Is it worth buying a car with high mileage?

Therefore, if the used car is regarding 3 years old and has a mileage of 30 thousand kilometers, you have found the ideal option for purchase. But this doesn’t always happen.

Is it worth buying a car with high mileage?

There are no clear boundaries beyond which a car should no longer be considered for purchase. The condition of a used car will depend on a number of factors:

• car brands and country of origin;

• roads on which the vehicle was operated;

• operating conditions;

• driving style and regular vehicle maintenance.

When choosing a used car, you should compare the year of manufacture with the mileage. True, it also happens that an inexperienced driver in a car with a mileage of 20 thousand km has managed to get into so many traffic accidents that it is no longer safe to drive it. Very often, such vehicles are sold following cosmetic repairs and become a problem for the new owner in the future. It also happens the other way around.

There are cars that belonged to perfectionist owners, whose 10-year-old car looks and is in a condition that is typical for cars that have just rolled off the assembly line.

The country of origin also plays a big role. Young Chinese companies do not always offer reliable cars. In such instances, the electronics may fail in the first year, then the chassis and body suffer. As for German and Japanese cars, with regular maintenance and replacement of consumables, they can last for years.

It is very important to know in what conditions the car was operated. 50 thousand km off-road should make you wary. It’s another matter if the car was operated on highways, in city conditions. If the car was imported from Europe or the USA, then such mileage will have virtually no effect on its condition, provided that the car has undergone regular maintenance. It is very important to know whether the car has been used in taxi services or cargo transportation. Such cars, as a rule, have a high mileage, and the operating conditions are more extreme than those of a regular car.

When buying a used car, take into account the following:

• If the car looks worn out, but you see 30-40 thousand km on the odometer, check with the owner regarding the reasons for this discrepancy.

• Check how the vehicle was used. If it is a taxi service, then the mileage can be very high. If the car was used for trips to the store and to the country, then for an 8-10 year old car even a mileage of 100 thousand km will not be small.

• Find out how often the car was used in off-road conditions, whether regular maintenance was carried out, ask regarding the owner’s driving style and experience.

It would be a good idea if you know all the previous owners of the car. We have already told you how to find out the former owners of a car. Various methods are described in detail in the article and this will also help you avoid annoying mistakes.

Are the odometer readings real?

Odometer tampering is an action aimed at reducing mileage readings in used cars. After tampering with the odometer, the real information is deleted and a false mileage is displayed on the dashboard. Odometer fraud, also known as “rolling,” can be carried out in a variety of ways.

Odometer tampering is a serious problem that causes defrauded customers to lose thousands of dollars. According to statistics, in the European Union alone, 15% of people buying used cars experience odometer fraud. Damages in Europe from odometer rollover can reach 10 billion euros per year, and in the United States these figures are even higher. Usually the “victims” are cars with a digital odometer – they are much easier to hack.

Modern cars most often have digital odometers, which determine mileage using optical or magnetic sensors installed in the transmission. There are no cables, and information is transmitted through wires. Therefore, the readings can be adjusted during computer diagnostics. This requires a “dealer” scanner capable of changing the readings of the engine control unit. The procedure is much simpler than checking mileage on mechanical odometers, but it also has its own characteristics.

How to check the real mileage of a car

The easiest and most reliable way to check odometer readings is online using the special CheckCar.Vin service. To do this, you will need a unique vehicle identifier – VIN code. You enter the VIN code and the system generates a report in which the mileage of the car is indicated for certain dates.

In addition, you receive information regarding technical inspection, repairs, operating conditions, insurance, liens, arrests, loans, etc.