BMW 330i with 120k, it's almost showroom quality. No leaks, no issues, and only one tiny little door ding. The previous owner babied this thing and took care of any and all mechanical issues and preventative maintenance. I just sold a 91 BMW 318is with 270k on it that was in excellent mechanical shape. Also just sold a 96 Land Rover Discovery with 110k that was an excellent machine as well.
I don't think there is a single answer that works for this thread. I think it depends most of all on each car and its previous owners. My friends that had older BMW 3-series all had increasing problem rates as their cars approached 100K. And the problems were similar - transmission, front ball joints, power windows. Just like the 7 series a while ago had problems with the cooling system I think you need to understand where the risks are for each car.
I agree. What my theory says is that if you are looking at a car that has about 100-120k miles, in order to get to those miles, most o fthe problem areas will have been adressed. An example, like you posted, is the 7 series cooling systems. The plastic of the radiator side tanks and expansion tank gets brittle and cracks with age. They tend to last about 70-80k miles. so if you're looking at one that is in good shape at 100k miles, you can assume that it has already been done and will have another 50k miles before needing it again. When I bought mine at 143k miles, it was about time for the second round of that repair to happen, so I changed them out on principle, as the car was bought from a wholesaler with no records. they were fine for the entire time I had it after that (5 years, to 185k miles).
This is basically a way of having an educated assumption about a specailty car that you are looking at based on miles and perceived condition even if you don't have records to look at. At lower miles, the car wasn't driven much and even well treated, could be a ticking time bomb. And that at higher miles for the same year, will have brobably been well taken care of to be reliable enough to BE a regular driver.
So say those 3 series cars that your friends had were being worked on on those problem areas as they happened, by 120k miles, all of the would have been repaired at least once and been good for another 50-60k miles before needing the same attention again.
Now, the theory is for specialty cars, not things like Camrys and Accords though the same thought process applies at different miles and for different components.
Last edited by Merc63; 02-26-2015 at 09:36 AM..
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You should get it for less with those stats alone, if you chose to buy it.
