A8L High mileage advice

[diagnose]

Thinking of purchasing an A8LWB 3.0tdi with 178980 miles on the clock. Did I fail to mention its a 07 reg so approx 60000 miles per year. Could do with some advice on what to look for if its a good idea????

Its gonna be cheap but not if I gotta spend £££££ on it within first 6 months

cheers guys

[STEWY L]

Thinking of purchasing an A8LWB 3.0tdi with 178980 miles on the clock. Did I fail to mention its a 07 reg so approx 60000 miles per year. Could do with some advice on what to look for if its a good idea????

Its gonna be cheap but not if I gotta spend £££££ on it within first 6 months

cheers guys

depends what you call "cheap",
because you will be talking seriously big money when it goes wrong,
and then you need to think about how long you would keep it, and it's value,
if any, after that time?
i wouldn't buy any car with that mileage on it,simply because it's an expence
waiting to happen,with very little value in it should you need to get rid.
it's never changed, big cars bring big bills,always have,always will,in my book.
regards,
stewy.

[diagnose]

Been offered the car at £7600????

is it worth while? Its an x fleet vehicle

[bigandyt]

It's cheap enough but you need to be prepared to spend a few quid on all kinds of odds and ends that could be worn out. I have heard of one car from my local area that has now covered 260,000 miles on it's original engine and gearbox and is still going well, I'm sure if anyone on here has needed a new engine in a 3.0tdi sooner that those miles they will let you know. I guess if you aren't expecting to do many miles now that it could last a few years.
Good luck with it!

[Crasher]

Just bear in mind what has already been said, repairs can be wallet blowing. If the engine or box goes pop you could be talking nearly the purchase price for the former and half that for the later. Remember it was a very expensive new car and it is still an expensive car plus cars do not get cheaper to run as they age.

[tezread]

I think you know in your heart this is a bad move - you kind of answered your own question.

[meffe]

Hi Mate,

From experience i have had many high mileage cars - i actually prefer them!!

Like anything, price is a major factor, so if you weigh up the cost of the car with average miles, and then price this car with high miles - the price needs to be cheap - and this is!!

Yes, you will have to lay out a few quid if theres a fault, but thats where a £99.00 AA inspection would come in.

Its a very good price for the age, and just to put your mind at ease, ive just sold my BMW 530D Sport which had very high miles when i bought it, and sold it a 1yr later with more miles for the same money!! I bought it cheap, and knew the bottom price what it would be worth - so did the guy that bought it!! A BMW enthusiast who knows a thing or two!!

Look mate, simple fact is - its cheap, so if your umming are arring, then give me a shout, and i'll buy it!!

[hibberd]

With expensive cars you are confronted by two things, running cost and depreciation. The newer and lower the mileage the lower the running cost and the higher the depreciation, the older the car the lower the depreciation and the higher the potential running cost. Looking at this one the depreciation is never going to be higher than 7600 quid so thats a given, someone else has taken the hits there. The running cost is based on wear, so look at whats been changed etc in the service history. On most expensive cars there are lots of electric toys, the older the car the more the risk that decay causes wire and or connectors to get damaged/corroded etc. The biggest cost is then trying to find where the problem is. This is in my minds eye an age related thing rather than a mileage thing. This car has high mileage but low age so less risk that this is going to be a problem. The miles are high but done in a very few years so lots of motor way use or use at temperature. Cold starts kill cars quicker than long distances. Looking at this one I would risk it, even if its engine goes bang the scrap value is still quiet high and the depreciation low so you know how high the financial risk is your taking.
My way of thinking

[bigandyt]

you've made a good point there Hibberd, most of these miles will have been done cruising along at constant speeds in a straight line at normal temperature, I'd rather have that car than one that's done 100k less miles from London (or any other big city) where all it's mileage has been up and down through the box, on and off the throttle accelerating and braking lots of cornering, the motor would have run for just as long in hours to cover far less miles and under greater strain.
All this makes my 76,000 miles of cruising make my car sound like it's had a really easy life

[hdouglas]

Sounds like just the sort of car I would buy, it's young with a high mileage and discounted substantially as a result. You will probably be looking at wear in the suspension and should budget for renewing parts on that, but engine should be fine as long as the servicing has been done. I test drove an A8L 3.0 a few weeks ago with a view to swapping my older 4.0 A8L, I found the 3.0 very under powered compared to what I was used to and decided I could not live with it, I needed a 4.0 or 4.2. The L is great but a little heavier and does not have the grunt of the V8.

If it has got lots of toys on it, buy it and enjoy it If you get another 2 years motoring out of it (and I suspect you will get a lot more) you have got yourself a very cheap car.