I am thinking about purchasing a used 2008 Toyota Yaris. 1 owner, good car fax report, no history of crashes or mana or repairs. The one catch is that it has pretty high miles (153,000 to more exact). Theses cars though are known to last up to 250,000 to even 300,000 with good routine maintenance. Should I buy or keep looking
CarFax is only useful if the maintenance is reported. If not, you have to depend on owner receipts. If this car is for sale at a dealer and it is excellent shape, you might want to pay a mechanic you trust for a prepurchase inspection. If you do buy it, expect a few repairs in the next 50,000 miles. At this mileage, wear and tear starts to show up. I’m not suggesting the car was abused, just that things wear out. If you can afford to spend more, look for a clean car with around 100,000 miles.
And just where is this coming from. Sure there may be a few that reach those high numbers but I would only expect a very small percentage. At the above average of 20000 miles a year it would take 12 years to reach 250000 . Any 12 year old vehicle has enough age that who knows how long it can last.
No one on the web can give you a yes or no on if you should buy this thing. As JT says pay a mechanic to look at it then decide if the price is acceptable.
Agree! Unless you know EXACTLY what shape this car is in and have its history, it’s a crap shoot with anything that age.
Having said that, my son’s wife has a 2007 Yaris and it has been flawless over the years. She has maintained it meticulously and it has never been in the rust belt, so the body is rust-free…
Agree that it is probably the most reliable small car you can buy, but based on the unknowns I’d never pay more than $1200 for such a vehicle.
If it was any other car than a Yaris, I’d say walk away immediately.
OK, lets assume that a Yaris can go many miles. Why not buy a new one ? There are quite a few in my area with internet discounts for 16500.00 to 18000.00 which means if you qualify for low finance rates you are in a new car for around 300.00 a month for 60 months.
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I’m a student. I really can’t afford $300 a month. That would be amazing to get a brand new one, but with student debts and everything I just don’t have the income right now to buy a brand new car. I have to go with used
I personally believe the Yaris is reliable . . . but not good bang for the buck
You can buy nicer cars for the same money
Just curious. Why? And what cars would you suggest. I’m trying to stick with either a Honda or Toyota for fuel economy and reliability
Mariah, How much are you considering paying for this particular vehicle? That will give us an idea of what a poor college student can afford and we can possible offer recommendations.
Do you personally know the owner?
Most cars built the past couple of decades will easily offer over 200,000 miles of service or more with basic maintenance. I’m afraid you’ll pay a premium price thinking a Honda or Toyota of basically unknown history will provide a better value than another brand. Just saying, I have put over 300,000 miles on GM vehicles with only basic maintenance and very few repairs, for example. Chrysler cars have also delivered for me.
I’m no longer a poor college student. I’m an old guy with the means to buy new cars. However, I do not enjoy spending a lot on cars or a lot on repairs and have been buying used ones with about 100k miles.
CSA 
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I’m willing to pay $5000 maybe $6000 if I push it. I’m also thinking about putting $4000 as a down payment on a used newer model with monthly payments of around $100 (I can do that at least). Of course open to other makes other than Honda or Toyota. I just hear a good deal about their reliability and feel exo one so I thought that might be a good choice for my personal circumstances
ALL of my Toyotas over the years have lasted at least this long. My current one has over 252,000 right now, and it still runs great. The statement that it is only a small percentage is just plain wrong.
Kinda agree with the others but a Yaris would not be something I’d be interested in. It depends on the price, condition, and service records I would guess. The highest mileage I ever bought was about 120,000 and the highest mileage I ever sold was 350,000 for $50. I don’t really consider 150,000 all that bad, depending. I’ve got 130K on my Pontiac and its still like new.
The Corolla is a much more substantial. less disposable, car and gets quite good MPG. There are 20 of them in auto recyclers for every Yaris - and parts both used and new are readily available. With good maintenance, 200,000 miles is quite doable unless age and rust get it first. Automatic trans is probably more durable for your usage than manual.
Awesome. Thanks for the advice everyone. This all really helped out
That’s pretty normal mileage for a 10 year old car, about 15,000 miles per year. Which is better than if it only had 15,000 miles on it total, or 1500 per year imo. At the 10 year mark I’d worry more about buying a 1500 miles / year car than 15,000 per year, b/c car’s don’t do well when driven only once in a while, or only on short trips. That car has been driven a typical number of miles per year, and probably quite a bit of it is freeway-type miles. Those are very easy on the car. Make sure the price is competitive with other similar cars of course, and research what the manufacturer recommends for routine maintenance. If something is coming up due soon, like the timing belt, or if the tires look pretty worn, you should ask for some discount for that also. At that age the battery and starter motor may be about to give up the ghost. One way to test for that is to listen to how robustly the engine cranks. Compare the sound to a newer, but similar car. If the cranking sounds sluggish, anticipate the need to replace both the battery and the starter motor, and make your offer accordingly.