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Is it bad to have 300,000 miles on a car?
My dream car is a 1993 Mazda X5 Miata, but the only ones I can find online (in my price range) have over 300,000 miles. Is it bad to have 300,000 miles on a car?
Max Werner · Updated on
Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.
Oh no—sorry to hear you are having trouble finding your dream car with competitive mileage. To answer your question: It’s complicated.
In the past, many car owners used 100,000 miles as the cut-off for a reliable vehicle. While this was true for cars manufactured pre-1960, advancements in technology have allowed vehicles to stay on the road longer than ever before.
Today, many auto professionals will tell you to stay far away from vehicles over 200,000—unless it’s a
collector car
. The reasoning is that major issues begin to affect a car after this threshold. While 200,000 is a reliable estimate—it still depends on the make and model of a vehicle. Cars are built differently. Plenty of large vans and trucks will continue to run smoothly way past the 200,000-mile mark. Depending on the manufacturer, you can even get a long life out of a smaller vehicle.
Surprisingly, most Miata’s will continue to drive well (give or take a few repairs) past 300,000. Just don’t expect fresh off-the-line performance from an older vehicle.
If you do buy a vehicle with higher than average mileage, you’ll want to protect it with the right
car insurance
. Jerry
can help!A licensed broker, Jerry does all the hard work of finding cheap quotes from the top name-brand insurance companies and buying new car insurance. Jerry will even help you cancel your old policy. No hassles. Just savings.
View full answer
- Gregory R.
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Jerry partners with more than 50 insurance companies, but our content is independently researched, written, and fact-checked by our team of editors and agents. We aren’t paid for reviews or other content.
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