Mileage

[StevePil]

Hi,
Just wanted some help, what is the average car mileage per year, if I and my wife are doing 20k per year, a lot of town driving - is this exceptional as someone said it was a lot? I service my car once a year but do oil every 6 months - do you think this is sufficent? looking at getting a new family car soon due ot starting a family and just want to ensure I look after it best I can afford so things dont go wrong
Also what can the average car do in mileage now, my current car is a Rover 400 but looking at getting a VW or Suzuki?Cheers,
Steve

[wduk2005]

out of those 2 car makes id definately get a vw they so much much more reliable and i would go for the diesel as well. the average milage used to be 12000 id say less nowadays cos of the costs of fuel etc.

if you get a new car just change the oil and service it when it says to in the service book, shouldnt need to do it more often new cars are a lot lore reliable

[theren_911]

Definately go for the VW, Suzuki's will depreciate alot faster and aren't as reliable by a long shot, in my opinion.

[bluejonjo]

10k was always the average, or around 200 a week.

20k IS alot. Are you a rep or something? Town driving causes the most wear and tear with lots of gear changes, acceleration and braking.

Short journeys dont allow the engine to reach full operating temp. You may also get "coke" deposits in the engine from short journeys. Its always a good idea to take it up the motorway once in a while to get the engine working at the higher rev range and clear things out.

Average now is 12k or so. Cars are much more relaible, have longer service intervals, and last alot longer. I've seen 6 yr old VW's and Audi's with 250000 on the clock!
When I worked at a motor factors one of our customers had a cortina that had 500k on it! But he guy changed the oil and filters every 2000 miles so it shows whats possible if you look after it to the point it becomes silly.

If you look in something like Glass' Guide it gives you milage adjustment charts and averages for year for all current cars.

[Toureman]

Do you mean you are doing 20K and your wife is doing 20K aswell?

[boro1986]

I wouldn't cass 20k as excessive 15k is about the average. id go for the VW mate xxx

[bob57]

I only do about 6k per year in my car and most of the week the car sits in the yard at work

but since my youngest daughter got her car I've found that the higher the average miles per year the higher the isurance premium

[bluejonjo]

Obviously. The more time you spend on the road the more of a risk you are to the insurers.

[StevePil]

Thanks all for your help!! No I am not a rep, me and my wife share 1 car and total is 20k per year, I drive to work and home and then she works evenings and drives home, we cant afford 2 cars so we just share th eone, hence the high mileage. When kids grow up it could get worse as I assume she will be keeping car during the day so would have to drop me at work and pick me up, doubling the mileage :( thanks all - any advice be great, I do like the VW - what other cars are reliable, just the VW seem quite expensive thats why I swayed towards Suzuki

[=rizla=]

20K a year is higher that av (used to be 12K), but as you say both you and your wife use one car so 10K each is lower than av. The higher depreciation of a higher milage car that you are produceing i;'d like to bet will be a fair amount less than ins/ tax's/ serviceing/ depreciation on 2 cars. A friend di buy a cavalier sri a few years ago at a year old with 100K miles on the clock!!!!

So far as servicing goes, best to look at teh book ( all cars differ.) Some are say 12 months or 12K miles whichever comes sooner, some 12 months 9K miles and some 6months 6K miles. I'd like to bet as your a higher than average milage driver you'll need to be looking at the miles done as opossed to the time for when to do your next service, but not definite-look in the service book!!

Next car, i'd look at 20,000 divided by the petrol cars MPG then times it by petrol price and then do the same for a diesel car and see if it'd pay for itself over the period you'll have it for.

[kramer81]

I'd probably get the oil and filter changed every 6 months. National do it for only �15 to �25 (depending on the oil you want), so there is not much reason not to.