What counts as "low mileage" now?

[Mark Elder]

Just realised my car is no longer "Low Mileage" (at least in terms of what people seemed to look for 5 years ago when I bought her) - I was determined to find a "Sub-60K" car (and got very lucky) - she now has 61K on clock and that will be 62K after the coming weekend.

OK - I know it is nonsense (the more your drive them the better they get) but I just wondered what people looking for 993s nowadays count as a low-miler?

 

[Stewart Rix]

Sub 50k miles feels like the cut off to me. Nothing scientific about it though. I bought my first 993 with 30k on the clock and parted with it 9 years later when it had done 88k. I don't remember thinking it had gone from low to high miles at any stage though.

 

[Dylan1]

i would agree with you mark-i reckon people still regard low mileage as what you bought yours at-somehwere in the 30's -though as we all know that is no guarantee of a mint car!!

 

[38F3E1]

Damm I'm just coming up to 51K. Looks like it's time to sell.

Ian.

 

[Gordon Attar]

Anything under 70k has to be low mileage nowadays for a 14 year old 993, theres not to many cars with low mileage about.

Ref 50k mileage, Only seen two Targas with sub 40k mileage and the one I saw was in average condition also saw a 40k black all leather c4 cab which was in good condition, not much else about

 

[clyde]

I would think you're just about on the upper edge of low mileage at 61,000 Mark. But although the goal posts have kept moving on this one as the cars got older the top limit must start to level off at some point and I would think 60k or so is probably it. There are a lot of people out there that just don't use their cars much, so even cars that weren't bought as low mileage are now creeping into that category due to lack of use.

I've added 85,000 miles to the mileometer in the nearly eleven years that I've owned mine but wouldn't have it any other way []

 

[harry]

My brother's 10000km RS [8D] Mine is 46000km []

 

[stephenh]

I bought my 1997 993 C2S in 2010 with 103,000 miles. Body is good, well maintained/sevice history etc. Any car of this age will need mechanical maintainence. Lack of use, short trips etc is bad for engines. I spent last winter doing a thorough overhall & service, replacing brakes, suspension bushes, dampers, exhaust cats, silencers etc. Total cost of parts was almost £4k but it drives superbly, probably better than a low mileage example. Most parts were replaced with 'better' and sometimes modified parts, such as Koni FSD dampers replacing the original 'poor' Monroes. Stainless sports exhausts/cat, Polyurathane bushes. Brake flexible pipes & plug leads deteriorate regardlees of age so alot of parts will need replacing on low mileage cars also. So the point I am making is that I now have a superb car, better than original spec. The cost of renewing parts plus the lower cost of buying a higher mileage example is still less than going out to buy a low miler at silly money. Its all about affordability and the enjoyment of driving & owning a Porsche. Don't get hung up with low miles!

 

[A Ward]

I couldn't agree more - I purchased mine 3 years ago with 59k on the clock - since then I have added another 10k. I absolutely love driving it and it would be ridiculous to not use the car for worrying about putting miles on the clock!

My brother has a 993 with just over 30k on the clock and he has put over 1/2 of those on the dial - having driven 2 identical cars with one effectively having 'twice' the mileage I can honestly say that they are both a pleasure to drive. The ride is still superb in the higher mileage car and feels just as 'tight' as the lower mileage 993.

Provided you maintain the car correctly and carry out the relevant works required at the correct intervals you should not really have any concerns about mileages.

These cars are designed to be driven and it is such a crying shame if you don't use it for worry of putting miles on the clock and 'depreciating' the value...if you are truly concerned about not losing money then you should probably have invested in gold bullion rather than a 993 - as although these cars will hold their value far, far better than others...unless they are ultra rare (ie rhd carrera RS for example) they will still depreciate over time.

Besides most people who own a 993 ultimately end up investing time and money into it - for example servicing, tyre renewals, 4 wheel tracking, upgrades (suspension, etc....) - so ultimately you will never get back what you put into it. Far better to take it out and enjoy it for what it was designed to do best - I never get tired of looking at the beautiful lines of the 993; but it puts a far bigger smile on my face when I sit in the drivers seat, turn the ignition key, press down on the go faster pedal and watch the scenery whizzing by.

Don't get hung up on mileage - be happy that you have such a wonderful example of Porsche engineering and go drive it!!

 

[clyde]

ORIGINAL: A Ward


Provided you maintain the car correctly and carry out the relevant works required at the correct intervals you should not really have any concerns about mileages.

That is indeed the most important factor. I have seen quite a few low mileage cars advertised recently (including a number of 993s) that when the service record is examined there are two, three or even four year gaps between services. Or some of the "services" are indicated as being "an oil service", which I presume means that the oil and maybe one or both of the filters were changed but nothing else. These cars will all look the part as they won't have been driven in anything worse than a summer shower but the mechanicals will leave something to be desired.

My car has just over 130,000 on it now and drives at least as good as it did when I got it eleven years ago and, as Stephen says, probably better because of the improvements such as Bilsteins and H & R springs, polyurethane bushes, stainless steel brake hoses, etc.

It does rattle a bit more than it used to but I think that is probably down to the lower, stiffer suspension rather than anything to do with the mileage.

 

[John Maddox]

Mine has done 176k+ now and is still a pleasure to drive - adding up the servicing and repair bills over this time is a little fightening - £18658 excluding several sets of tyres - but 11p per mile sounds much better !!

 

[38F3E1]

Hee hee I think the OP was asking what was considered low mileage these days not yet another debate about high or low mileage cars being better looked after. You can't generalise. Some high mileage cars are absolute dogs and some are well looked after. Same applies to low mileage cars. The amount of miles you do doesn't determine how good or bad an owner you are.

Thinking back to older models like 964 and 3.2 anything below 70K would seem to be considered a low mileage car. I agree with the comments above that below 60K seems to be where it is now for a 993 and my guess is it will increase to about 70K as the 993 gets older but will settle there and not go higher. 70K seems about the right mark for a middle aged Porsche. Once you get back to the early cars mileage seems to make very little difference and with the speedo only going to 99K before it gets back to zero on these you really have no idea anyway.

Ian.

 

[jdpef356]

Lets not forget that the cars range from 1993 - 1998. So and early 1993 car could be a high low miles car by a difference of a third more miles[8|]

 

[jdpef356]

ORIGINAL: jdpef356



Lets not forget that the cars range from 1993 - 1998. So and early 1993 car could be a high low miles car by a difference of a third more miles[8|]

Im not sure that's all that clear - so a 1993 car would be classed as a low miles car if it had done 90K and a 1998 would be classed as low miles at 60K[&:]

 

[harry]

Don't forget there is always wear in higher mileage cars - even if some people want to deny this fact. Any moving parts are subjected to friction and that causes wear. As mine is only a fair-weather car it shoulod have no rust like cars run as a daily driver. I know which I would pick []

 

[LK_991GTS]

I think the rough annual mileage in the UK is 12,000, but maybe the figure is different for Porsches. Anyway, I would think somewhere below half that figure per annum would be considered 'low mileage'.

 

[clyde]

ORIGINAL: harry

Don't forget there is always wear in higher mileage cars - even if some people want to deny this fact. Any moving parts are subjected to friction and that causes wear. As mine is only a fair-weather car it shoulod have no rust like cars run as a daily driver. I know which I would pick []

That's certainly true Harry and I don't think anyone would deny that a properly maintained low mileage fair weather car is a better car than a properly maintained high mileage everday model. Of course this is only true if the low mileage car has been run all year round or if not is at least winter stored correctly. Laying a car up for winter (as many of the low mileage cars are) has to be done properly or all sort of issues can arise. In many instances causing more wear when first put back on the road than would have been the case if it had not been taken off the road and run for a good few thousand miles instead.

The point I was making is that there are low mileage cars out there that haven't been maintained properly as some people only seem to consider the mileage when determining whether a service is due, not when it was last serviced and which of the three levels of service it had last and which it now needs. I'll be willing to bet that there are 993s out there that have never had a 48,000 mile service carried out on them simply because their mileage has not reached that level yet.

 

[Gordon Attar]

I wasnt hung up about the mileage just expressing my view based on whats been out in the market this summer and how people use the cars and i.e cars that stay indoors all winter and basically arent used as daily drivers/week end cars and tend to be on the very low mileage classic car policies.

I used 70k based on the following :

- quite a few cars about in the 70-99k bracket, mainly targas and cabs
- most have these cars tend to have done 50k in the first 3 to 5 years and then gone to week end use
- If its a 94/95 reg thats 17 years old and an average of just over 4k pa or 80 miles per week.
- If its 97 reg its 14 years old and therefore 5k pa or 100 miles per week.


both of these mileages qualify for classic car policies

Ultra low mileage i.e. 3k pa and less cars i.e. sub 50k seem to be supported with big annual bills for £1500 to £2500 plus due to the low usage theres usually a clutch, brake discs(corroded thro lack of use), electrical issues etc Also to a certain extent I am not to impressed with seeing some of the so called specialists taking advantage of these "pristine cars" and then only doing 12k services for years on end!!

 

[pse_SC]

The cost of renewing parts plus the lower cost of buying a higher mileage example is still less than going out to buy a low miler at silly money. Its all about affordability and the enjoyment of driving & owning a Porsche. Don't get hung up with low miles!

Agree with this... Bought mine 6 years ago at just under 100k... Just turned 139k - intend to "˜tidy up' after the winter (wheels, discs, shockers, etc).

 

[clyde]

ORIGINAL: pse_SC

The cost of renewing parts plus the lower cost of buying a higher mileage example is still less than going out to buy a low miler at silly money. Its all about affordability and the enjoyment of driving & owning a Porsche. Don't get hung up with low miles!

Agree with this... Bought mine 6 years ago at just under 100k... Just turned 139k - intend to "˜tidy up' after the winter (wheels, discs, shockers, etc).

That's the thing Paul. If you had bought a low mileage car at, say 30,000 miles, and put those 39,000 miles on it you would probably have lost more in residuals than you have spent on additional maintenance in the six years. Or you would have been scared to drive it [8|]

It's a horses for courses thing I suppose but much as I like looking at my car when it's just been cleaned and is tucked up in it's garage I much prefer to be driving it on the road.