why is everyone scared of miles?

bleedout

New Member
Established Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2010
Messages
400
Location
MI
so why is it that everyone is scared of miles or scared to put miles on their car? I will never understand this at all, I always see terminators or machs mustangs ect. with stupid low miles on them up for sale and they typically have a good amount of mods done to them. why not enjoy the cars and drive them? not like they are a some ultra rare muscle car worth 100k. I bought my mach with 104k on it with no worries after test driving it and checking it over, and ive done many upgrades to it and i drive it as much as I can, i also maintain it very well, which brings my next point up, if a vehicle is properly maintained mileage will not be an issue. Just wondering what some opinions are of this topic, I always love the classic ad, willing to trade for another low mileage car. I assume people think these low mileage cars make them worth THOUSANDS more than a similar car with average miles? I agree that they will be worth an average amount more than a higher mileage car but some prices are just ridiculous and banks typically only give loans for vehicles 7 years of age or newer. Sorry if this tunred into a rant and maybe it should be moved idk but this has been on my mind as of lately, knowing maybe in a year or two i'll be dealing with idiots trying to low ball me on my mach cuz of the miles and me wanting another Cobra will most likely endure this nonsense :shrug:
 

Blown 89

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Messages
8,699
Location
AZ
miles = more maintenance, more wear, & a shorter lifespan. You're fooling yourself if you don't think that's the case.
 

earl lee

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2003
Messages
1,197
Location
GA
The ones that do this view their cars as investments. I veiw mine as pleasure meant to excite me thus I drive mine, miles be damned.
 

Coiled03

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2004
Messages
12,265
Location
IL
1) Not everyone enjoys the hobby the same way.
2) You don't know everyone's circumstances.
3) See #1 and #2.
 

Kiohtee

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2010
Messages
9,365
Location
NC
I'm not, personally. But regardless of the upkeep performed, after so many miles stuff just starts getting worn.

Most of my cars have had 150K+ miles upon purchasing. One even had 325K miles!
 

Blk04L

. . .
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
11,315
Location
South Florida
miles = more maintenance, more wear, & a shorter lifespan. You're fooling yourself if you don't think that's the case.

Yup.

That being said, not all are like that. Quite a few Shelby owners DD their cars. I've seen a handful of 40k+ 2010 +Shelbys for sale, including some 13-14 models.

Others own the car but have a daily driver. Some are rust buckets, others are equally expensive trucks/sedans, that the owners prefer to drive to work/job sites etc.

I drive my car when I want. Already put 10k miles on it in 10 months. Had 3k miles on it, in 4 years before me. However, it's not a daily driver for me
 

Grabber

Yep...
Established Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2008
Messages
3,819
Location
Wheeling, IL
I got tired of beating the crap out of my mustangs.

Last one prior to my 2014 5.0, I had an 05 with every bolt-on and a vortech making over 450+ RWHP with 4.10 gears. I drove it almost 100 miles a day to work and another 200 miles on each weekend since it was a daily. Gas is expensive, tires are expensive and so are near $100.00 oil changes when you're racking up mile that fact.

Now that I don't have to drive my mustang every day, I don't.
 

thomas91169

# of bans = 5203
Established Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2006
Messages
25,662
Location
San Diego, CA
High miles are great, if you are getting a great deal under market value and dont plan on driving it much so within a few years your high mileage example becomes more in line with the average examples.

Dont kid yourself, mileage can and does matter. Unfortunately, its the only quantitive indicator that can be applied to the vehicle, you cant put a number on how the car was driven, for example, id take a 60k Terminator over one with 10k on it. Why? In theory, that 10k one is someone's weekend car that they take out and run it hard those few few miles and then deal with a slow beater the rest of the week. So a higher percentage of those miles are hard miles, as opposed to the one with 60k where the percentage of hard miles to standard/nicely driven miles is much favorable. But, you cant put a number to that without knowing the owner personally and how they drove it, so thats why mileage is used as an indicator in most cases.

I bought my '13 Genesis used with extremely low miles on it (4k). This way, in ~2yrs when its time to sell it, its still the lowest mileage offering in the marketplace. It might have 30-35k on it by then, but most examples will have 60k+ going for maybe $13k, mine will pull a premium.

I bought my 03 Cobra in 2006 with 55k on it. High miles for the time, but I bought it for WELL UNDER market value (paid $22k OTD for it when they couldve easily gotten $28k still).
 

Sonic 03 Cobra

Yes, that's a 2011
Established Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2002
Messages
1,066
Location
Philadelphia, PA
miles = more maintenance, more wear, & a shorter lifespan. You're fooling yourself if you don't think that's the case.

Lack of miles means the same. My dad couldn't drive his C5 for two years due to health issues. I ended up replacing hoses and belts... two years of virtually no wear, things get dried up and start cracking.

If properly maintained, wear should not be an issue. Take a look at Taxis and F150s used for work - 300,000 or more miles on original drive train. key is to maintain.

For me, my 2011 GT500 which I bought new in 6/2010 has 19,000 miles. Not a lot, but it is a weekend cruiser - a fun car. Just had it on NJMP this weekend, and drove it 1500 miles round trip to Rochester, NY last month. But it is not my daily driver, and there is some pain associated with shoe horning two car seats into the back. My '08 edge gets the brunt of the miles with 90k on the clock.
 

Skrapmetal

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
May 13, 2006
Messages
2,950
Location
IA
My cars are toys. I cant drive then for work, so they get driven when I have a chance... Which means they dont get driven much. So low miles.
 

oldmodman

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
Messages
16,543
Location
West Los Angeles
I live in the traffic capitol of the World and I will never use my Cobra to commute.

That is why I got a piece of shit Toyota. I don't care if it gets a ton of miles, scratches, dents, crap thrown up in the air by trucks on the freeway and all that stuff.

There is a proper tool for every job and commuting isn't what the Cobra is designed for.
 

Zemedici

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2013
Messages
21,223
Location
Atlanta, GA
Lack of miles means the same. My dad couldn't drive his C5 for two years due to health issues. I ended up replacing hoses and belts... two years of virtually no wear, things get dried up and start cracking.

If properly maintained, wear should not be an issue. Take a look at Taxis and F150s used for work - 300,000 or more miles on original drive train. key is to maintain.

For me, my 2011 GT500 which I bought new in 6/2010 has 19,000 miles. Not a lot, but it is a weekend cruiser - a fun car. Just had it on NJMP this weekend, and drove it 1500 miles round trip to Rochester, NY last month. But it is not my daily driver, and there is some pain associated with shoe horning two car seats into the back. My '08 edge gets the brunt of the miles with 90k on the clock.


This. My 110k mile cobra was one of the best maintained cars I've ever seen, all replaced with OEM Ford/Motorcraft parts. Ask anyone that's seen the car, it didn't look like it had 60k much less over 100. Miles mean shit, imo.
 

95gts5oh

wat
Established Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2008
Messages
537
Location
Baton Rouge, LA
1) Not everyone enjoys the hobby the same way.
2) You don't know everyone's circumstances.
3) See #1 and #2.

This!

Most of the low mileage cars are second vehicles. Other priorities such as family, house work etc. keeps people from driving their prized ride all of the time.

Low mileage examples are typically cleaner inside and out than others which some people prefer.

Nothing wrong with wanting a higher mileage vehicle or a lower mileage vehicle. Its all about preference. You like what you like.
 

Planter

Banned
Joined
Feb 23, 2010
Messages
15,554
Location
In the 5280'
because you dont know how the previous owner treated that car, you dont know how well the maintainence was done or how regularly. you dont know that they didnt photoshop bogus receipts or change dates on receipts with photoshop, and you dont know what hidden surprises await (like i found a hacked up mach 460 system in my mach after I bought it).
 

RX1Cobra

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2012
Messages
1,802
Location
IL
My cars are toys. I cant drive then for work, so they get driven when I have a chance... Which means they dont get driven much. So low miles.

Same with me. I've put under 200 miles on my Cobra this year. I'm not afraid to drive nor do I care about putting miles on it. Just happens.
 

sniper85

Member
Established Member
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
119
Location
San Marcos, Texas
Mine is just a weekend cruiser. Usually I work alot (anything after 12 hrs and weekends are double time for me). With that being said, when I had my Shelby I put just over 10,xxx. miles on it in less then a year. I drove it for weeks at a time then I stopped and put it away while doing some mods to it and found it much more enjoyable(for me anyways) if I drove it every once in a while. Like a stress relief.

Also, I have 2 kids and as someone else said taking car seats in and out are a pain. My nissan frontier sees more road time then anything(150,xxx miles with just proper maintenance). Then if I want to cruise, go to a car show, out with the wife and kids we will take the jeep. I have just found that I enjoy it much, much, much more if I bust my ass at work for a few weeks then take it out in the country for a day or two.

I was thinking of either modding mine or trading it in a GT350 TP. So, until I decide what I want to do I try to keep a lot of miles off and we all know what comes with more miles.......more rock chips.
 
Last edited:

NasteeNate

2V Warrior
Established Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2005
Messages
10,314
Location
Jersey
Every situation is different, just go over the car with a fine comb and see if its really a low mileage pristine car. A compression test, and thorough test drive should reveal all.
 

Users who are viewing this thread



Top