If you’re searching for a used car, the chances are its mileage will be at the forefront of your decision making. While we’ve been told that fewer miles equate to a better-condition car, that’s not always the case. Electric cars complicate matters further, given that they have fewer moving parts and are subject to less frequent health checks, plus have different life expectancies to internal combustion-engined cars.
Firstly, let’s tackle the ‘100,000-mile myth’. You have probably heard this landmark cited as the moment when cars begin running into reliability issues, or severe depreciation takes hold.
However, unless it constitutes the end of a warranty – 100,000 miles is a typical period for EV batteries to be covered, for example – or the car in question requires a new timing chain or cambelt at this point, then it’s a largely irrelevant milestone in the lifespan of any vehicle.
If you’re considering a high-mileage car, its service history is increasingly important to show if it has been cared for over its life.
On the flipside of this, though, are low-mileage cars. Limited mileage can mean a vehicle has suffered less wear and tear, which is clearly a positive. But there are other factors to consider. If a car hasn’t been used frequently enough, to the point where parts can seize – or haven’t been replaced – then that’s clearly a problem. Even worse, such things are not always immediately obvious when viewing.
