Actual mileage?

[Detector]

I put this thread in the Other Years of Mustangs because I felt it applied to all mustangs.

OK, the whole "actual mileage" thing. How do we truly know what the actual mileage is? I've owned several mustangs that the title could have been used to imply actual mileage as super low simply because they put what ever number was on the odometer. Now obviously if your cars odometer is showing 12,000 and the title says it was last titled with 88,000 you can assume it has at least turned over once. But it doesn't always work out that way. Most simply use the last title mileage statement as their indicator for actual mileage. Of course what else can you do?

What made me bring this up is a listing I saw on eBay of a 1966 mustang with 12,000 "actual miles" I thought just how the heck does a 46 year old car end up only having 12,000 miles? Now if someone bought it and parked it, which does happen I guess, I could see a 46 year old car with only 12,000 miles, but there sure seems to be a lot of these parked cars. I believe the vast majority are not truly the actual miles or the car was wrecked and set for years before being repaired.

What cracks me up is when I see these ads of a car with say 43,000 actual miles and all the seats are worn out and the signs of years of wear and tare are obvious. They just saw the 43,000 on the odometer and the title said it had 30,000 last time it was titled so they call it actual mileage.

Another bit of misleading I see a lot of is on the fox bodys. Ever wonder why so many 1994-1998 mustangs are super low mileage? I know why. I bought a 1995 GT convertible with only 60,000 "actual miles" only to find out the odometer didn't work and it is a well known issue with these mustangs. You might also note a lot of these mustangs are for sale with non-working odometers. I bought the repair kit and fixed mine.

 

[Tnfastbk]

LOL you are right, I guess actual milage should come with actual common since.

 

[Boss1Ray]

I remember looking at a 72 Mustang many years ago, advertised at around 40k original miles. Driver's seat was pretty worn and the clutch and brake pedal pads were very worn! You can also review repair receipts. Check milage on each. It gets interesting!

Beware.

Ray

 

[jimbo]

There is cars out there with low original miles when I got my Mustang it had 16000 actual miles, Now 25 or 26 years later its all most 25000 on the clock now im lucky to put 100 to 200 Miles a year on it all the Interior is very good condition the only part of the Interior I have replaced was the carpet that got water damaged.

Then again I dont have much time to drive, when you drive Trucks for a living at 14 hours a day you dont want to drive when you get home.

 

[72HCODE]

my 72 came to me with about 69,000 on the OD. in the shape it was in and the quality of ford materials back then you could of argued it had 169,000 miles on it. However after owning a few old cars that were daily drivers, 4-5 years was the life span of a car in the 1960s and 1970s which would of been around 70,000 miles before the rust got so bad you couldn't drive it anymore. any 40 year old car that shows as falling apart with over 60K on the OD is believable. a car with 30K on it, has to be a roll over on the OD.

I had a 1995 saturn that died after 61,000 miles and 15 years of ownership. i had a short drive to work each day and i lived in the city and didn't need to drive for errands too much. for something to really be low mileage you would need documentation before believing it.

 

[cobra3073]

As a original "one-owner" of a 1973 Mustang Mach 1, I can attest to my car never having the odometer "rolled over" and I have less than 30,000 miles on it. Of course, many of those miles were 1/4 mile at a time and there have also been a number of engine, transmission and rear end changes. LOL!

For most of its commuting life, my Mach 1 was far inland on an interior island (in the Philippines) where it saw no snow or ice. It has NEVER been driven on a salted roadway and has been garaged for the vast majority of its life. It has been continually garaged over the last 22 years. So YES, believe me, there are 35+ year old Mustangs out there with minimal mileage.

Obviously, that does not mean they are NECESSARILY without modifications.

BT

 

[luxstang]

I guess it´s impossible to tell exactly how many miles a car actually has when it has a 5 digit odometer.....

 

[vamach1]

I guess it´s impossible to tell exactly how many miles a car actually has when it has a 5 digit odometer.....

My Mach1 has 165K on it (actually) but it could pass for 1/2 that because I have taken good care of it for the last 30 years. Of course none of those miles were on race tracks and it was only driven to church on Sundays. On the other hand I cringe when I see cars that have less miles on them and they are trashed. :huh:

 

[luxstang]

Of course none of those miles were on race tracks and it was only driven to church on Sundays. :

Ain´t it funny how all the used cars have belonged to old ladies? If we were to believe the salesmen, we would be wading waist deep in old ladies whenever we left the house.

I guess all the young and middle aged men and women whom we see driving cars must have exceptionally borrowed them their grannies.

Or maybe all the used cars get sold to old ladies who act as intermediaries before the car actually gets on the market.

Do I smell a conspiracy here? :s

One of the funniest things I experienced was when I was going to buy a series 5 BMW station wagon about 14 years ago that had undergone the full performance treatment, including 17 inch rims which were quite exceptional back then.

And believe it or not, the dealer told me that the car had belonged to an older couple who only put miles on it when they traveled during their vacation.

I imagine granny and gramps cruising down the highway with their 17 inch rims (from the "M" option list), lowered sports suspension with yellow Koni shocks, subtle lower body ground effects (Also "M" series) while listening to some merry accordion tunes on the active Bose sound system....

Yeah right..! :dodgy:

 

[marks73]

The only reason I felt good about the car I bought was the 1979 inspection sticker on the windsheild. And even then doesn't matter with what I'm doing. New parts are new parts(unless your expecting concourse value)

 

[Don65Stang]

At what point does the car's mileage not matter anymore? Of the 8 Mach 1s I've bought only the 73Q code has low miles. All the rest are over 100k.

 

[droptop73]

Mine's pushing 160k... at that point it doesn't matter.

 

[Tnfastbk]

At what point does the car's mileage not matter anymore? Of the 8 Mach 1s I've bought only the 73Q code has low miles. All the rest are over 100k.

mine reads ZERO, so mine must be tha ultra rare side of the street find everyone is looking for

 

[Don65Stang]

That's kind of my point. At some point it doesn't matter to me because all the important stuff will be brand spanking new except maybe the rear end. I guess that part truly will have a gazillion miles on it but all the other major components will be new.

 

[Tnfastbk]

That's kind of my point. At some point it doesn't matter to me because all the important stuff will be brand spanking new except maybe the rear end. I guess that part truly will have a gazillion miles on it but all the other major components will be new.

Nope thats new to exept the housing and its freshly (2 years ago) powder coated

 

[luxstang]

+1 on that. With classic cars I don´t care about the actual mileage, as everything that needs to be replaced will be replaced and then it´s all new parts.....

 

[NoLimitssjca]

Isn't asking a cars mileage kind of like asking a woman her age? You know she's not going to tell you the truth!

 

[OLE PONY]

My 73 has just over 112,000 original miles. I would insist on documentation if a seller is claiming original low miles for an old classic. I can document mine as I have all the annual state inspection receiptes which documents the progression of miles over the years (acutally was semi-annual inspections up until the mid-80's). Service receipts also help document the actual mileage too.

 

[luxstang]

Isn't asking a cars mileage kind of like asking a woman her age? You know she's not going to tell you the truth!

Yeah, and in both cases you're probably in for a surprise once the first excitement wears off...... :dodgy: