Supra Mileage - really

[rider]

Just seen someone talking elsewhere about their fresh Supra import with 40,000 miles.

 

I don't know. I struggle to see how a 20 year old car gets the 40k allocation especially on an import which usually comes with absolutely no service history or something completely Japanese that you'd need a access to a code breaker to decipher. My own import which landed as a little under 2 year old in 1998 had 18,000 miles under its tyres. I must own the only Supra that ever got driven in Japan. Leaves me thinking that's unlikely so I'd take any 40k mile claim with a wheel barrow load of salt and on a 20 year old car does the mileage really matter anyway?

Edited September 5, 2015 by rider (see edit history)

[Dnk]

Nah mileage doesn't matter, mkiv's go on forever don't they ?

[JackyBoi]

Who cares about mileage. 2JZ's are Taliban proof

[MattP]

Lmao^^

[MattP]

Go on condition nowadays rather than undocumented hear say...

[TheTurtleshead]

Take any mileage without documentation with a pinch of salt, one look underneath, a drive and a careful ear on the engine will tell you if you've bought a lemon.

[Rajinder]

Service history, one careful lady owner means nothing these days. Condition and inspection are the main things.

Edited September 5, 2015 by Rajinder (see edit history)

[Graham1984]

Who cares about mileage. 2JZ's are Taliban proof

 

Are they Talivan proof though?

 

http://www.abd.org.uk/images/photos/320x240/Talivan_NL_M69.jpg

[Frank Bullitt]

Are they Talivan proof though?

 

Only if you are going fast enough!

[Scooter]

Everything in an advert initially needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, however whilst there are undoubtably a number of clocked cars there are also going to be those lightly used ones. Possibly a hidden gem but sometimes lack of use can cause it's own issues.

 

A genuine 40-50K mile car doesn't make it instantly better than a 80-100K one but if verifiable it's a nice to have and tbh you can often tell if it's at least got a chance of being right!

 

I'm happy my latest acquisition is a genuine sub 50K mile car and I think it's a definite nice to have! Crank pulley was gone and the facelift engine mounts sunk but that's a time thing often. I'm as certain as you can be of it's provenance hence why I bought it, it convinced me and given that, I think I could convince the next owner.

 

Nothing is certain I should think a lot of fiddling goes on pre the first mot on lots of regular cars, the relatively recent MOT history registering of mileage helps the old km to miles conversion being done over and over, mileage is just one piece of the buying puzzle a puzzle which needs far more consideration in these days of low supply high(er) price.

[Abz]

They are out there & if you have been around Supra's you can spot them. Mine was very low mileage, purely because the previous owner who had it for 5 years whilst working in Japan hardly drove it, nor did the owner he brought it from before. I used it as a weekend car so again didn't use it as much either. It's not like buying a run of the mill commuter that is used everyday.

[j_jza80]

I find it strange how every single gearbox that comes up for sale is out of a 40,000 mile car, when I have only seen a handful of Supras with that mileage in my life

 

But yes, I suspect many are clocked. However, overall the risks of buying a fresh import are still better than those of a UK based car. The Japanese tend to take more care of their cars than we do, most prefectures don't salt their roads, and their climate means that rust generally isn't an issue. Even just today, one of the guys working on my car said it was cleaner than some of the 2-3 year old Audis they are inundated with.

[herbiemercman]

I agree that anyone who knows the "breed" would know if a car was "clocked", my car i have owned from new and has all MOT's etc, 42,000 miles and even Stevie Wonder" can see it is kosheir.

 

When you buy a car if you look closely at it's history and weigh up the current owner, this will put you 90% nearer to knowing if the car has been "clocked".

 

Let's face it if a car has done 40k miles and another has done 140k miles, then it's a "no brainer", the wear signs are so obviouse, i won't list them as there are so many.

 

I would also say that the 20 year old cars were more prone to show wear and tear than current cars with higher spec moving parts and cosmetics, also cars which come from lease hire can put 100k miles on and be clocked down to 50k miles and no one is the wiser, this does not apply to a 20 year old classic like the supras, however the supra IMHO was way ahead of its time in looks and performance and the engines are bomb proof.

 

They are now a good investment.