How Many Miles on a Used xB?

"IWouldAddai4U" (brian-lamar-horne)
02/02/2018 at 12:15 • Filed to: Scion, xB

We’ve got some friends that are going to loan us a 96 Corolla for a month or so. We’re a one car family, and have been for some time, but there’s the odd few days each month where we wished we had two rides, so this is a trial run for life with two vehicles.

We’ve got first right of refusal on the Corolla, and I feel like we could get it cheap (just need something that’ll get me places; the primary kid-hauler is the 2011 Outback)...but I’m just going through my options in my head and keep coming back to a 2004-2006 xB. I used to have an xA and loved it, though it was taken from me far too early in its life. I’ve always wanted an xB, and the space efficiency of it with a kid makes it even more tantalizing. So the question is:

How many miles is too many miles for a used xB? Like, what’s your cutoff point for buying something that’s been (apparently) well maintained? I could just take the Corolla and save a few grand, but the xB would be about 10 years newer and I love the styling.

What would you do?! How much is too much?

DISCUSSION (13)

Ash78, voting early and often > IWouldAddai4U
02/02/2018 at 12:33

And 10x more useful than a Corolla sedan!

I wouldn’t scoff at anything under 125k miles if well maintained.

E92M3 > IWouldAddai4U
02/02/2018 at 12:59

140k or under. They are known for reaching 200k (even with little regard to maintenance). With around 140k, you should easily get another 100k out of it.

TheRealBicycleBuck > IWouldAddai4U
02/02/2018 at 13:00

I wouldn’t borrow a car from someone, that’s for sure. If you happen to wreck it, the insurance can be a real pain to sort out. I learned this lesson the hard way....

IWouldAddai4U > E92M3
02/02/2018 at 14:28

Precisely what I was thinking. My xA had nearly 200k (I was not great with maintenance at the time) and it honestly never had a single thing done to it besides oil changes. I’m seeing $3.5-$4k for xBs with 140k on the odometer. I think that’s pretty fair, considering how cheap they were new and how well they continue to run.

IWouldAddai4U > TheRealBicycleBuck
02/02/2018 at 14:30

I hadn’t considered this. Great point.

I lent a YJ to a friend for a few months and the biggest PITA about the whole thing was he left it stranded on I-70 near the Eisenhower Tunnel. Serpentine belt came off and he left it on the side of the road. Had to drive an hour with my wife to change it at the beginning of a snow storm and then drive home after 5 mins of work. Never really thought about potential insurance issues.

IWouldAddai4U > Ash78, voting early and often
02/02/2018 at 14:32

Under 140k is a definite yes, price-dependent. I think my threshold is around 160k, so long as the miles have been a lot of highway miles and its been well kept.

Now I have to sell my wife on the idea.

TheRealBicycleBuck > IWouldAddai4U
02/02/2018 at 14:50

The last car I borrowed was my mother-in-law’s G-35 coupe while we were at their house for Christmas. I wanted to take my daughter to the bike shop, so my mother-in-law insisted that it would be better than driving our car. I should have listened to my instincts and said no. If you haven’t driven one, the G-35 has large b-pillars, small mirrors, and a relatively small view out the back glass. In other words, it’s hard to see when backing up.

So, of course, I backed into the largest fixed object in the bike shop’s parking lot - the pole for their sign .

What followed was a lot of arguing about the repair bill. She thought I had curbed the wheel at the same time (I didn’t and my father-in-law knew that) so she wanted me to pay for that in addition to the bumper damage. I wanted to make an insurance claim since the bill was several grand, but she didn’t want a bump in her insurance rates. In the end, they made the claim and we paid their deductible, money that we couldn’t really afford to spend. It left everyone with a lot of hard feelings and it was one of the reasons I didn’t make the 12-hour trip back to their house for a couple of years.

IWouldAddai4U > TheRealBicycleBuck
02/02/2018 at 15:27

Yikes. I’m sorry that happened to you. Stories like this are why I’m staunchly against loans from family/friends. If it’s a gift and comes with no strings attached, that’s one thing. But a loan , no chance. Now car loaning is quickly entering that realm.

I appreciate, much as it sucks for you to have gone through, the cautionary tale. Advice like this will go a long way towards keeping others from the same feelings you experienced.

Most importantly, I hope everything’s better now between you two.

IWouldAddai4U > TheRealBicycleBuck
02/02/2018 at 15:28

In other news, you seem like you’re into bikes. Reminds me that I need to dust my KHS off come the spring...

TheRealBicycleBuck > IWouldAddai4U
02/02/2018 at 15:38

It’s all better now. I have drawn some very strict lines around what is allowed and what is not and that helps keep everyone happy. They realized that we don’t have to come visit them. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so they say. :)

Captain of the Enterprise > IWouldAddai4U
02/02/2018 at 22:14

How many miles per year do you drive?

IWouldAddai4U > Captain of the Enterprise
02/03/2018 at 00:56

This thing would be lucky to be driven 5k a year. I’m gone from home on work trips quite often, and for nearly two weeks at a time. That’s one reason I’d almost just say get nothing or get the Corolla for a grand. But I love, and have always loved, the xB.

Captain of the Enterprise > IWouldAddai4U
02/03/2018 at 08:27

You could probably get away with higher mileage then because you won’t be increasing it very fast. The xB is a Toyota product so it could be pretty reliable and long lasting. I haven’t researched them for specific problems but my 05 Corolla is still pretty solid at 149,000 miles. I do preventative maintenance on it though (transmission fluid, coolant, brake fluid, filters every year and inspect it every few months).