When did 100,000 become "Low miles"?

"Meatcoma" (mastapoof)
12/23/2013 at 09:32 • Filed to: None

I am currently helping my son find his next car and while looking through Craigslist, Autotrader, Cargurus, Copart and Cars.com, I have noticed a lot of posts now state "Low Miles" on a car that has 100-125k miles. When did this happen? I understand that cars now can pretty easily, with good maintenance, achieve 300k miles but does that justify low miles at 100k? Not all cars will make it to 300k and 90% of the bodies will be trashed by 300k.

I was just wondering if anyone had a really good explanation for this or if this is just stupid people being stupid.

Have some Maserati's or is it Maseratii?

Photo credit - !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

DISCUSSION (33)

Tom McParland > Meatcoma
12/23/2013 at 09:35

I guess it is relative a 30 year old car with 100k I would consider "low" miles but it most cases I consider under 30k low miles.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Meatcoma
12/23/2013 at 09:36

100,000 is not low mileage.

Party-vi > Meatcoma
12/23/2013 at 09:37

Depending on the car it's a weak selling point. "Look, I know this car is old and I'm asking too much money but hey, it's got low low miles for the year. 100,000 miles for this 1998 325i is only like 6,600 miles a year!"

100,000 is tricky because it's pretty much in the mileage range of needing timing work and a water pump.

Now, if I saw 100,000 miles on a WJ Grand Cherokee I'd be on a plane to go pick it up!

Sn210 > Meatcoma
12/23/2013 at 09:38

Just stupid being stupid. I've been looking at cars for sale too and I've seen "low mileage" used often. My favorite was when the seller said "low miles" to describe a 4 year old car with 80,000 on it. I hate it when they put an incorrect (usually higher) trim levels too

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > Meatcoma
12/23/2013 at 09:38

I think that is just stupid being stupid. I mean I can see a car from the 80's with 100k on it as "low miles" but if the car is 10 years old, nope.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Meatcoma
12/23/2013 at 09:39

low miles at 100k can only be said with a straight face if it's a full size truck or van with a V8 or diesel from the detroit 3. Those vehicles consistently do half a million or more. For a small business use, like lawn care, yeah a 100k diesel pickup has "low miles" and would be a good buy if you don't have a big account.

For a passenger car? No, 100k is when everything starts to go wrong if it hasn't already. Timing belts, transmission overhauls, valve cover gaskets, intake plenum gaskets, subframe bushings, sway bar bushings, strut tower bushings, and more all need to be replaced at or before 100k. Less than 25k is "low miles" because you still have another year or two before you should be replacing components. Usually brake rotors and struts/shocks around 50k.

Destructive Tester > Meatcoma
12/23/2013 at 09:40

I'd say its relative, a 15-year old car (or truck in my case) with 100k could be considered low mileage since it's considerably lower than the expected 12k/year.

Meatcoma > Sn210
12/23/2013 at 09:41

I have noticed that too, as well as just completely not knowing the difference between trim levels, I seen an Audi TT "roadster" that was obviously a coupe.

Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa > Meatcoma
12/23/2013 at 09:41

For Europe 100 000 miles(160 000 km) is kind of on the verge of being too high to the point of: pass on the given car. But here we have mostly city driving where cars struggle much more. My understanding is that USA has much more highway driving and this helps cars have larger life on the road then here in Europe. I am a firm beliver that you must pass on almost all cars that are over 120 000km(74 000 miles). There can be some exceptions, but this is my rule. I bought my '06 Merc CLK with 85 000 km(52 000 miles) and this is for me a low milage car. But then again I live in Europe wher ethings are maybe different.

Meatcoma > Party-vi
12/23/2013 at 09:44

That is a valid point. Most early to mid 90's vehicles do not get to 200k gracefully though, so 100k would be over half their life. This does not include late 90's as they seem to be built better.

Meatcoma > Tom McParland
12/23/2013 at 09:46

For a 30 year old car, 100k was a lot though. I don't think I owned a pre 1990 car that made it over 150k before I sold or scrapped it.

Meatcoma > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/23/2013 at 09:51

I live in the Midwest and most of the diesel's around here are work trucks. Granted there are some street queens but most, even the lawncare pull trailers or haul tons of mulch or the plow snow. Those take a pretty good beating and I'm pretty sure repair bills on diesels are pretty shocking.

Meatcoma > Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa
12/23/2013 at 09:53

Yea, I can imagine where 100k worth of km or miles with strict city driving would do more damage to the car than some highway.

Meatcoma > Destructive Tester
12/23/2013 at 09:56

So technically Low miles low miles for the year.

xx45xx > Meatcoma
12/23/2013 at 09:56

People who advertise malaise era chargers and mustang IIs as "classic muscle cars" piss me off even more than this. its denial. you don't own a chunk of fast american steel, you own a banana shaped boat anchor that shares badges and engine blocks

Meatcoma > xx45xx
12/23/2013 at 10:00

agreed!

xx45xx > Meatcoma
12/23/2013 at 10:07

http://joplin.craigslist.org/cto/4145337547…

found within 2 minutes of searching. im not hounding the poster of the ad its just that this problem is widespread and easily found.

Nibbles > Meatcoma
12/23/2013 at 10:12

My '87 Saab made it almost 350k before the head gasket blew

That was it. Head gasket. Of course now I'm taking the opportunity to go through the whole thing to make sure it gets another 350k worry free driving :)

jariten1781 > Meatcoma
12/23/2013 at 10:14

It's advertising. I put this in the same category as when you see 'perfect condition' then two lines later 'transmission is out of car will need to be towed'. Low miles is just a buzz word.

I saw an E30 a couple weeks ago advertised as 'low mileage' with >225k on the clock. Some people are nuts.

Destructive Tester > Meatcoma
12/23/2013 at 10:16

I can't definitively say that but it's how I've always looked at it.
Personally, it think the notion of 100k = old car should go the way of the 3,000 mile oil change as a relic of the past. This is especially true when you consider that there are cars sold with 100k mile warranties.

Destructive Tester > Meatcoma
12/23/2013 at 10:16

Tekamul > Meatcoma
12/23/2013 at 10:18

I think the way people justify it to themselves while posting, is miles/year.

If you average < 10k miles per year, it's a low mileage car....to start. Obviously, if you are averaging 8k a year, and it's 4 years old, 32k miles for a 2009 isn't bad. But 120k miles for a '98 Caravan shouldn't be considered as such.

I don't condone this, I'm just trying to get inside the head of desperate sellers.

Meatcoma > Nibbles
12/23/2013 at 10:24

Always cheaper while you got it tore down to do the rest. ALWAYS.

Nibbles > Meatcoma
12/23/2013 at 10:28

ALWAYS.

It's gonna be fun, too! I'm getting some JE pistons/rods, doing some camshaft magic, 2.3 head and intake, and a different turbo that I'm not decided on which model yet. Gonna keep the factory exhaust manifold because it makes the most beautiful sound (downside: no hybrid/dual vane turbo) :)

I'm going to shoot for somewhere between 280-300whp. Just enough to have a shitload of fun in a 2600 lb car, and just on the limit before grenading the transmission (which I will still probably rebuild and strengthen before reinstalling along with the fancified engine).

Meatcoma > jariten1781
12/23/2013 at 10:29

Now that is some advertising, and I have seen that as well.

Someone touting what a perfect car with low miles but the engine is blown.

We actually are looking at an Audi TT with a blown engine that we may get for 3k and we can drop a used 1.8 turbo in for less than 2k and he's only got 5k into a seriously fun car that is awd as well.

Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST) > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/23/2013 at 10:43

My dad's econoline 250 has over 300-350k miles, can't remember. tru dat about that half a million statement! That econoline is almost there, never had any major or serious problems, just maintained routine maintenance.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)
12/23/2013 at 10:56

When my dad worked for a chevy dealership a few years back, they had a couple of maintenance contracts with local businesses. Apparently that automatic transmission is good for 400-500k if you're not towing 5 tons on a daily basis. Quite a few of those 1500/2500 vans that just hauled around stuff inside wouldn't need an engine or transmission replacement until 500k. And even then, they'd just replace that part and keep on going. They still had vans from the early 90s in service in 2003/4 since they were already outfitted with what they needed to do the jobs they did. I guess it was just easier and cheaper to keep going.

Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna > Meatcoma
12/23/2013 at 12:09

When I look at cars, I consider anything over 35k miles to be too much. Same with anything older than 2010.

Meatcoma > Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna
12/23/2013 at 12:14

Sounds like bank loan rules.

EuroJosh > Meatcoma
12/23/2013 at 14:46

Its relatively low when people started selling cars with 200,000 for 5 grand.

Meatcoma > EuroJosh
12/23/2013 at 15:20

Or this which I just found. 5k for a blown head gasket and bent rod?

1998 Toyota Tacoma, 4 cyl engine, 4WD, 119,500 miles, manual transmission.

This is a great truck but needs a little work.

Recently found out there is a blown head gasket and possibly a bent rod in the engine.

Asking $5000 OBO.

DasWauto > Meatcoma
12/25/2013 at 17:47

Neither. It's Maseratis .

QCGoose > DasWauto
12/28/2013 at 13:10

Came here to say the same thing.