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What Is Your Opinion On Mileage?

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Old Sep 6, 2009 | 01:53 AM
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EFF[[Buhrrito]]CEE's Avatar
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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. . .
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Old Sep 6, 2009 | 02:18 AM
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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.
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Old Sep 6, 2009 | 08:26 AM
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If you love driving it, then drive it. If you love looking at it, then preserve it and put it on a pedestal in the middle of your living room.
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Old Sep 6, 2009 | 08:58 AM
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My buddy has a 400k car that looks like a 50k car.... drive it, love it, enjoy it!
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Old Sep 6, 2009 | 09:01 AM
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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!
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Old Sep 6, 2009 | 10:35 AM
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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?
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Old Sep 6, 2009 | 10:36 AM
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Originally Posted by EFF[[Buhrrito]]CEE
so when i rebuild my engine would the ODO matter? or as long as its clean.

confused. . .
fixed

And no as far as I'm concerned.
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Old Sep 6, 2009 | 11:58 AM
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WoW! reading all those posts, it has really opened up my mind. thank you all for turing my views around. i will keep my 7 in top shape. i thank everyone with my deepest regards.
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Old Sep 6, 2009 | 12:23 PM
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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.
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Old Sep 6, 2009 | 12:36 PM
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It's just an FC! drive it and enjoy it.
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Old Sep 6, 2009 | 12:55 PM
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From: https://www2.mazda.com/en/100th/
Originally Posted by Aaron Cake
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?
you're at the other side of the coin when you can point to the odometer and go look its a big number, people will be impressed.

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
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Old Sep 6, 2009 | 01:07 PM
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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.
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Old Sep 7, 2009 | 01:57 AM
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When it come to rx7's the ODO usually only has to do with the chassis....considering its probably not the original motor. haha
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Old Sep 7, 2009 | 07:07 AM
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drive the crap out of it man, im aiming for 500k club


im only at 116k though hah
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Old Sep 8, 2009 | 03:42 AM
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im sitting at 180k original motor base se 87 =)
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Old Sep 8, 2009 | 09:15 AM
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Originally Posted by VAbeachFC
im sitting at 180k original motor base se 87 =)
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.
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Old Sep 8, 2009 | 11:37 AM
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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.
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Old Sep 8, 2009 | 12:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Omixeo
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.
God I wish Mazda's rotaries were 1/3 as reliable as Hondas or Toyotas!
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Old Sep 8, 2009 | 06:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Shield
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.
thats cool
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