Would you buy a two years old or less car with 100,000 miles or more?

Me, no way, I know most cars can last up to 200,000 or even more. I believe cars start breaking down at 100,000

joemom- you know, back in the 60s and 70s, the 100,000 mileage milestone was urban myth and lots of people routinely sold or traded their cars either before or after that. In case you're not aware, the "average " car on the road today is 11 years old and has 165,000 miles on them. That's a lot of cars out there with 150,000 to 200,000 miles. I would say that the 100,000 miles is now more like the halfway point in the lifetime of a properly maintained car and what kind of car it is. And, it helps to be in a climate like SoCal. I kept my last car 19 years and it was still running, but, didn't serve my needs pulling my teardrop trailer. I've recently seen a few cars that are less than three years with more than 100,000 miles and they run like new cars, so, is it possible that time is MORE important than mileage? Some cars age more gracefully than others, see this article below from Time Magazine, http://business.time.com/2012/03/20/what-you-only-have-100k- miles-on-your-car-thats-nothing/

You're stretching our previous discussion to an extreme, Mark. As you get to 1000+ mi per week it's hard to be as attentive to service. THREE-year olds with 100k are routine business lease vehicles, some of which can be astoundingly good values...and I chase those. But as usual one has to be careful. A stack of receipts for oil changes and tires is pretty useless if the brakes, tranny, and suspension are beat up, however. IOW don't put too much stock in a paper trail...nor Carfax. Sophisticated professional inspection is the only way to go. (OTOH maybe with turbos I'd like to see a paper trail of synthetic oil changes, but I don't buy pre-owned forced induction motors.)

TheSubaruGuruBoston, hey, Happy Thanksgiving, I understand, I don't like turbocharged cars, unless they're rentals (LOL). I think turbocharged cars are usually beaten up by rental car drivers thinking they're in a Fast and Furious movie! I don't drive my cars or rental cars that way, it's just too dangerous and the risk of getting cited. Yes, it takes a lot of maintenance and vigilance to stay on top of service intervals. I acquired my Subaru at four years and 66,000 miles. And, I don't drive a lot, so, it has a little more than 73,000 miles now. I guess I'm guilty of "over servicing " my cars with oil changes earlier, in that I go by time vs. mileage. And, since it was a CPO vehicle when I purchased it in May 2014, it was in near perfect condition and I'm working hard to keep it that way. You're right, it's not only about a paper trail, but, it's better to have one. YES, my car is definitely professionally maintained, I don't work on my cars, ever!

My Subaru dealer told me about a car he serviced that had around 300k miles that was only a couple of years old. He asked the owner if he every got out of his car. He said not really as he was in outside sales. Even back in the 60's and 70's it was possible to get 300,000 on an engine if you maintained them well. I knew two people with Fords that went that far with no problems.

Full_of_Regrets, I agree, and since service is the name of the game, the more miles you actually drive the less it costs per mile to drive the car. People who get 250,000 or 300,000 miles from their cars are getting a very good value despite the expense they invest.

Mark as a person that has worked on cars for the past 40 years unlike cars of the 60's and 70's today's cars do last longer my personal benkmark 100,000 as it was years ago.