What Is Your Opinion On Mileage?
What Is Your Opinion On Mileage?
Here is my thing, as much as i love driving my rx7, i take care of it and do everything in my power to keep it in tip top shape. but as you know, you rack up those miles. so im thinking, is it bad to have high miles on a car you love? you can rebuild the engine and keep it in good shape and stuff but do miles matter on the ODO? tell me your thoughts on this. . . please i need help. my 7 has 160k on the odo. so if i rebuild my engine would the ODO matter? or as long as its clean.
confused. . .
confused. . .
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 6,096
Likes: 9
From: So Cal where the OC/LA/SB counties meet
In my opinion, aside from obvious effect on resale value, odometer mileage is just for show. Assuming cosmetics are in good shape, I'd much rather have a car with 100,000 more miles on the clock where the engine and tranny has a fresh professional rebuild and paperwork showing regular service work otherwise. This especially in comparison to a lower mileage car albeit with no service records.
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 3,785
Likes: 30
From: And the horse he rode in on...
This is just a car and it's made to drive. And it's an old car. The maintenance and condition is much more important than the mileage.
I bought my S5 vert with about 135,000 miles. Now it has 160,000. Is it worth less? I don't think so, but it really doesn't matter. Why? Because it is NOT FOR SALE! It's mine.
Drive it! Keep it in good repair and maintenance. Enjoy it!
I bought my S5 vert with about 135,000 miles. Now it has 160,000. Is it worth less? I don't think so, but it really doesn't matter. Why? Because it is NOT FOR SALE! It's mine.

Drive it! Keep it in good repair and maintenance. Enjoy it!
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 29,798
Likes: 128
From: London, Ontario, Canada
It's a car. It is designed to be driven and if you are afraid of putting miles on it, what is the point? Within a year my odometer will turn 300K and do you think I care?
Trending Topics
In my experience, a low mileage car generally means one of two things.
Either the owner decided from the git-go that he was going to keep it a trailer queen or the car has had so many problems that it couldn't be driven.
In the first case, this decision was made with an eye to getting top dollar when resold.
If he was smart, this owner maintained the car and didn't just let it sit under a cover.
Cars that just sit can have all sorts of problems with dessicated rubber bits- seals, hoses, etc.- that require a lot of replacing, even though it appears mint.
Assuming though that all is in order, be prepared...this seller places a premium on the car's low mileage, a premium perhaps not justified by the actual car where a higher mileage but comparable condition example routinely sells for much less.
In the second scenario, either lack of money, experience- or both- have lead to the car just sitting around being useless.
These are generally the cars that you read about where some smarter soul lucks into a steal because he knew the deflooding trick or something simple like that.
But that's a rarity, IMO.
Most times the car sat because it was seriously fucked up and not worth fixing.
Your opinion of the car's value may be different though, so it may be a sensible purchase to you.
I think that in the greater scheme of things, mileage is one of least important factors to consider.
As my car approaches 190k miles I still think it's in better condition than most of it's lower mileage brethren- I'd have no qualms about jumping in and putting a thousand miles on it today...that's what she's good at and was meant to do.
The whole idea that I'd be lessening it's value by actually using it strikes me as ludicrous.
Either the owner decided from the git-go that he was going to keep it a trailer queen or the car has had so many problems that it couldn't be driven.
In the first case, this decision was made with an eye to getting top dollar when resold.
If he was smart, this owner maintained the car and didn't just let it sit under a cover.
Cars that just sit can have all sorts of problems with dessicated rubber bits- seals, hoses, etc.- that require a lot of replacing, even though it appears mint.
Assuming though that all is in order, be prepared...this seller places a premium on the car's low mileage, a premium perhaps not justified by the actual car where a higher mileage but comparable condition example routinely sells for much less.
In the second scenario, either lack of money, experience- or both- have lead to the car just sitting around being useless.
These are generally the cars that you read about where some smarter soul lucks into a steal because he knew the deflooding trick or something simple like that.
But that's a rarity, IMO.
Most times the car sat because it was seriously fucked up and not worth fixing.
Your opinion of the car's value may be different though, so it may be a sensible purchase to you.
I think that in the greater scheme of things, mileage is one of least important factors to consider.
As my car approaches 190k miles I still think it's in better condition than most of it's lower mileage brethren- I'd have no qualms about jumping in and putting a thousand miles on it today...that's what she's good at and was meant to do.
The whole idea that I'd be lessening it's value by actually using it strikes me as ludicrous.
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 31,857
Likes: 3,243
From: https://www2.mazda.com/en/100th/
i got an FC for $2 a few years ago, and when i got the cluster back i rolled it to 777,777. the smog guy (it passed BTW) was like WOW thats a lot of miles! i was all
according to the dash on my GTUs, it has almost 300k miles lol.
Aside from the engine swap, everything on it drives like the car has 150k miles. Only main problem I have is a broken front diff mount.
Aside from the engine swap, everything on it drives like the car has 150k miles. Only main problem I have is a broken front diff mount.
I'm sitting at 65k all original miles on my '86. It was garaged all these years too. I'm the 3rd owner; it was originally bought as a weekend car; then the 2nd owner got sick and it sat in a garage for 5 years.
The cost of entry for my ultra low mile car? I had to replace the battery, all hoses, all belts, brakes, tires, water pump, 02 sensor, fuel filter, charge the A/C, etc. I may have been better off buying a clean 100+k mile car that had all that done already. But I can't complain about the fit & finish of this car.
The cost of entry for my ultra low mile car? I had to replace the battery, all hoses, all belts, brakes, tires, water pump, 02 sensor, fuel filter, charge the A/C, etc. I may have been better off buying a clean 100+k mile car that had all that done already. But I can't complain about the fit & finish of this car.
Meh, mileage doesn't matter. There's nothing on a car that cannot be replaced short of the chassis itself. So if the car doesn't have a lot of rust on it, who cares?
I read an article about some guy in Florida who owns a civic with 99x,000 miles on it and it still runs great.
I read an article about some guy in Florida who owns a civic with 99x,000 miles on it and it still runs great.
Meh, mileage doesn't matter. There's nothing on a car that cannot be replaced short of the chassis itself. So if the car doesn't have a lot of rust on it, who cares?
I read an article about some guy in Florida who owns a civic with 99x,000 miles on it and it still runs great.
I read an article about some guy in Florida who owns a civic with 99x,000 miles on it and it still runs great.
I'm sitting at 65k all original miles on my '86. It was garaged all these years too. I'm the 3rd owner; it was originally bought as a weekend car; then the 2nd owner got sick and it sat in a garage for 5 years.
The cost of entry for my ultra low mile car? I had to replace the battery, all hoses, all belts, brakes, tires, water pump, 02 sensor, fuel filter, charge the A/C, etc. I may have been better off buying a clean 100+k mile car that had all that done already. But I can't complain about the fit & finish of this car.
The cost of entry for my ultra low mile car? I had to replace the battery, all hoses, all belts, brakes, tires, water pump, 02 sensor, fuel filter, charge the A/C, etc. I may have been better off buying a clean 100+k mile car that had all that done already. But I can't complain about the fit & finish of this car.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post







