02-25-2011, 03:45 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 7,370
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Quote:
Originally Posted by babymog
I expect that this is much more common than most of us want to know.
Average mileage in the US is considered to be 12,000/year (low) to 15,000/year (more common). Unless the car is a garage queen, lets say a nice exotic car or seasonal vehicle, this pretty much applies.
Now diesel folks, mostly bought diesels because they got good mileage and were durable, and the buyers planned to drive them more than average.
So your average '85 300D should have around 390,000 miles on it. Many have more, some have less. However, look at the mileage on the cars you see on ebay, craigslist, this site, ... all seem to be closer to 250k. Odd?
In most states, a car this old (even a '90s car) is "mileage exempt". This means that the mileage exempt box is checked on the title, and no representation of miles is necessary. Unless: The vehicle was represented with less miles; The seller knew of the higher miles; and You can prove both of these, you might as well move on.
I have an '87 that shows somewhere around 205,000 miles. I don't know whether to believe it, but the mileage is secondary to the wear on the car which is caused by many factors other than total miles. If the interior looks worn, engine is loose and smokey, steering and heating system worn out, ... you've got a worn-out car. If everything is tight and nice, you've got an above average car, even if there are a million miles on the chassis because obviously everything that wore out or needed attention was repaired or replaced.
Kind of a touchy subject for me, since I drive fairly average miles, my '91 was about 120k miles when I sold it in '96 (and looked/drove like new), probably has 400k by now and an owner thinks it has 200k because the odometer stopped somewhere in the 2nd or 3rd owner.
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Agreed, at this age condition matters more than anything. In the case of my 300E, I found after the fact that the odometer ticks about 50% speed for some reason (speedo is also off). However since the condition is very good it wasn't worth going after the guy who sold it for the mileage. If it has 170k, assuming it was ticking halfway its whole life, the condition is extraordinary. I suspect that would probably be the case with the OP as well, if it was not clear that it had over 200k than indicated, that is a good thing. Now on mine, Public VIN missing is something else altogether, which is my allusion to a court case above.
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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.
Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth
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