Looking to buy car with super high mileage

[GoPackGo]

I'm looking at buying a 2003 Saturn L200. It has 185000 miles. Its super clean. has had ALL the maintenance done, serpentine belt is only 4 months old.

Ran a VIN report and its totally clean...1 owner

Price - 4499


Any thoughts?

 

[JTsyo]

That seems expensive for almost 200K miles. What was it worth new? what's blue book on it?

 

[GoPackGo]

Blue book for that mileage is 6200.... was 20k new.

Does have a moon roof, alloy wheels, cruice, a/c, abs, traction control.

Saturn is throwing in 72 months worth of regular maintenance ...oil change, tire rotation, etc...

 

[radioouman]

Seems high to me. You have PM.

 

[Vette73]

I also vote price is high.

 

[woodie1]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
I also vote price is high.

Me 3.

 

[JTsyo]

Originally posted by: GoPackGo
Blue book for that mileage is 6200.... was 20k new.

Does have a moon roof, alloy wheels, cruice, a/c, abs, traction control.

Saturn is throwing in 72 months worth of regular maintenance ...oil change, tire rotation, etc...

You are buying it used from the dealership?

 

[PricklyPete]

Originally posted by: JTsyo
That seems expensive for almost 200K miles. What was it worth new? what's blue book on it?

Totally agree...I wouldn't touch that for more than 3K

 

[joesmoke]

IMO youd get more in that price range from a private party.

 

[GoPackGo]

Yes...its from the dealer.

The car is in excellent condition and was well taken care of.

The one owner just put an average of 40,000 miles on a year.

I have a 2006 Saturn Vue and we have been putting on 20000 miles a year.

If I subtract the value of the regular maintenance they are throwing in, then I am getting the car for about 3500.

 

[woodie1]

Originally posted by: GoPackGo
Yes...its from the dealer.

The car is in excellent condition and was well taken care of.

The one owner just put an average of 40,000 miles on a year.

I have a 2006 Saturn Vue and we have been putting on 20000 miles a year.

If I subtract the value of the regular maintenance they are throwing in, then I am getting the car for about 3500.

Provided the car is still running until the service contract runs out.

 

[Arkaign]

I wouldn't touch it with a 100ft pole. That 'regular' maintenance doesn't cover the high probability that a crank sensor, head gasket, fuel injection, or any other number of moderate to severe failures will occur. ~200k miles is usually around the upper range before serious problems start to happen on almost all cars.

If you're working on a tight budget, find something nice and well-maintained, that has a WHOLE lot less miles on it. It might not be as 'nice' of a car, but you'll actually get more from your money.

Think of it this way, you find another well-maintained car that is selling for $4500, that has 90k miles on it. The odds of getting another 110k miles with good maintenance habits are pretty high, depending on the brand/motor/tranny, and so on.

The odds of getting another 110k miles out of that Saturn without running into a major repair (engine failure, transmission failure, fuel injection system failure, whatever) are pretty slim.

Here are a few examples of better typical choices for that amount of $$ (or less)

'01 Accord, 139k miles http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/cto/963058996.html
'01 Altima, 114k miles http://dallas.craigslist.org/mdf/ctd/963042157.html
'99 Integra, 130k miles http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/cto/962904551.html
'04 Focus, 122k miles http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/ctd/962819970.html
'96 Corolla, 122k miles http://dallas.craigslist.org/mdf/ctd/962801703.html
'02 Saturn LS, 108k miles http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/ctd/962534287.html
'96 Infiniti J30, 119k miles http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/ctd/960090215.html

etc, etc.

Just because a car has low miles doesn't mean it's a good deal or hasn't been abused, but you have to shop around. If a car has 150k+, it's generally a better idea to look elsewhere if you plan to keep the thing for very long without doing a bunch of work to it. 180k+, that gets pretty scary. Even with great maintenance habits, a lot of things on that vehicle have gone through a lot of stress.