What's the highest mileage you would consider buying?

[Vanada]

Hey All,

I figured this might be an interesting topic for a thread. Obviously whether a van is fit or not comes down to a number of things other than mileage but what's the most you'd feel comfortable with before dismissing a van entirely?

Right now I'm looking at 200,000km / 125,000mi as a cap but there are some tempting options up around the 230,000km mark.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[GotSmart]

Hey All,

I figured this might be an interesting topic for a thread. Obviously whether a van is fit or not comes down to a number of things other than mileage but what's the most you'd feel comfortable with before dismissing a van entirely?

Right now I'm looking at 200,000km / 125,000mi as a cap but there are some tempting options up around the 230,000km mark.

Cheers,
Tom

That depends on the vehicle.  If it has a documented repair history that is a plus.

When I bought my current van, I replaced just about everything.  I got a deal on the van, with a fresh rebuild on the motor and AT.  I did the labor myself, and saved thousands.  The body had 175K on it.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I started buying new vehicles in 2004 and have grown to really like them. Hopping in every morning not having to worry about anything is hard to put a price tag on. Plus I know it's entire history so it's easy to keep them in tip top shape. However, i've been seriously debating buying a used van to convert into a travel rig and all my searches are for 100k mi/160,000km or less. Figure I'd like to be able to put another 100,000+ miles on it and best chance of that is starting with something 100k or under.

But I'm also considering trading in my Silverago and buying a new Chevy Express. Decisions Decisions.

 

[Temporarydweller]

Unfortunately mileage doesn't mean near as much as maintenance and especially regular oil changes and transmission services.  I work at a large GM dealership in service and have personally seen engine failures at less than 50k miles due to no oil changes.  I've also seen several 250k-300k full size trucks come in still on original engines that the owners have been meticulous about regular maintenance.  The other big thing that needs to be checked is where the vehicle originated from or spent most of it's life.  Northern states that get a lot of snow and ice have many more problems due to corrosion.  Salt wreaks havoc on all sorts of components other than just the body and may not be noticed until you get underneath the vehicle. I would take a clean 150k mile vehicle with a stack of oil change receipts over a 100k mile vehicle with no maintenance paperwork.

 

[steamjam1]

Mileage doesn't really matter to me. As long as its not rusted up, and parts are readily available I'm good to go. I'd rather buy a 300K mile old van, and get to know 'er by fixing her up while I learn how to interpret every noise, clunk, squeak or click I can hear, and every vibration I can feel through the seat.

 

[Kroswind]

See, this is where I disagree with most people. High mileage is high mileage. Period. You can look for "well maintained" all you want, but its not going to make much difference if the vehicles seen substantial use. Especially in the case of fleet vehicles. I know a few people who oversee and maintain fleet vehicles and they can tell you about "well maintained". The people driving them dont give a shit, and the company paying for them will go as cheap as possible on maintenance. The most a company usually does is the basic, routine maintenance on the vehicle. If a problem arises, they will usually just fix that 1 problem, and not worry about what else may have been associated with it. Sure, that parts new now, but theres still thousands of other parts on there with 200k+ miles on them. You can do all the oil changes you want, but if theres 200k+ miles on an engine/transmission, you're still heading for a breakdown if major parts havent been replaced. With parts that worn out, you still dont know whats going to break next. Engines/transmissions only last so long regardless of whether they're "well maintained" or not. Buying a vehicle with high miles just compounds the risk. 200k+ miles is the end of most vehicles lives. Unless the Engine/trans has been rebuilt, I wouldnt trust those vehicles to get me very far, and I definitely wouldnt trust them to be my house.

 

[Wanderer]

Well, bought mine when it had 200K

Was maintained (I believe) at a fairly good level (Traveling band used it)

Mileage wasn't that big a deal, proper maintenance was.

 

[WrenchLife]

Milage is just a number to me, it all depends on how the vehicle has been maintained and how it has been driven. I am a mechanic by trade so repairs/ breakdowns don't worry me near as much as they do others. I have seen 2 year old vehicles with 40,000 miles that are totally trashed because of poor maintenance and bad driving style. I have also seen 2 year old vehicles with 300,000 miles that still feel like a new car. People think maintenance, maintenance, maintenance, when they are looking for a car, if the person has a stack of records, that can be good or bad. If the records are for service work and minor repairs that's a good thing. If the records are for brakes and tires every 20,000 miles and drivetrain work every 50,000 miles that's a bad thing. What people should really think is driver, driver, driver because that is what makes a vehicle last. My wife's 4 runner had 194,000 miles put on it by a 50+ year old women before we got it. It is as tight as any new car out there and no one believes it has that kinda milage because it was driven sensibly and taken car of.

 

[ArtW]

Mileage is BS, tape over the odometer and test drive the thing
does it drive well?
get on the ground ang do some UCI (undercarriage investigation) no rust? no leaks?
check the body panels, straight? clean?
if it's a good deal, buy it
I've seen vehicles with less than 10k come in on the hook, needing major repair
I've driven cross country in vehicles with over 300k My Odo on my ranger doesn't even work, it's at 130k forever
drove that sucker to North Carolina and back from central Texas with 800lb of motos in the bed and 400lb of men in the cab, plus riding gear, tools, and extra fluids (everything leaks, a little)
a year later, I've replaced a tire and that's a bout it

 

[gojo]

I can't agree on everything on this thread. But good luck!