With that mileage, you face more frequent bushings, seals, and rubber tubing that become brittle and fail, rust, and suspension problems. The old adage goes that the 100,000-mile mark was indicative that a car is past its prime. However, despite their complexity, modern vehicles are even more reliable, thanks to a multitude of technological advances. In general, most modern cars can go 200,000 miles without major problems, as long as the vehicle is well maintained.
Considering that the average person drives between 10,000 and 20,000 miles per year, this will represent approximately 15 years of service. Most people in the used car market are looking for vehicles with high mileage, and that's understandable. A high-mileage vehicle usually involves costly repairs. Cars with a lot of miles tend to have a shorter life expectancy. There is a greater chance of working brakes, transmission failures, and other worn parts.
That's equivalent to cars that travel 50,000, 100,000, or 200,000 miles. The more mileage, the worse, people think. Nobody wants to buy a car just to spend an extra thousand dollars on service. But 550,000 miles for something other than an industrial or medium-duty vehicle? This is a 2000 Chevy Silverado 1500, with an original 5.3 engine. Sure, the seat is broken in 3 different ways, all the interior and exterior surfaces are worn or broken, and the body looks horrible, but the thing is still on the road.
As you can see in the picture, the oil pressure is just above 0 at idle and a little noise is heard in the valve train. The engine is almost ready. Cars with more than 200,000 miles may not necessarily be bad, but they are certainly more difficult to finance than a vehicle with less mileage. For this reason, these are more likely to be cash purchases.
Personal experience from the 1960s and 1990s meant that most domestic and imported vehicles were discarded in a range of between 50,000 and 100,000 miles, due to engine and transmission failures and oxidation. Consistency of maintenance and repairs should be your primary concern when determining how many miles may be too many for a used car. However, these cars tend to need more frequent and expensive repairs than newer or lower-mileage models. Vehicles such as Honda, Toyota, GMC, Ford and Chevy are known to maintain their value and far exceed the 200,000 mile mark.
Vehicles that drive around the city will suffer daily wear and tear on their brakes, transmission and suspension, as they start and stop much faster than when miles on the road wear out. Conversely, road miles affect vehicles differently than city miles and are considered better, as driving is often smoother and smoother, reducing vehicle wear and tear. Common high-mileage vehicles include the Toyota Tundra, the Toyota Camry and any Honda, including the Honda Accord, the Civic and could include the Prius. Since the 2000s, living in the Salt Belt and under normal maintenance, the only vehicle that broke down early was a Cadillac with the first poorly designed Northstar V8; the rest easily traveled more than 150,000 miles and had only begun to show signs of rust bubbles for 20 years. So, if you have two identical cars, except one traveling 90,000 miles on the road and the other 90,000 miles in the city, the first one will have less wear and tear.
Even better, a used car that receives regular maintenance and is well maintained offers you a good deal. These vehicles are no more than five years old and have less than 50,000 miles on the odometer, and have been serviced and maintained regularly by the dealer. If a vehicle only travels 100,000 miles, but you haven't changed the transmission or suspension yet, and the tires, brakes, and shock absorbers only travel a few thousand miles, you can expect to pay more. Depending on the route, how often you plan to drive, and how well your car is serviced, you can find vehicles with that many miles and get a good price.
With an average lifespan of 150,000 to 200,000 miles, the transmission is one of the most important and expensive parts to repair or replace.
