In general, is it worth trying to maintain a vehicle that has more than 100,000 miles or are you better off with a newer car?

Buying/Selling
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21

There are several issues to consider here. First, you don’t tell us what years or prices the 7 Camry’s you looked at, or how much over 100k.

I haven’t bought a used car for some time. When I did, the owner provided me with a Car Fax report he obtained. Although it supported his claim it was not a flood car, and was from the source he claimed it was, I have no other experience with CarFax, yet alone this Chipmunk Car Fax. The comments here and the many reviews I see on a search show regular CarFax has horrid ratings. There are tons of flood cars that unsuspecting buyers purchase, and then find out later that they were flood victims.

Next issue: Yes, cars like Toyota, IF properly maintained with oil and filter changes, can go, according to others, 200-300K miles. But what is not being addressed, is that many sellers are selling because they have been told, or they know because they are mechanically-saavy, that as mileage increases, one item after another starts to go - needs a new alternator, major brake work, the computer can go bad, the transmission, items from the whole host of increasing electronics. Even options that have been around for decades, like power windows, power door locks, etc., whose motors can go out, and are often quite costly, or you can’t even find the parts available, except at a junkyard, if the car mfr. has stopped producing them, and if aftermarket sources don’t have them, or have some cheap Chinese junk parts that I’d never put on a vehicle.

Many owners neglect their cars, and are ignorant of any mechanical knowledge. If you live in a climate with cold, snowy winters, the tons of salt that are thrown on roads, eat into your undercarriage and doors and fenders, etc., and eventually render the car useless, where the wheel assemblies attach to the frame, rust so severely that one day a wheel busts off from the frame.

I wouldn’t buy a used car unless it is from the original owner, and that owner has a folder of receipts and paperwork from the original purchase. Those who don’t, I would never trust.

I spent many of my younger and later years looking at used cars, and the same theme was persistent. “I don’t have the receipt” on a brake job, or new tires, or an alternator, etc. when things like this are under warranty. People make all types of claims that turn out to be coverups and lies to sell an auto they want to get rid of.]

And, yes, you should have a mechanic you can trust and who is a top-notch mechanic totally examine the car. If you, like many people, get ripped off on your repairs, and have had parts changed that had nothing wrong with them, you may not know, and are oblivious to the snowjob you’ve been a victim of. And you’d be joining the ranks of the majority of car owners.

IMO, you are much better off buying the newest year used car possible, but researching if that car had engine or transmission or other issues. It’s a lot of work to do so, but this is what you need to do, or you are playing used-car Russian roulette.

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IMO, that’s a bit extreme. A 3rd owner car is not necessarily a bad investment. I always buy very lightly used for my dailies. Usually an off-lease car. I’m the 2nd owner, and I take immaculate care of them. You’d do well to buy a car from me. :wink:

As for receipts, I keep receipts for the important stuff. Timing belt if equipped, trans fluid changes, oil changes. I don’t keep every receipt for everything I’ve ever done or had done to the car. I’m not going to keep my brake pad receipts beyond the warranty period. That’s just silly.

And if I am buying an older car, I’m not gonna get overly worried if someone didn’t keep all their oil change receipts. I can always poke my inspection camera into the oil filler cap and see if I see any sludge under there. If not, it’s probably fine. Now for certain things, like that $1,000 timing belt job that has to be done or you risk catastrophic engine damage, yeah, I wanna see the receipt from that. But a receipt on an alternator? Who cares? If the thing is working when I’m looking at it, it’s fine.

A lot of those warranties aren’t transferable anyway, so I’d still have to buy a new part even if that alternator with receipt failed 3 days after I bought the car.

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23

Gotta agree. I pay no attention to those lifetime warranties or most for that matter. If the brake pads go bad, I just replace. I’m not worried about collecting $30 worth a year or two later. The last real warranty issue I had outside of a vehicle warranty was for alternators. I’d get a year out of them (about 30,000) then have to replace them. I did that several times and got tired of the hassle. The last time I was heading out of state for a funeral but had to replace the alternator in the part store lot first. I just ended up throwing the warrantied alternator away and buying a Delco instead. And I really never keep receipts for minor stuff and do most myself. I do keep a detailed log though of work done and if that’s not good enough for someone, I don’t want to sell them the car anyway. It’s been probably 15-20 years since I’ve sold a car for over $100 anyway.

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And another statement that does not apply to all situations . Many people trade in very good vehicles because they don’t want to mess with people . We sold a perfectly good Nissan Frontier to Carmax because it was easy and the price was fair . So Will , by your narrow thinking if you wanted a truck then you would have missed a good one.

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It really depends on the car. Had my 03 bought in 08 up till last month when I got rear ended, 3 wheel bearings, power steering hose, ac coil, starter motor, $2300 , maybe an extra grand for transfer case front and rear differential fluids, trans fluid, and misc repairs such as broken wire for rear gate. So call it 4 grand over 12 years, $333 per year, just my experience, not what is going to happen to you. 198k miles. Would probably still be driving it today, but rear end damage, trailer hitch hosed and CEL, probably another $1200 for tank drop and filler nec and fuel pump housing repair for leak. There comes a time. Bought a used Acadia 2017 26k miles, towing package I need, so on we go.

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Let’s not kid ourselves here: any amount of mileage is acceptable as long as the price being charged is reasonable for the mileage and overall condition. A vehicle with over 200,000 miles could still be a great buy if it runs well, and the price is right.

The problem is that a lot of sellers want to charge “low mileage pricing” for their car with 250,000 miles on it, and that just does not fly. This is especially common with Toyota trucks and SUVs. People try to sell a clapped-out Toyota pickup with over 300,000 miles for $6k or more, as if it’s going to run forever.

I have purchased vehicles with very high miles, and still been satisfied with them, but that was because I paid a reasonable price based on what I assumed the remaining life and necessary repairs would be. In fact, I recently purchased a 2000 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 truck with 209,000 miles on it. It needed a lot of work done to it, most of which I did myself, but for the money was a great deal. For $2000 more, I could have gotten a newer truck with less miles.

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That’s a good point. I have provided my maintenance records to the dealer before when trading but their reaction has usually been one of indifference. They don’t pass any of that onto the next buyer and clean everything out of the car usually. They also won’t provide the name of the previous owner either for privacy issues. Kinda too bad but they seem to sort the cars out when they come in to see which should just go to auction and keep the cream puffs. Buying from a private seller is a real crap shoot. I guess you use your own judgement. I bought one out of state from a real estate agent and had him pegged for an honest good guy right away. Had a car he liked with a lot miles is all and I liked it too. He even chopped a couple hundred off the price when I went to write the check. No maintenance receipts.

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Yeah, tell me about it.

When it came time for me to sell my 1970 Chevelle (we had two in the family), I placed an ad in the paper. Kid after kid called, with one asking: " What you got in it bud? " (Sorry it had a 307 V8- not the 396 he wanted) . After hearing the engine size, and the fact that it “only” had a two-speed Powerglide tranny, he replied with “Sounds like sh*t!” I hung up the phone, and later decided to give the car to a family friend in exchange for painting the house I lived in.

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People who trade in very good vehicles to dealers are then priced at inflated, very expensive prices at those dealers. Those that end up at Carmax are mostly hideous. I spent hours with a friend looking at Carmax cars, and its supposed 300 point (or whatever) inspection is a total crock. Interiors were filthy, under the hood totally filthy, low levels of really dirty brake fluid, trans fluid. They were almost all overpriced junk, and we looked at at load of cars. So, your selling a “perfectly good Nissan Frontier” to Carmax is the exception. Look at the reviews of Carmax - they say it all.

Hardly is my thinking narrow. I base my recommendation on saved paperwork on decades of looking at private party cars. When I was young, there were better used cars available. Those days are long gone.

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The problem with engines back in the day was not the metallurgy or the construction. It was the lead in the gasoline that caused the problems.

I owned a 68 Roadrunner and a 69 Superbee; both with the 383 Magnum and 4 speed. Know how long spark plugs would last if the car was driven “normally’” and with no hot rodding or highway use?
Three weeks…at that point the car needed to be hammered hard for a while or clean/replace the plugs.

The difference between then and now is much like day and night.

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31

IMO, my recommendations are not at all extreme. That’s your viewpoint, so agree to disagree.

As for receipts, if you take “immaculate care” of your cars, then I would assume you would want more money than the same cars are selling for that are far from immaculate. As I said, most people who are selling their cars as private parties are selling them for reasons other than they just want a new car. And most every private party car I have seen, the sellers lie about the condition, and they don’t have any receipts, which I have a big problem with. If you bought new tires, or have recently had different repairs or replacements done - you NEED those receipts in case the part goes bad. Furthermore, without receipts, the buyer can’t determine if there is, for example, a really cheap Chinese part in there - the cheapest they can buy from Pep Boys, etc.

I find it hard to reconcile your representation as taking immaculate care of your cars, but then you toss receipts unless it is “for the important stuff.” Isn’t it easier to keep a simple folder or receipts, than to write down in a book what year you changed the alternator or the brakes or tires? You don’t find a receipt on an alternator important? You say “Who cares?”. There are cars where the cost of an alternator is double or even triple, depending on the type of car. And the installation of some parts requires removing all kinds of parts to get at the part.

Even if the warranty is not transferable, you have a much better idea of where it is in the life cycle than a lie told you by the seller like “I changed the alternator 6 months ago” when it was 5 years ago.

I’ve had countless sellers tell me that the tires were replaced a year ago, when you have to be a fool to not eyeball or have a tire depth gauge and you know they are liars. Plus, most tire warranties are transferable.

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32

Not to argue but no, it is not easier. Like I have said before and encourage others to do, I have one book that I keep all maintenance and improvement information in for cars, tools, rolling stock, the house, yard etc. When I want to know how old the battery in the car is or what the reading was a year ago, I just page back to that point. It’s a lot easier than going through a bunch of odd sized slips of paper. So I know when I changed a light fixture and what it cost but no way do I bother with the sales slip.

I’ve never dealt with Carmax but one thing that needs to be kept in mind is that dealers need to make money to stay in business. If they pay out $10,000 for a trade, then maybe put $1,000 of shop time and materials going through the car, plus interest on the money that they paid out for the car, they really need to get $12,000 or more to just break even after commission. So just saying that of course they are going to have to offer less for the car and sell it for more just to stay in business.

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33

Bing, you are in the minority in your recordkeeping. And you are a mechanic. If I came to look at a car you were selling, and you showed me your comprehensive book, I would be likely to believe it as accurate.

As far as dealer markup is concerned (not like Carmax), these dealers never pay for a trade-in at what the car is worth. They are the real shunks who give you the lowest wholesale book price, let’s say it’s $10,000. They spend as little as possible. You should know this. Look at what kind of quality body work they do. It’s a joke! And they hire (I forget the term for them) outfits that do “paint repair” that is basically temporary garbage, like “facial make-up” that comes off, and the defects are still there but were just a band-aid coverup.

Back to the $10,000 trade-in. The dealers then spend as little as possible, then turn around and charge over the highest blue box dealer price, and may put the car on their lot for $18,000. No offense, but I don’t agree with your low profit numbers.

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Naw, I’m not a mechanic, but a retired bureaucrat. I’ve been doing it for years though after being frustrated by other methods. I do have an interest in finance, accounting, management, production, government, health, security, disaster preparedness, and so on, but I’m no mechanic or engineer.

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I have 5 cars and also keep the records for my elderly mother’s car. I also do not have access to the NSA’s data storage facility, so some culling is necessary. :wink:

If I tell you I did the brakes 6 months ago, I’ll have the receipt. If I did the alternator 4 years ago and you insist on a receipt, you’re a bigger pain in the butt than it’s worth selling to.

Ah. That explains it. I’m selling cars when they get down to around 5 grand in value from around 50,000 new. An alternator does not cost 15 thousand bucks. If you’re buying $50 cars then yeah, the alternator is worth more than the car. Otherwise, you’re missing out on a lot of potentially good cars by insisting on collector Ferrari levels of recordkeeping.

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I haven’t been on the site for quite a while, but I thought you were. Is what you’re saying is you’ve been doing repairs “after being frustrated by other methods”? Which I interpret as you, as I, became disgusted with paying greedy mechanics, who’ll charge you full list or more for parts that you can get the same quality even OEM for half that. And then pay the $100+ hr. labor fees, depending on where you live.

I replaced a brake line on a 1984 LeSabre, and the most difficult line of all to have to replace. It took me too much time, and having no lift or 4 large jacks stands to place the whole car totally off the floor, was really a b**ch.

Since having bought a new 2017 Camry, now having only 35k on it, I’ve done nothing but get the included oil, filter, and the supposed what-ever point inspection. I’ve had to scrutinize the car after the dealers would do just these basics, before driving out, only to find issues –

They’d underfill the new oil, not check fluid levels, so I started to go to another dealer, and two times in a row they put it through their free car wash, when explicit instructions were written down on the Order to not put it through the car wash, as I’ve known for a long time that auto car washes are a no-no. The ones with the flaps like they have, scratched the paint on different parts of the car, even to a ding (probably by a stone stuck to the flaps).

I was smart enough to look carefully at the car, bringing it to the dealer always washed by me self-service, then they tried to deny it was through the car wash, and just a simple opening of the doors showed the water from the wash. I had to go through hell to take responsibility, and then more hell to get them to agree to let me get the paint “repairs” done by my body shop, as I refused to let their body shop do, as I had enough experience to know they’d have their third-party “detailers” do on “dealer trades” and on late model trade-ins, or whatever term (“pre-driven”? is used for their salesmen using a new car for under 500 miles (or whatever the cut-off is).

From mechanical repairs to body repairs, these are the minefields you go through. So, if you can do some mechanical work yourself, you’re way ahead of the game. Harder or impossible on many things in newer cars, though, unless you are a full-fledged mechanic.

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No, frustrated trying to keep track of everything. Just needed a simpler system easier to update. I prefer a book instead of a computer because even with a computer you end up writing it all down then going to the computer and doing it again.

No I don’t work for anyone else but have done most everything for myself or friends. Car repair, body work, wood working, metal working, plumbing, electrical, tile, roofing, carpentry, cabinet making, and so on. I don’t do surgery though except on myself.

38

Who said anything about 15k? And, what cars that sold new for $50,000 now is worth $5,000? What, a 30 year old Rolls Royce? It sounds like you buy and sell a lot of cars, is that correct?

Some alternators cost over $500 at discount. Have the job done at a shop and see what the total price will be after charging you full list, double or more than you can get the same OEM part for), plus labor. If anyone doesn’t want a receipt on one of those babies claimed to be changed, they better think twice.

Collector Ferrari record keeping? Hardly.

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You’re capable of doing a lot. It’s clear you have many skills, certainly more than myself. If I lived anywhere near you, and were your friend, I’d consider myself very lucky.

40

Math?

10+ year old Acuras with 140+ on the clock, to name one example. Guess how I know.

So you’re buying $166-$250 cars and you expect full receipts? Are you for real? Anything below $1000, if it runs, has a legit non salvage title, and they took the trash out of it before the sale you’re doing great.

What’s next, you want a CPO warranty too? Hardly anyone with a car that old still cares about it enough to keep all of the receipts. Have it inspected before purchase, but demanding comprehensive receipts is just a lost cause at that level.