US car mileage

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xpd

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#280229 3-Dec-2020 10:13

Was watching a YouTube video the other night regarding someone wrapping a young girl's Mitsi EVO that she races/drifts. She has her own YT channel so I went for a look, and she had a video regarding her search to purchase a car for her mother - something small and cheap, etc. She so jumps on some site and pulls up a listing for a 2008 Toyota Prius - asking price, $6000USD.

Mileage: 140 000 Miles

If I've done my math correctly (ie: used Google), that's 220 000 KM.

Her comments throughout the video were along the lines of "oh wow, that's such good mileage"

Is 220000 KM a good mileage these days?

Myself, I'd consider it reasonably high and wouldn't touch the car - especially a Prius - at no point did she query the battery status.

I prefer to look around the 120000KM mark when hunting for a budget 2nd hand car.

Did she buy it ?

No - even tho the current owner was not aware of any accident damage, turns out it had been in a major accident before his ownership and repaired (seeing the photos, it would've been an outright write off over here, but appears the US likes having "repaired" bombs on the road.)

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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Senecio

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#2615448 3-Dec-2020 10:30

Looking past the hybrid battery part of it.

It's a 12 year old car that's covered 220k kms. that's less than 20k km a year, hardly high mileage. I would easily cover ~25k km a year in my car putting COVID aside.

Then, the US is big country. it's not uncommon for people to cover 20K miles in a year let alone 20k kms.

To answer your question, its not high mileage, comparatively speaking. Would I buy it, not a chance in hell! But not everyone has the budget for a ~3yr old car with less than 40k kms on it.

frankv

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#2615467 3-Dec-2020 11:22

turns out it had been in a major accident before his ownership and repaired (seeing the photos, it would've been an outright write off over here, but appears the US likes having "repaired" bombs on the road.)

New cars are somewhat cheaper in the USA, so there's less incentive than here to keep an old car running or to rebuild a wreck. So I'm guessing it was written off by the insurance company, and the wreck bought cheaply by some handyman and rebuilt. If the car wasn't roadworthy and involved in an accident, no doubt the shade-tree mechanic would be tracked down and sued to death. Possibly it was rebuilt to good-as-new condition.

It's not so much that they "like having repaired bombs on the road" as "don't care enough to get involved". If someone wants to make a living by repairing wrecks, then that's between him and the buyers of his cars. There's much less regulation of everything in the USA, so probably there's no tracking of accident rebuilds, let alone post-rebuild checks. That's "less government" for you.

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#2615595 3-Dec-2020 13:54

When I lived in Aussie for a couple of years, I found that Kiwis and Aussies also have differing views on what is a high mileage. Growing up I always considered anything under 100,000km to be low mileage (or at least a reasonable mileage) and 200,000km to be huge.

But in Aussie I would see late model cars with 200,000km on the clock being described as low mileage in adverts. Sydney ex-taxis would be sold with 800,000km or more on the clock for alright money. Over there, it's almost like it's not properly run in until it's hit 200,000km...

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#2615623 3-Dec-2020 14:39

Wheelbarrow01:

When I lived in Aussie for a couple of years, I found that Kiwis and Aussies also have differing views on what is a high mileage. Growing up I always considered anything under 100,000km to be low mileage (or at least a reasonable mileage) and 200,000km to be huge.

But in Aussie I would see late model cars with 200,000km on the clock being described as low mileage in adverts. Sydney ex-taxis would be sold with 800,000km or more on the clock for alright money. Over there, it's almost like it's not properly run in until it's hit 200,000km...

Rust is still pretty much the number one reason that cars in NZ fail warrants/ get junked,

- in a hot dry country like Australia Rust is no where near the same concern...

Scott3

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#2615644 3-Dec-2020 15:14

Yip. Different markets have different expectations.

For starters, a gen2 prius is classified as a compact car, and is something that small car buyers might shop for. here if somebody mentioned a small car I would be thinking prius C (aqua) size. In places like the Philippines, even smaller cars are available (i.e. toyota wigo at 3.7m long)

In NZ 14,000km a year is regularly quoted as the average distance traveled per (light) vehicle in a year. Not sure of the source.

Apparently USA average milage per person (driver?) is the highest in the world at around 13,500Miles, and Wyoming is the highest state at 21,000miles.

The USA is a pretty big place geographically (coast to coast return is well over 5000miles), and has a lot of cities where the urban form is built around long distance car commuting. Also they have land borders.

In comparison to NZ long distance car travel is pritty easy. My impression is that cars tend to be newer, larger, more powerful and ride on softer suspension than in NZ. Fuel is substantially cheaper. Roads (as a general statement) tend to be less windy, flatter etc. Major cities are linked by multi-lane moterway style roads, so you don't get stuck behind slow vehicle for extended periods like in NZ. Going between LA and Vegas traffic was flowing at about 130km/h. Eat up that distance quite a bit faster than NZ at that speed. Should also note that new cars, and rental cars are fairly cheap too.

NZ has roughly 33% of its population living in Auckland, and 50% of it's population in the Auckland / Hamilton / Tauranga triangle, and cities like whangerai, taupo and rotorua aren't that far away from the triangle. As such for more than half of NZ's population there isn't a pressing need to travel more than 4 hours by road (of course if you want to hit up the surf break in north land, or the ski slopes at whakapa you are welcome to, but those places are still under 350 km). For comparison LA to mammoth is about 500km.

Also with a decent chunk of NZ's population living within 1.5 hours of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Queens town, traveling by air regionally a realistic alternative or better option than driving for many regional trips. Furthermore, the presence of the cook straight and the cost (and inconvenience of a booked time) means that many north to south island trips are more logical by flying and renting a car than driving (really need a 3 week+ stay, cargo that can't fly, or specialized vehicle that can't be cheaply rented to justify taking the ferry).

Also our urban form, generally doesn't encourage long distance car commuting as much as in the USA. In Auckland / wellington congestion makes it kind crippling, and other cities are farily small diameter. Add in much higher fuel costs too, and that our flasher suburbs are often closer to the CBD, where in the USA nicer areas are often far away.

I also get the impression that a greater portion of New Zealanders (in non covid-19 times) holiday overseas by air. Over the last few years I have spent 5-8 weeks a year overseas. Means our cars get 10-15% less mileage than they would if we just stayed home, and even more than that if we holidayed by road. Not really a surprise that we drive less.

Regarding the Prius, I wouldn't consider 20,000km a year to be either low or high mileage. Should also note that the gen2 prius is regarded by many as the ultimate high mileage taxi choice, so I wouldn't be too worried about the battery pack either.

frankv

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#2615659 3-Dec-2020 15:34

Scott3:

The USA is a pretty big place geographically (coast to coast return is well over 5000miles), and has a lot of cities where the urban form is built around long distance car commuting. Also they have land borders.

I'd add that a lot of it is empty... miles of swampy emptiness around the southern Atlantic & Gulf coasts, miles of desert emptiness in Arizona, miles of scrubby emptiness in California and Texas, miles of cottonfield emptiness in Mississipi (that's just the bits I've been to, without the likes of New Mexico, Montana, the Dakotas). Hence cheap land (and lots of room for roads) and long commutes.

And that it varies enormously in climate and topography, so holidaying within the USA is normal.

Scott3

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#2615730 3-Dec-2020 16:22

wellygary:

Wheelbarrow01:

When I lived in Aussie for a couple of years, I found that Kiwis and Aussies also have differing views on what is a high mileage. Growing up I always considered anything under 100,000km to be low mileage (or at least a reasonable mileage) and 200,000km to be huge.

But in Aussie I would see late model cars with 200,000km on the clock being described as low mileage in adverts. Sydney ex-taxis would be sold with 800,000km or more on the clock for alright money. Over there, it's almost like it's not properly run in until it's hit 200,000km...

Rust is still pretty much the number one reason that cars in NZ fail warrants/ get junked,

- in a hot dry country like Australia Rust is no where near the same concern...

I was under the impression that rust wasn't such a big issue these days, and is defiantly not the issue it is in places there the roads are salted such as the UK and certain parts of north america.

The big difference with the NZ car market is that we have cheap used imports from japan. These arn't allowed into Aussie (I think you are allowed under two year old imports that arn't sold as new cars in Aussie now.)

You can get a fresh import 1.5L auto 2006 Tiida with 90,000km on it for $6k. Objectively a car that is likely to provide 10 years or so of service without major issues. The large number of such cars imported essentially depress the used car market in NZ.

These cars don't stop depreciating then they arrive in NZ. This means you can get a responsibly economical registered and warranted car for $2500. I.e. this 2003 wingroad with 122,000km:

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/nissan/wingroad/listing/2884613112

With car's available at this price point, it simply doesn't take much of cost to write the car off, and with relatively high petrol prices in NZ are a factor too, making an old falcon less desirable. Once a car is worth below say $1000 it is hard to justify even doing a cam belt change on it.

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mudguard

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#2615734 3-Dec-2020 16:37

I think it depends on the car too. My previous work car did 200,000km in five years, the interior was immaculate, the only real wear was on the driver's side, serviced roughly two to three times a year. Exterior was immaculate aside from gravel rash on the front bumper which is inevitable.

I was quoted $4000 as a trade in. So I gave it to my parents instead.

I treated like it was my own (work changed the arrangement, so I bought it about halfway through), always warmed up, never thrashed, all the usual cliches.

That said, I think my little project car is on its third engine, and the body has done 350,000km!

BlinkyBill

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#2615738 3-Dec-2020 17:07

When we lived in Los Angeles, we would drive 50 miles to a mall, 50 to a baseball game, 30 to a restaurant etc etc etc. Easy to do big miles even within one city.

Fred99

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#2616405 4-Dec-2020 17:01

200,000km with say 3,000 cold starts over 3 years is going to be a hell of lot better than 200,000km with 10,000 cold starts over 10 years, or 20,000 cold starts over 20 years.

Then there's all the other stuff that just ages regardless of mileage, self-composting wiring looms on some Euros, engine and gearbox seals, suspension rubbers, boots on CVs, steering racks, cosmetic stuff like cracked dashboards knackered seats, yellowed/crazed/cloudy plastic light clusters and frayed seat belt webbing that'll eventually be a major cost to get a WOF, Then over 20 years, the chance of at least one of probably many owners who never changed oil, filters etc, a bozo who kept topping the overflow cooling tank with water (you should see what happens there with alloy head/block engines when they do this - start pulling them apart to do a little job, everything's turned to swiss cheese and wet white powder). Then crappy support or ludicrous prices for OEM parts, and if it's not a popular / common model, no cheap aftermarket parts.

Personally, I'd never buy a car with 200,000km (let alone miles). If I did, then as new as possible.

Sidestep

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#2616428 4-Dec-2020 18:33

xpd:

Is 220000 KM a good mileage these days?

I prefer to look around the 120000KM mark when hunting for a budget 2nd hand car.

Depending on the State 220K could easily be wear equivalent to NZ 120K.

The driving conditions in - say - Texas are so different to NZ that it's very easy to rack up 'highway miles' which are all in a straight line, at a steady speed while causing very little wear on a vehicle. Used to come across vehicles at auctions, looking like new (except for the driver's seat) with the equivalent of 250Km on.

When I was hotshotting I'd often put on a thousand km a day for 5 or 6 days in a row.. and had friends that didn't consider their (pickup trucks) worn out yet at 800,000 km.

- even tho the current owner was not aware of any accident damage, turns out it had been in a major accident before his ownership and repaired (seeing the photos, it would've been an outright write off over here, but appears the US likes having "repaired" bombs on the road.)

When I was younger - bright eyed and bushy tailed - I bought a couple of "Salvage" cars from copart to rebuild.

In those couple of US States, and the Province of Alberta in Canada there was no chance of getting a roughly repaired 'bomb' back on the road.
The DMV or authorised inspection shops don't let anything slip past. I had to get one car reinspected 3 times because they wouldn't accept the body's 'factory' production tolerances were a little off..

The Titles also carried a 'Rebuilt' status from then on - decreasing their resale value.

1101

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#2618024 8-Dec-2020 11:20

It all depends on the car , and the era/year of the car
And if its manual or auto (and who made the auto transmission)

My previous Mazda 323/astina & ford laser(made by mazda) : both good for apprx 300,000km . Ive seen those with 400,000k . They were were approx 25 & 30 years old when I had them . Famous for lasting a long time .
Rust : never an issue with those 30year old cars
These cars were very basic, no EFI, no ABS , no complex electronics to fail, both manual . Very simple , very cheap cars . Replaced the Laser last year .

My replacement : 1998 mazda with 140,000km . Its far to complex to last a very long time , to many things on it that could fail . Plastic engine related parts that are breaking allready .

The Aussie holdens that did 800,000k. I bet they would have been older , more simple models . With steel not plastic parts .