How many miles are too many for you when you buy used?

[CFDBtn8]

Just genuinely interested in your opinion about this: When you consider buying a used truck like the Tahoe, Yukon or Escalade how many miles are you aiming for to get the "best" personal deal?
I think this is very subjective and everyone has a different view about it. So I'm really interested in your thoughts about how many miles are too many for you all. Until what mileage you pull the trigger? If the vehicle has more mileage than you wanted what would mitigate/remediate it in your opinion so that you're still going to pull the trigger?
Just trying to get some other perspectives on this.

Happy 4th!

Just my experience- I bought a 2004 Tahoe in 2009 with 80K miles (mostly highway miles as this was company car for NHL team talent scout.) I still have this vehicle, I was religious about 3K mile oil changes since I’ve got it. I addressed any mechanical abnormality along the way. It has 310K miles on it now (original motor and transmission) and I wouldn’t hesitate to drive it to Alaska today. About 8 months ago it started a rear main seal oil leak so I’ve been adding 1-2 quarts between changes. So I guess my point is if you know the past history and are a responsible owner. I think I would buy the right car with 100K miles or more. I am retiring this year and just picked up my loaded 2024 Tahoe Z71 and hope it’s as good to me as my current car.

 

[BattleTank]

The 2011 I bought 2 months ago far below KBB, has 327,000 miles. And it drives like it has 100K

 

[steiny93]

In my opinion vehicles take resale hits at a few milestones
- when it leaves the lot (1 mile)
- when bumper to bumper ends (36k)
- when powertrain ends (36k gas or 100k diesel)
- when it hits 100k (seems to be a mental thing with folks)

On daily drivers; when I've bought used; I've targeted 12k miles. Try and find a private party selling one, typically they are a couple years old, I've found I can pick them up for nearly the same price a dealer would charge at 36k and they are much less then a new one.

For me, that sub 20k seems to work well from a cost to benefit perspective.

 

[Marky Dissod]

In my opinion vehicles take resale hits at a few milestones
- when it leaves the lot (1 mile)
- when bumper to bumper ends (36k)
- when powertrain ends (36k gas or 100k diesel)
- when it hits 100k (seems to be a mental thing with folks)

Given that 100k highway miles are VERY different from 100k rush hour traffic miles, yeah, it's mental alright.

Fully appreciating that it's both harder to measure, and harder to trust the measurement,
starting to think that average fuel economy over a vehicle's lifetime is a better indication of relative wear & tear than its accrued miles.

 

[B-train]

Good points @Marky Dissod and @steiny93

Another metric I use is the engine mileage divided by the engine hours for an average MPH. If it equates to 35 or better, then I'm usually confident that it was on the road moving more than stopped. When you see 20's or less, then it was probably a short tripper or stop-n-go

 

[bobsburban]

And just to prove my point in my previous post, I'm buying a 2013 Suburban 2500 with 200k on the odometer.