Hi,

With cars between 3 & 5 years old are there any potential pitfalls where either variant has done low miles (below 30k) or is it better to look at those with a bit more legs that have had the blood pumping through the arteries in the first few years, eg examples with 60k miles plus.

Thanks

Personally, I've had more issues with low mileage cars over the years than those that have done average (10-12,000 a year) or high miles, I think they need to be used regularly.

It can take up to 50 miles for an engine to become fully warm and stabilise, low mileage cars will have done short trips with maximum wear and seldom had the chance to get fully warm...

Also if it has a DPF then they seem to get blocked on low mileage cars...

Just my 2p worth.... Pete
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2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand Sold
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

I agree with Pete, low mileage cars are usually used for short runs (not all some are used for longer weekend trips) and especially the diesels don't like it because they take longer to heat up (well used to, not sure about a TDV8 though) and the DPF is a problem on some of them as you notice here.

For low mileage I'd rather go petrol than diesel for those reasons, apart from the (slightly ??) lower reliability of the TDV8 engines (turbos, EGRs etc.) that the 5.0 (SC) doesn't have. But if you are keen on the 8 speed then of course the TDV8 is your only pick.

But stay in the SC club mate, the 5.0 is a blast . MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

ebajema wrote:

But if you are keen on the 8 speed

But do not buy the 8 speed on the basis that "8 is better than 6" - A friend of mine has just gone from the 6 speed auto to the 8 and he hates it; he claims it hunts around the gearbox much more and is far less settled and content than the old 6 was. That said, many here love the 8 so it's all down to personal opinion.

A lower mileage 5.0 would tick my box every time!  2006 4.2 SC
2019 Renault Zoe Dynamique Nav

Average mileage are easiest to sell/resell as they do not look expensive as the low mileage cars do. I would suggest average mileage as the best compromise.

Thanks all

So keep us posted on the search mate  MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

Low mileage or short trips will be a devil to a Diesel engine. They need a decent trip at least once a month as they get upto temp and can flush themselves.
Egr
Dpf
Turbos

The list goes on for diesel issues never mind the slight design fault with he oil supply to the turbos that's had to be botched after they hit the road.

Petrol for lower mileage/shorter trips and diesels for those who do decent miles or long trips but infrequently  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

A car consistently in service could do anything between 10 and 20k miles/ year. Fuel consumption not an issue. Longevity, reliability and enjoyment are the 3 prerequisites... RSE might be the 4th

Depends on the consistency. Could be consistently every weekend to the shops and back or every day on the school run and then yoga and back

I have an ff that was parked for 9months but despite that is on 152k which is on a 2005 plate so works out at 15k a year but in the last 3-4years has done 30k and the owner before that put 124k on it from 2005-2012 because they lived in the sticks so easily added 10-20miles just by going to the shops! FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

I love the phrase, 'motorway miles' which a dealer will tell you the previous owner did, to amass the higher than typical mileage shown on the clock. ' ...Caring for his elderly mother in a distant nursing home, he went back and forth, down the local motorway, regular as clockwork...she died recently, so he doesn't need it anymore.....' Perhaps the opposite, would be 'church miles' - 'He was a member of the clergy, he rang the bells on alternate Sunday's, when it was his turn. The other Sunday was spent deep cleaning his pride and joy'

Yawn

You can usually tell if a car has done a lot of motorway miles though. There will usually be a fairly large amount of peppering of the paint work at the front end, even if this has been repainted the windscreen and front lights will usually show a fair amount of peppering.

Vehicles just used around town or on A roads don't tend to suffer the same sort of damage. Though mechanically they can be worse off.

Being laid up for long periods is far worse for a car.

It's the age old question Ryan, age/mileage/condition. Mine does 10k pa but a lot of that is done on longer trips onto the continent or towing the van for a couple of hours. Probabably leaves the drive once or twice a week apart from that. The rest of my mileage is done in the disco!

So when i bought it a 4y.o on 47,000 it was higher mileage, now it's coming up to 7.5 y.o and its on 76,000.

I would always favour a slightly higher mileage rather than a car which has been standing. my disco is a different case in point though, higher mileage, mint condition toy salesman car, FLRSH, 3 months in and it needed a new dm flywheel, just had to have a new condenser, and will need a few new ball joints soon! So far all done under an aftermarket warranty but for a 60 plate car it shouldn't need any work imho!

Sometimes the theory works sometimes it doesnt! There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
KIA E-Niro 4+
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Our 4.4 AB has just turned over 9,500 miles and has just had it's 3 year service and 1st MOT.

It lives in the garage and only comes out when going away for the weekend. It never does a journey of less then a couple of hundred miles.

As it sits stationary for long periods it's always warmed up very gently for the first 10 or 15 miles and then given a bit of a poke to clear it out. It's occasionally started and moved out of the garage for a wash and then put away again but you can count the number of times it's done that on one hand.

We've never had any problems with it smoking, or suffering from sitting. Cars that sit outdoors in the sun are a different story, the paint can fade, tyres perish, brakes corrode, etc.

The SC is used as a weekend car for trips out for the day or going into Glasgow if we're going out for dinner of an evening. It tends to do a minimum of 20 miles when started as well which gives everything a chance to warm through as well. It's only doing about 3,800 miles in the last 12 months. It's also kept indoors which makes a big difference.

Low mileage cars can be the best cars you can buy, but as above, they can also be the worst. It entirely depends upon what they're used for.

David. 2002 4.6 Vogue SE - Alveston Red with Lightstone Leather
2012 Range Rover 5.0 SC Autobiography in Indus Silver with Jet/Ivory Interior
2012 Range Rover 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography in Baltic Blue with Sand Interior
2013 Range Rover Sport SDV6 HSE Black Edition in Santorini Black with Ebony Interior

Car's (in general) that stand for long periods tend to suffer more with rubber seals and hoses failing after a few years, brake calipers and cylinders start sticking too. Just look at the number of post on here about High/Low range motors getting stuck through lack of use.

But yes being in a climate controlled garage tends to be better than leaving them to bake in the sun or rot under a damp tarpaulin.
Never driving them in the rain and if you do, make sure you park them outside to air out and dry for a few days before parking them inside means they'll never rot - not so much of a problem on modern cars.

In truth though, with most second hand cars you really don't know the precise history, if a car has been used infrequently then you've no real way of knowing where most of them have been kept.