A bit of advice on mileage?

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My ST220 is finally got to be replaced, so I want to buy a second-hand car with a budget of between £12k-£15k, I don't want finance or anything like that and it will be essentially a second car just so I can get to and from work and the airport once a week or so, and just short local stuff generally, so mileage will be less than 10k a year, but I am conflicted about what to buy. It must have 4 seats.

The car needs to be reliable, relatively economical (on a par with the ST220 overall) and a decent interior size, specifically in the Drivers position as I am 6'2" and not too old (the car, not me..its too late for me)......I have looked at other newer Mondeo's, but I don't like any of them other than the 2.0 Ecoboost Titanium X Sport, and those are a little out of my price bracket, I also looked at the Passat CC, BMW 520D and the 320D coupé, but again out of my price bracket unless I go for significantly higher miles or older versions (I was trying to keep it below 30k). I even looked at the Fiesta Zetec S, which has a surprisingly large interior and low miles and is well within budget.

So my questions, is mileage really that important in cars such as BMW, Audi and the usual quality marques?

What should I be looking at regarding service history and dealerships?

Is there anything I should be looking at that I may have missed?

Any specific recommendations that fit my criteria would be most helpful as it has been a very long time since I bought a second hand car.

Anything else I should be aware of?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me.
 
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Soldato
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Got to be replaced? Why?

One would assume fuel costs vs. mileage + MPG return? Tax/Insurance? New job?


Mileage on vehicles is as important as you want it to be - Dealers will always be your enemy in this regard...

IF you have a low mileage car to trade in, they will say 'Oh mileage doesn't matter'; yet if you want a low mileage vehicle from them, they will say 'This is really low mileage'. Opposites can happen too - they criticise your high mileage as justification for a poor offer, and they will ignore the mileage on a used car and say it is in excellent condition instead.

I'm sure FOXEH will be around shortly, but until then, look for Full Main Dealer Service History (FSH), no accidents (not Cat D or C write-off) and check through parts/work logs for the vehicle, see how many clutches, tyres, gearboxes etc it has gone through (if any). This will give you an indication as to the life it has had, and what you can expect to fail or cause issues in the future.
 
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Got to be replaced? Why?

It's getting on a bit now. I have had it since new (2003) and although it has relatively low miles (77k) it needs a new handbrake, new rear bushes, new shocks, four new tyres, front springs, lambda sensor and several other bits and pieces doing to it which collectively is going to cost more than the car is worth.
 
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Also the MPG--->Performance is a bit pants, I am lucky to crack 20mpg these days.

That would be due to the duff Lambda sensor.

They cost £30 and can be fitted easily - Generic part on 99% of cars and will improve the MPG no end.

My Mk2 Mondeo had the same problem years ago, i was getting 15mpg.

After replacing it, i was back up to 30mpg (mixed).
 
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It's getting on a bit now. I have had it since new (2003) and although it has relatively low miles (77k) it needs a new handbrake, new rear bushes, new shocks, four new tyres, front springs, lambda sensor and several other bits and pieces doing to it which collectively is going to cost more than the car is worth...

To be honest, it probably isn't going to cost more than the car is worth. And tyres and bushes are consumables you'd need on any car so shouldn't really be included in the figures. Even if it does 'cost more than its worth' unless you want to sell it already for other reasons this doesn't seem relevent if you otherwise like and know the car. You cannot buy another car you know so well for the book value of a 2003 ST220 so I'd counter that to you, its worth much more than its simple book value. The ST220 is not a particularly unreliable car and I wouldnt be taking the fact i needs some new bushes and some new springs/dampers as an indication more and bigger bills are on the way.

If you want to change purely because of the reasons you've given above, then don't.

If you want to change because you've had it for 9 years and really fancy something new, then cool. Change.

Mileage is and isn't important. It isn't important because frankly cars do not have some sort of secret formula where they all wear x% per mile. It depends on a wide range of factors of which only one is how long its driven. There are tatty abused 30k mile cars out there, there are mint as-new looking 90k mile cars out there. But mileage IS important on newer 'prestige' cars these days as they have become disproportionately complex therefore making having a decent warranty pretty much essential - the bill a 3 year old BMW 525i dropped on my father would pay for all the repairs your ST220 needs and more - and it was only one fault!. Warranty pricing and coverage is strictly dependant on mileage. BMW, for example offer a far far better price on a warranty if the car is under 60k miles.

If you like Mondeos I'd be tempted to look at a Mk4 Titanium X 2.5T. No, its not particularly economical but as a result nobody wants one. You can buy an 07 plate one for just £6k, even £10k would get a very new one.
 
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Thanks....I think now is a good time to change the ST, like I said I'll probably have the work done anyway rather than just scrapping it but I'm going to replace it.

What sort of advice on warranties has anyone got, having never had a third party warrant or bought one I am none the wiser tbh.

I have seen this online that I was thinking of looking at:

http://www.sparshattsgroup.co.uk/used-cars/view/8043/volkswagen-passat-cc-2.0-tdi-140

and also I have been looking at Fiesta S1600's (I know they are poles apart class wise)

http://www.jenningsforddirect.co.uk/cars/view/ford/fiesta/reg/eo11pjj/
 
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[TW]Fox;22327987 said:
Third party ones are ****. Manufacturer backed extended policies are generally best.

So buy a ford, get the warranty from ford, get a VW, buy the warranty from VW. Will that limit me to buying the Car from a dealership?

what sort of budget (broadly speaking) are we looking at?
 
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So buy a ford, get the warranty from ford, get a VW, buy the warranty from VW. Will that limit me to buying the Car from a dealership?

what sort of budget (broadly speaking) are we looking at?

My warranty knowledge is mainly BMW. With BMW you can buy the warranty even if the car was bought privately. A 5 Series is 700-900 a year depending on excess and whether you take the assistance package, a 3 series is 400-540.

Audi warranty is run by the same people that do BMW, but I do not know pricing.
 
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[TW]Fox;22328088 said:
My warranty knowledge is mainly BMW. With BMW you can buy the warranty even if the car was bought privately. A 5 Series is 700-900 a year depending on excess and whether you take the assistance package, a 3 series is 400-540.

Audi warranty is run by the same people that do BMW, but I do not know pricing.

So effectively I could buy something privately like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2007-BMW-...9988115?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item257236dd13

and get a warranty from Woods BMW in Salisbury for around £500. I assume that would take care of all the big bills, and what is an Assistance Package. (apologies for being such a noob, I have zero experience with buying cars second-hand, last time was about 20 years ago)
 
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The final figure for fixing the ST will come to just over £1100. Needs new subframe, the stuff I mentioned before, a whole new handbrake assembly and various other bits and bobs. MOT expires today. I don't think it is worth doing. I have a mate who will probably give me £500 or so for it as it is and do the work himself. So definitely in the market for another motor.
 
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