I was thinking about getting a 4 door, 4 cyl Camry. It's in clean shape, but has about 180,000 miles. How many miles can I expect out of this engine? Asking price is $3000, can probably get if for $2800. If it wasn't for the high milage, it looks like it's worth over $4000. I'm just kind of worried about that milage
It all depends on how the miles were put on and how well it was maintained. If they're mostly highway miles and there are good and complete maintenance records it should be OK, especially if there's no deferred maintenance. If records are sketchy that is probably a good indicator that maintenance was sketchy. But if were you I'd try to find one with less than 100,000 miles in good shape. It's rare that a car with lots of miles is a good deal unless you get it for free. JMHO
If it has been serviced properly, 180K on a Camary is not a really big deal. The quality of care and type of use it has seen is the limiting factor here. Several years ago I put 220k on a 91 until it was totaled and I belive it would have want another 100K yet because it still ran really well. At 180K you may need struts if they have not been replaced yet but otherwise nothing major "should" be wrong if it has not been abused. I would offer 2500 but honestly I would feel better about a used Yota with 180k than some other cars with less mileage.
I strongly disagree with this statement, a Toyota is in a class by itself and a 150K on it is almost like 50k on a like detriot car. A car the has 180k and still runs well it not going to have a major failure overnight but a older low mileage car can sometimes still be a unknow commodity and unproven. I have 3 car of my own with more than
100K on them (one with 173k) and I would drive it cross country tomorrow if need be and plan to in 2006. I have had it for 16 years now and it has NEVER left me stranded or failed me in anyway on a trip.2 years ago, I bought a 93 Camry with 234,000 KMS. Today, it has 284,000 KMS and still runs perfect.
High miles are miles in excess of 15,000 per year in California, 12,000 in most of the rest of the coutnry.
Those high mileage definitions are based on averages that no one has access to except leasing companies. I feel I'm average, live less than 10 miles from work, come home for lunch often, take a few 500 mile trips a year and I end up with more than 15,000 miles each and every year.
If the car's interior and exterior look well maintained, then chances are the engine was cared for as well. If this is a one owner car, and it feels like a fit, offer $2500. There's a glut of cars on the market right now due to the manufacturers' incentives so it's driving the value of used cars down. A lot.
Well, perhaps...my cars LOOK fantastic, but I generally only fix them when they break! (See my many previous discussions about Timing Belts...than God I have Non-Interference engines!)
BUT, I DO change the oil no later than 6,000 miles, and that's only maybe
3 times over the life of the car; otherwise it is 3,500 miles or less. But the brakes I am lax on (I need pads AND rotors?) Exhaust (Gee, there's a CLOUD in the car; time to get the muffler fixed!)The things I don't mess with are oil, gear oil in the diff and the tranny, and tires. Gotta have good tires. And Image. Gotta keep that Image...
For the record, Average mileage is in the range of 12,000 foar all but California, where the number is 15,000. If you log more than these numbers, you have High Mileage. Period. Everybody has access to these figures, look at Edmonds, NADA, or Kelley Blue Book.
Links to prove this? I would figure on Texas being the standard on which yearly mileage is based on because it is MUCH larger than California.
Well Alaska is MUCH MUCH larger then Texas, but this has little to do with yearly mileage, I suspect the average California work commute is larger then anyone and that has more effect on yearly mileage then anything else.
The difference is that in California they spend soooo...much time sitting in traffic jams. Taking an hour to move 15 miles screws up ones average MPG. LOL
mike hunt
bungalow snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote:
Bingo. It has been this way for as long as I can remember -- my dad was in car business and I often sat around looking at the Kelly Blue Book and learned that Californians are allowed 3,000 miles more per year than the rest of the country. It isn't a function of how large the state is, it's a function of how many hours we live in our cars.
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