Cars with 'high' kilometers ..

[VBOMB]

Now I'm not sure if its considered high really, what do you guys think? But what would be the cons of buying something like a 2002 Integra with 120,000km on the clock - if any? and at what point should you really consider selling it and moving on? I was lucky to land a 99 Civic hatch with 60,000km on the clock before but thinking of going up to an Integra however my budget will only allow me to buy something with kms around the 110,000 - 150,000+ mark. Cheers

[ekvtec]

Well really depends on how the original owner maintained the engine. Some owners are take good care using only good/best oils and servicing regularly, with that said engines up 200K+ should be in A1 condition.
However with a high kilometers come with the disadvantage that without history of car, its very hard to determine how good the owner treated his engine. With minimal maintainance the engine could be worn out.

[Nepolian]

120K's on a 7-8 year old car isn't that bad.......considering 25K per year is around the acceptable average!

[I heart the SSS]

K's do not mean to much if the car has a PROPER service history with proof, and has not been flogged.

I've seen some 60K cars with shitty oil varnised motors, and some 150k cars with beautiful internals. Just 'pends on the owner and how he looked after the car.

[VBOMB]

How would I have that checked out? Thanks for the replies

[dougie_504]

I'm sure the Australian average is 14,000 KMs/year, so 120k KMs in 8 years is alright.

Just check the colour of the oil on the dip stick for example. It should be a rich, clean consistency, rather than a dark, murky, coffee-like colour.

And at 120k KMs it should have had a timing belt done, right? Check for service history first thing, since it's a newish car it should have it.
My 1990 CRX still has it's original service manual

[TheSaint]

the average is between 15 - 25 k km a year

my EG civic has done 300 k km and still drives like it did when it was at 150 k km

there are also alot of variable factors to consider:
- country road kms? or city kms?
- type of servicing? inc majoy service intervals
- seen racing?
- dodgy modifications?
- major components condition

so many things to consider and its different for every car

[tiksie]

Guise.

When looking at a car with high KM's, don't think about how long the engine has been going, think about the body/frame/chassis of the car! As they can't be replaced like a engine can.

[JasonGilholme]

compression + leakdown test will tell you most things you need to know.

Also get a RACV/RACQ/NRMA mech to go over it. The checks they do are good, and worth the money.

[kraiye]

the engine should be fine if it hasn't been flogged. but as above there's a lot more moving parts to think about too.

[dougie_504]

16k KMs/year on average per vehicle, according to the reference below. Results from 1999 with expected results of the same value for the next 15 years. Figure 7 on page 3.

http://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/29/Files/is15.pdf


According to another survey published in 2007 the average KMs driven per vehicle in a 12 month period, ending 31st October 2006, was 14,600. Bottom of page 4.

http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/331AFCE3EFECE3EECA257378007BC0F2/$File/92080_12%20months_ended_31_October_2006.pdf

"Motor vehicles registered in Australia travelled an average of 14,600 kilometres per vehicle in the 12 months ended 31 October 2006. Queensland (15,600 kilometres) and the Northern Territory (14,700 kilometres) were above the national average, while vehicles registered in Tasmania travelled the least number of average kilometres (13,500). Of all vehicle types, articulated trucks had the highest average kilometres (88,300)."


So roughly if a car has done less than about 15k KMs/year then you could say it's 'below average' and if your car has done 96,500 KMs since 1990 like my EF8 you can be super happy

[VBOMB]

Well the car I was looking at is completely stock so I guess thats a good sign
But yeah NRMA check sounds like the best way to go, cheers guys!