High kms

pthorn, Jul 5, 7:23am
How much does a car with higher kms put you off!
Would you still consider the car, or is it a simple, no based purely on kms travelled!

We are just looking at a 2003 Legacy 3.0R wagon, it currently has around138kms on the clock. Usually this would put me off, but this car seems faultless inside and out, and drives extremely well, and definitly doesnt feel like its travelled that far.If it passes a mechaincal inspection without any red flags, I can get over the kms travelled.

The car is very well priced it seems for the distance travelled, full leather, heated seats, cruise control, a very high specced car, and looking so tidy.

The only thing I do wonder about is how much value the car would lose if we came to sell it in 3-4 years time with another 40-50kkm on the clock. Even if the car is still in impeccable condition, full service history, spotless inside and out, how many people would simply be turned off by the kms (up around 180-190 by that stage)!

Any thoughts!
ninja_man, Jul 5, 7:29am
the condition of car is just as important as how many k's it has done. If it has a full service history then go for it, aslong as the price reflects the amount of k's its done.
desmodave, Jul 5, 8:19am
Unless it is something realy special cars arnt investments.If your happy with the car and happy with the price buy it.
thunderbolt, Jul 5, 8:51am
Sounds like the purchase price is reflective of the km travelled. The same will apply when you sell it.
138k sounds like a lot but it is only 17k per year.
At current rates my falcon will have done 300k when it is 8 yrs old,
pthorn, Jul 5, 9:03am
Bad experience with Subarus!
Seem to get a love it or hate opinion from a lot of people towards them.
I have heard horror stories about them, but they were always down to people who bought them, thrashed the hell out of them and didnt maintain them. But also here many more stories of being one of the most reliable cars out if maintained and serviced.

But still, would like to hear your reasoning for not wanting to touch them.
phillip.weston, Jul 5, 10:18am
I think the 2003 shape Legacy is one of the best, they went downhill with the facelift of the 2003 shape, and then lost it altogether with the current shape. The 3.0 H6 is a AMAZING engine, and doesn't have a cam belt which would be costly to replace. 138,000kms isn't *that* high, and would work in your favour when purchasing it.

My parents purchased a 2003 Mazda6 GSX Sportshatch with 139k on the clock in 2008 for $10.5k, ex-lease with FSH and purchased from a dealer. Now nearly 3 years on and 20,000kms added to the clock it still hasn't scrubbed off much of its value. Granted if mother were to trade it in today she would probably only get $7-8k for it, but if she were to sell privately I would say she should get close to $9k.

I'm a big fan of buying something as late model/high spec as you can for your dollars with higher kms - that way you don't pay a premium for something which has 40-50,000kms less, which would function just as well as the lower kms car for the duration of your ownership. By the time you sell, those low kms examples cars would have increased in kms by the same amount, and the re-sale gap closes between a car which had 70k and now has 130k, and an example which had 100km and now has 160km etc. Hope that makes sense.
peja, Jul 5, 12:13pm
Its more then 100K less than my car which is still going, and its a Mitsubishi. If it has been serviced properly should be fine
noswalg, Jul 5, 12:40pm
I've got an 02 legacy with the 3.0L and have had 20,000kms trouble free motoring from it, the odo is currently reading 120000kms. The H6 certainly is a good engine IMO
pthorn, Jul 5, 12:43pm
Just wondering if you could give me some real life fuel consumption figures! How many kms per tank etc!Will be covering probably around 250-300kms per week, and around 50% of that would be open road driving. Any idea what sort of fuel figures I could expect!
audi_s_ate, Jul 5, 4:40pm
Had a look at these for a while and came to the conclusion that the 3.0 uses as much gas as the 2.0 turbo, is slower and power is developed higher in the rev range rather than down low (being a 6 cylinder I would have expected it to be quite torquey).
However 2nd hand examples are likely to be less thrashed and the engine is a very smooth performer. Overall reliability seems pretty good. Interior quality is very nice.
noswalg, Jul 5, 4:55pm
Roughly 500kms to a tank on the open road and about 450kms round town if driven nicely, a lot more if you use the power button. costs around $125 to fill up
bubbles52, Jul 5, 5:19pm
i have an 86 hilux ute on the farm 2.4 diesel its current odo reading 678373kms, i have never serviced it in the 10 years ive owned it and it still starts every time, its used everyday by the way
scotts12, Jul 5, 5:21pm
Look at the car not the kms.I would rather buy late model high kms than old car low kms.
franc123, Jul 5, 5:39pm
Pleased I'm not the only one that thinks these 3.0 Legacies are nothing to write home about, having driven two recently I thought the performance and where the performance was in the rev range was average at best for a N/A quad cam, although it was a smooth performer and would no doubt outlive a 4 cyl turbo version.It sure as hell wouldn't be your first pick if you were wanting to tow a decent load with it.I happened to drive an early 2000's VW Passat 2.8 4motion at the same time and that seemed to have far more go and spread of power, especially once you got up to higher roadspeeds and felt much tauter in its construction and handling IMO.
clark20, Jul 6, 5:30am
No, you are not alone, we had one as a company car, H6 auto, and my 2002 V6 Accord would eat it. The auto was sluggish and slow, but the later model did get up to 180kw, but I have not driven one of those.
phillip.weston, Sep 4, 5:08am
^^ yeah I was going to say, the earlier 2001-2002 models had heads with siamesed exhaust ports restricting flow, and power was only about 220hp, while the 2003 onwards EZ30 has individual exhaust ports and 260hp. The mid-range torque is massively improved too with the revised inlet manifold on the 2003 onwards engines.