Optimal used car mileage

[JeroenSandstorm]

Looking to buy a 2010/11 Mercedes E350 Cgi, wondering what the optimal mileage would be?
Looking at examples with 30-80k miles on the clock but wondering whether one on the higher end of that scale would have had all the little fixes done already, or whether the lower mileage is a safer bet... Any ideas?

 

[Fastcar155]

Looking to buy a 2010/11 Mercedes E350 Cgi, wondering what the optimal mileage would be?
Looking at examples with 30-80k miles on the clock but wondering whether one on the higher end of that scale would have had all the little fixes done already, or whether the lower mileage is a safer bet... Any ideas?

Hi , you really need to look at the service history of the car.

You are then in a position to evulate the car.

If you have the registration of the car check advisories on MOT.

I tend to look at tyres and would expect to see premium brand fitted.

I always check the car on Equifax regarding write off / out standing finance / write off etc ( I don't trust anyone with large sums of money involved)

Cost me £20.00 for 5 car check.

 

[pillow]

Mileage is no basis of the condition of the car.
Low mileage cars could be short journey city miles, whereas high mileage cars can be high motorway miles.

I know which I would prefer. Always buy on condition, service history, receipts and of course by asking the right questions.

 

[W1ghty]

A nice low mileage example might have done 1 mile to work and the same again later in the day . It may never in its life reached operating temperature

 

[JeroenSandstorm]

A nice low mileage example might have done 1 mile to work and the same again later in the day . It may never in its life reached operating temperature

I see so the consensus seems to be higher mileage is probably a safer bet then, saves a couple of grand as well

 

[baxlin]

I know it’s diesels, but my Rover 75 was bought at 87kmiles/3yrs old, , eventually sold at 280k miles/18yrs old, no major bills other than expected, and

my Volvo, bought at 28kmiles/6 yrs old was nothing but trouble, injectors, egr valve, turbo, dpf etc

so for diesel at least, I’d go for one that’s ‘run in’ (but not necessarily ‘run out’...

 

[tonysmb]

I see so the consensus seems to be higher mileage is probably a safer bet then, saves a couple of grand as well

Not necessarily. Your question is not unlike 'How long is a piece of string'? and the answer is that you don't know simply because there isn't enough information to reach a conclusion. Some relatively low-mileage cars are used for longer distance work, just not every day. Some low mileage cars are rarely serviced, some are 'over serviced' (if that's even possible), ie more frequently than the manufacturer's recommentdation.

It will depend entirely on how well the (any) car has been looked after, how it's been driven, where it's been driven, whether driver(s) has any mechanical sympathy, any replacement parts etc etc.. Therefore, you need to be guided by the condition and history but accept that even a well-maintained older car can still have items fail (as can brand new ones).

 

[davymead]

Difficult question to be honest. History of the car for me both service wise and bills if available, along with how many owners, general condition, with a close look at tyres, premium brand as said can show a caring owner. Personally I prefer vehicles with big specs, the more extras the better for me. Mileage is a personal thing, but clearly too many or certainly not enough miles would make me pass by. Obviously a two seater will normally be lower in miles than an exec saloon, so average mileage is difficult to gauge. Take a knowledgeable person with you for support if possible.

 

[roviw1]

About 24 years ago I was looking at changing a Jaguar for a newer model, back then I used to generally buy a car at 3 or 4 years old and change my car every three years. I used to use my local main Jaguar dealer and they always helped me with maintenance and repairs so I got to know them well, they would also help me out with telling me how to do certain jobs myself, this was when you could more or less wander into the workshop to chat to the technicians haha.
Anyway I did also get to know the main sales manager, he eventually became a good friend as well.
at the time I had been looking at spending around £12k to £13k and was looking at the late XJ40 model to replace my 1990 model.
He mentioned he had a local lease car coming in in a couple of weeks that they had supplied from new to a local PLC for their chairman's chauffeur car, it was the X300 model and just one owner and exactly 3 years old.
I said it would be way out of my price range, he told me the car was virtually perfect but had covered 130000 miles in the three years !
I was shocked but asked his view on buying the high mile newer model or a "normal" mile old model.
He absolutely said go for the newer model as the high miles would have been up and down the motorways , together with the fact it was full history etc.
Bottom line was he did the car at just £13k as a trade sale even though it had gone through the workshop when he collected it , he actually took me up to the company to see the car before they collected it prior to supply two new Jaguars.
At the time they had a same age and same colour blue one in the showroom with just 30k miles and its showroom price was £29000.
A huge saving for me and got me in a great car.
Since then mileage has never worried me and I have always gone on history and condition.
Best of luck with your search.
( I still have Jaguars together with Mercs to this day )

 

[hy-cupcakes]

Gauge the seller is the best way to see if the car has been taken care of

 

[Peterds]

Condition of car and FSH trump miles on clock

 

[markjay]

Here's a slightly different take on second-hand cars' mileage:

If your annual mileage isn't high, work-out what the 'average' mileage would be for a car that age.

Then work-out how many miles you are likely to add to it before selling it.

This way, you can buy a high-miler now at below-average price, then sell it in (say) 4 years time with 'average' mileage on the clock and for average price.

 

[BenA]

Buy the seller, not the car! Buying off a enthusiast forum, like, erm this one, from someone who cares about their car and can detail everything they have done, and why, is worth huge amounts, even if you have to wait to find the car you want. If you go through Autotrader etc, private sellers are a good sign imho, just try and get into the seller's mindset - how long have they had it, how much do they care, why are they trying to sell. A keen owner will always tell you more than you want to know about the car they are selling - if they know very little, then look at the paperwork. As said before, low mileage isn't the be all and end all - clocking is rife at the moment - Driver's seat wear on some 60k cars I have looked a recently was mad.

 

[davymead]

If average mileage is important to you, check a like for like vehicle on Autotrader, as they show what is the average mileage for that car.

 

[Tuercas viejas]

Consulting motoring bodies in the UK and its 7500 per annum .
Ask the US and its 10,000.
A few years ago it was 10,000 in the UK, and 12000 in the US .
Now with trained eyes, and the help of a good independent shop with brand /model service knowledge doing a 28 to 40 point inspection, A pre purchase look over, adds form to peace of mind purchasing & you can find the choicest models on your short list .
Tuercas viejas
.

 

[dismark]

I bought my 2014 mercedes e350 wagon in 2017 with almost 80k on it. Someone would consider it too much but i am very happy with my vehicle. Previous owner used it for a long family trips and took a very good care of his car. Mileage is important sure, but i guess you need to talk to the person who is selling it and hear the story behind. Personally for me there are other things which are more important than mileage : service history, how many owners, general condition (especially that the car is "non-smoking")

 

[Will]

Here's a slightly different take on second-hand cars' mileage:

If your annual mileage isn't high, work-out what the 'average' mileage would be for a car that age.

Then work-out how many miles you are likely to add to it before selling it.

This way, you can buy a high-miler now at below-average price, then sell it in (say) 4 years time with 'average' mileage on the clock and for average price.

That’s correct - but also a nice lower mileage car bought now may still retain a good chunk of its premium come resale in say 4 years time. It depends on how cheap the high mileage car is I guess.

Potentially, a nice lower mileage example may also cost less in terms of repairs and maintenance over the ownership period too.

Both valid possibilities.

For me I would buy the best example I could afford, and if a car is lower or higher mileage the condition and price needs to reflect that.

Some higher mileage cars are tatty.
Some lower mileage cars aren’t as good as they should be.

But a low mileage car that’s been well maintained and cared for will generally offer the best ownership experience, IMHO.

 

[gIzzE]

Drive it and see how it feels.

The 350 petrol M276 3.5 V6 is a peach, and pretty bullet proof too.

MPG is pretty close to the 350d and gets up to temperature within a mile, so can handle short journeys, and let's face it, the UK tend to buy petrols when they are not doing loads of miles as we chicken out in case they are miles behind the diesels.

The only issue I found with mine was it hated Sainsburys petrol 95 or 97 or Asda 95. It would throw an EML and when scanned say misfueled and NOX sensor error.

Stick in super unleaded, and ideally low or no ethanol and it will purr away for miles. I sold mine with 118,000 on it I think it was. It averaged 31mpg and would do 38mpg on a run on 98. For the first 9 months or I ran it on 95 and it was doing 27mpg and 34mpg on a run, then when I saw the German review saying it is set up for 98 I started to use it and within 2 tanks got better results, it was even smoother as well.

It is also naturally aspiration, so far less to go wrong with it than many modern cars. Still with decent fuel and the injectors etc. will also last 200k miles as well.

The W212 is pretty tough suspension wise, unlike the 211 series, the control arms etc. or rather the ball joints are so much stronger than the previous generation, and that is where a car starts to feel tired.

I have a W207 E350 cdi coupe at the moment, so not knocking the diesel, this is great, but the petrol is in a different league imho, it is a cracker, but also much rarer. Well it was in estate guise and you won't have all the EGR and DPF issues as they get older.
This e350 cdi I have at the mo had new EGR, new DPF, new dpf pressure sensor recently, which cost him a fortune, you don't tend to get all that with a NA petrol, so I wouldn't worry on mileage too much.

Drive the car, even a 10 year old one should still feel pretty much like new, if it doesn't, move onto the next one.


The problem with higher mileage cars is they tend to fall into the price where spending £1000, £2000 or whatever on new suspension seems too much, many think "I will use that to upgrade."

I think with Covid, with lockdowns and with maybe more uncertainty though we have seen people get out of the PCP game and start to buy older cars outright more, that has pushed prices up and with it made people realise that spending a grand on new suspension maybe be a better option then spending £400 a month on a new car.

Which is good, too many really good cars get a bit neglected in this country, when they get to 6 years old they are classed as old, which is silly really.

 

[BenA]

^ This is absolutley spot on;
" too many really good cars get a bit neglected in this country, when they get to 6 years old they are classed as old, which is silly really."

If you looks at the W124 - 1990's Eclass - they keep going forever, with the occasional suspension re-fresh. IMHO - much more "green" than buying a new battery car every 5 years as the main part of the car has run out of re-charge capacity.
I'd have one tomorrow if the ULEZ rules coming in let me...

I know this is still a bit controversial - but buying a used car with a big engine, and extending it's life is still much better than buying a new battery car, or even a new car with a small engine provided I drive less than 8K miles a year.

 

[raspy]

Buy the seller, not the car! Buying off a enthusiast forum, like, erm this one, from someone who cares about their car and can detail everything they have done, and why, is worth huge amounts, even if you have to wait to find the car you want. If you go through Autotrader etc, private sellers are a good sign imho, just try and get into the seller's mindset - how long have they had it, how much do they care, why are they trying to sell. A keen owner will always tell you more than you want to know about the car they are selling - if they know very little, then look at the paperwork. As said before, low mileage isn't the be all and end all - clocking is rife at the moment - Driver's seat wear on some 60k cars I have looked a recently was mad.

@BenA @JeroenSandstorm Yes! I have only bought privately twice in my life, and both times, it was from owners forums, where I could see over the years, through their posts, how much they LOVED their cars, how much they had taken care of their cars and how the upgrades/fixes had all been publicly displayed in their posts.