The right mileage
Whether you’re flipping through classified ads, checking out a classic car at a car show, or visiting a dealership, glancing at the odometer—or checking the mileage—is simply part of the process. And often you find yourself thinking: Yeah, that makes sense. Or, on the other hand, that’s really surprising.
For example, there’s hardly a Ferrari from the last 30 years that has more than 30,000 km on the odometer. And when you look at a VW Käfer, you’d expect the five-digit mileage to actually have at least one more “1” or “2” in front of it. It’s hard to imagine a Mercedes-Benz W123 diesel with under 100,000 km; it’s more likely to have over 400,000 km. Your personal sense of what seems right and what doesn’t depends very much on the car. A Lotus Elise with over 100,000 km is just as surprising as a Ford Taunus with under 50,000 km.
My TVR 3000 S now has nearly 86,000 on the odometer. There’s no “1” missing in front of that number, because the car’s entire history is fully documented. So it’s a genuine 86,000 km. And for me, this mileage fits the car well, because on average over the past 48 years, that works out to just under 1,800 km per year. In the early years, it was a bit more each year; during the 28 years I’ve owned it, it’s been slightly less.
Hardly anyone would drive a small-series English roadster (the term is correct here, since the car has removable windows and a spare soft top that usually stays at home) as a year-round or everyday car, so naturally, the mileage adds up more slowly—although I do have a colleague who has probably racked up three times that mileage in his.
But the 86,000 km is also a good figure because it ensures that the car has always been on the move and, at the same time, thanks to its robust mass-production components, no major repairs should be needed in the near future (knock on wood).
What constitutes a “healthy” mileage for a car, of course, depends heavily on its design and manufacturer. While mass-produced cars that aren’t subjected to heavy use have no trouble with high mileage, one would probably be a bit more cautious with exotic Italian cars featuring high-revving and complex engines…
