Distance relative

What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks

Distance relative

I currently drive 25-30kmiles per annum and have a 2003 Citroen C5 2.0 SX petrol, bought last October now with 59k miles. Not long after purchase it became clear that the car was not well put together and parts cost a fortune. Having lost confidence in the car, I acquired a 1990 Mercedes 200E which is my 'spare' car and does v little mileage. I love the Mercedes build but the fuel consumption of the Citroen. Safety is important to me, reliability, some comfort, performance/ handling. I am considering an older BMW 3 or 5 series-I don't require that the car is particularly new, (indeed, I'd prefer to spend under £5,000) merely that it is capable of taking high mileage well. Any thoughts please?

Asked on 25 July 2009 by

Answered by Honest John

For high mileage buy cheap cars; never buy expensive ones. Expensive cars, however old they may be, are expensive to fix. A lot of people seem to like Skoda Octavia diesel, up to around 200k miles. The old Peugeot 406 2.0HDI was also a favourite. Best thing to do, go check out a few station taxi ranks. See what the taxi drivers are driving. Pick the model you see the most of on the rank.

Tags: buying high mileage used cars

Dear Honest John,

Please help me choose my next car. I would like it to have:

Similar questions

Should I be concerned about a high mileage TSI engine?

Should I be concerned about a high mileage petrol EcoTSI engine? The car I'm looking at appears to be ex fleet, as it covered 90,000 miles in it's first three years, and then a further 20,000 in the next...

After a used car on a budget of £4K?

I've a budget of £4K and looking for a car that would be suitable for around 24000 miles per annum. Also needs to have enough space for a peak, two children and occasionally the family dog. Any suggestions...

Is a high mileage Jaguar XF a good bet?

I am well into retirement and only travel about 5k miles a year. We already have a small car [Toyota IQ] and would like the comfort of a bigger car for the few longer journeys, but only have a limited...