Low Mileage, blessing or curse?

[sportsman]

Back in June I bought a 1999 3.0 sight unseen from Autotrader. I didn't pay the earth and wasn't expecting perfection.

The big attraction and deal clincher was that it had only done 56,000 miles backed up by service history and MOTs.

I didn't get a warranty as I shipped it straight out to Spain, where I live.

Since then I have spent over £2,500 on fixing various problems, including gearbox, A/C and oil leaks.

The good news is that the sill are solid, Ironically, all of the problems have been blamed on the low mileage, with perished seals etc.

The Jag specialist who has just fixed the gearbox said today that the best cars to buy are reps motors that have done high miles, but all on the motorway and have always been serviced and fixed, regardless of expense.

I now have everything fixed but the A/C, despite having a new compressor. and unfortunately A/C is not a luxury here, it is a necessity.

Have to say, now the gearbox is working as it should it is a real delight to drive. Be even more of a delight if I wasn't sweating like a pig.

[The Voices]

Low mileage cars can be trouble in some cases !

The high mileage cars tend to have an easier life if mainly used on the motorways.

Not much gear changing and braking, usually running at low RPM's in top gear and at optimum operating temperature.

Most of us (myself included !) still like to go for the low mileage examples if possible, why do we do that ?

My latest STR has done 156,000 miles at 10 years old so high miles but it was very cheap !

[JOE-DOT-COM]

HI

My 2004 S-type R has only just covered over 30k and its great

I've Had it over a year and its never missed a beat, the engine and gearbox is perfect and it never uses a drop of oil

that was the main reason I bought it was low mileage and Jaguar Full service history, oil changed every year with less than 3k done each year

this was the lowest mileage I'd seen and it drives faultless, not even a rattle and i put it down to the mileage it had done

the only bit I was worried about were sills, but they were also like new and the only other thing was the emissions at mot, but even that shocked me, for a big v8, it had the lowest emissions I'd ever seen

cheers

joe

my emissions at mot, just brilliant for a 4.2 supercharged v8

CO was 0.003, HC was 0, and Lambda 1.003

[david moore]

wow- joe thats a great result on the emissions test. me i think its down to how you look after your car ?  some people just get in and drive and not even bother looking under the bonnet  .( hey nothing as query folk) until something goes wrong!  

[Claws]

Here's mine from last MOT also low annual mileage, don't have such a big engine as Joe of course!

[JOE-DOT-COM]

hi

I think a lot of people think that most big engine car are dirty, but nowadays there not, there cleaner than most older smaller engine cars

but its a good sign of the state of the engine, if emissions are low, then the engine and electronics are all working well

but back to david's post, if a car been well looked after, your going to get less problems, but then you get the car that still all ways lets you down even though its been well looked after

cheers

joe

[Russ68]

I know a few people commented on this regarding Steve's potential search for a low miler STR. It's nice to have a low miler, but this is no guarantee of condition and all the issues David describes are perhaps more prevalent on a car that hasn't been used much. Mine has 135K on the clock and returned comparable emissions to Steve's:

Fast Idle - CO: 0.016, HC 9ppm, Lamda: 1.003. Natural Idle - CO: 0.006 

I think these cars have 'long legs', and are designed for big trips and high miles, for mine to be as good as she is, on the mileage she has is a testament to this.

I know it's not for everybody, but if you do your own spannering, running costs tumble, as the cost of parts is actually pretty / very reasonable...