Maximum mileage?

[CognitiveDissonance]

I'm looking at buying a second hand car, no more than 4 years old or so. What is the maximum millage you should expect to find on a second hand car?

For me I’d be worried about service history not mileage. 4 years old diesel 60-100k with full service history. Petrol 40k up again service history.

High mileage and well maintained wouldn’t be an issue in my opinion.

Buy on condition rather than mileage, most modern cars should be capable of 3/400k miles if looked after. I probably wouldn’t want a 4 year old car with more than 80k on it but it depends on what kind of deal you’re getting. Also, think about how many miles you do - if you only do a few thousand per year then this will pull the average mileage down through the years as you own it.

Completely depends on the car
So a 1.9 tdi Volkswagen / Audi will happily do 250,000 + miles if looked after.
But a 0.6 smart car engine often needs a rebuild at 40-60,000 miles.

Lots of cars have different weak spots so Nissan jukes and qashqai/ Renault gearboxes are well known for going even as low as 12k miles and it’s a fight to get them covered by warranty.

So it depends entirely on the car. Important basics, service history and belt changes (if it has one).

Young high-mileage car is normally a better bet than older low-mileage - they normally do more motorway miles so less wear on clutch, gearbox etc.

DH’s car (diesel) is 7 & is approaching 200K miles but has been regularly serviced & is in good 7-year-old condition.

So yes, service history/condition more important than actual mileage.

Thanks all, very much noted. I hate that I'm so clueless about this kind of thing but I haven't owned my own vehicle for quite some time!