Too many miles is when the seats are torn and springs shot, the suspension is shot, the body rusty or beat-up, knobs and switches broken or sloppy, ...

I've driven cars with 100,000 soccer-mom miles on them and they're POSs. I've also been in 250,000+ mile cars that handle bumps without shudder, run clean and smooth, and the interior looks first-rate. I used to drive 1500miles/week and my car would go through the gears twice between my driveway and Dearborn, a 200mile commute. The piston travel/mile was low and driving 75mph on the cruise control puts very little wear on the engine as the power output is moderate-low. Same for the suspension travel, the brakes, the door hinges, pretty much everything. Less hours per mile and less cycles of every system. I could pretty much divide the miles by 200 and figure out how many times the antenna went up or the door was opened.

The soccer-mom might start the engine cold for every 2-5 miles on the clock, go through the gears 5x per mile, use the brakes every block, idle at school for 20minutes honking for her child, ... big difference in uses and wear.

Miles mean nothing, but are still very important to resale value for late-model cars.

A former boss in a dealership once told me (regarding used car value): the only thing that you can't fix is miles.

Maintenance also is important, everything from flluid and filter changes to wheel balance. Usually you can tell a lot about a car by looking it over and driving it. If a car has been "in trouble", broken and missing parts are an indicator, mis-matched tires are another, really worn interiors in a car yet another. Find a 200,000mile car that starts and runs well, clean under the hood with no duct-tape repairs, drives and rides tight, and nothing looks worn to within an inch of its life it's probably a keeper. A matching set of recent Michelins will always catch my attention.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff