People have different realities for sure. 52K miles is the lowest I've ever owned. Next lowest 77k miles.

How I would define high mileage is really dependent on the make and possibly the model in question. For most modern vehicles with decent maintenance they should easily last over 100K. We keep our vehicles for about 10 years and they usually have between 120 and 150K on them when we sell them and they don’t have any issues.

I will say however that several European makes (MB & BMW) have been problematic for us in recent years and we got rid of those at about 75K. With that being said our Porsches have been bulletproof, one of which we’ve had for 20 years this year

I’ve run 3 Volvo xc70s up to 170kish without any significant issues. My 2018 Volvo V90 CC has 70k and is still under CPO warranty has been 100% issue free.

My wife's 2014 MB E350 4matic has been good with 114k and we`ll keep it until it no longer makes sense. The car still drives great, and is a normally aspirated V6. My Volvo has a 4-cylinder with a turbo and supercharger, which concerns me a little bit.

For me, 100k+ is high mileage. That's usually the point where I start looking at selling my cars. I tend to buy 1-3 year old cars with 5k-25k and drive them until ~100k (8-10 years).

But if I had to buy a high mileage car - or one that I'd need to keep well into high mileage - I'd be looking at the Japanese brands: Subaru, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, or Mazda (or their various luxury counterparts). I'd be comfortable driving those well into the hundreds of thousands. However, even within those generally reliable and long-lived brands, there are problematic quirks with certain years and models that you'd have to research beforehand in order to avoid.

I might buy a domestic, especially a SUV or truck (though not a Jeep). That would have been more certain a couple decades ago, when the domestic trucks were simpler and easier to work on.

I probably would not buy a high mileage Korean car.

I absolutely would not buy a high mileage European car. Too many issues, and parts and service are too expensive.

Of the 6 vehicles I own none of them have less than 125k miles. 3 of them have 200-250k. Other than routine maintenance i have had very few issues that I could not fix myself, although I am somewhat of a mechanic.

The moral is as long as you take care of it it will most likely last and take care of you.

In the last few years I have bought vehicles for my daughters. 2012 Honda accord 4 cylinder, bought at 209K, currently has 240K. She takes it back and forth from school, which is 2.5 hours away. No issues with it or that drive for me. 2014 Acura TSX, currently has 215K on it. Debating sending that to CA when this one goes to school. Just bought 2010 Acura TL SH AWD, which is awesome, to replace oldest daughters '08 Accord.
Now, I knew the owners of all these cars so I have peace of mind knowing their maintenance, without that, I never would have bought them.

I purchase Volvo's with 150K miles and have driven them until someone hits me. Had one that was close to 300K miles. Bought another one at 164K miles and is driving that currently and have over 200K miles. God Bless

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Toyota and Honda are the only makes I’m interested in anymore. The modern iterations aren’t high mileage until 150k and up, in my opinion.

I bought my 4Runner with around 100K on the clock. I've had good luck with it. It's around 200K now...

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If you're not comfortable working on cars then I can see not wanting cars with over 100,000 miles on them.

I do my own oil changes and tranny fluid changes... but I also have a friend who's a mechanic who I trust.

Anything less than 100k is basically a new car to me. I've only bought two cars with less than that. I haven't had any major mechanical issues (nothing that would have left me stranded) since my first POS i bought while in college. I've got 4 vehicles, 3 of which have more than 185k (newest is only 110k) and I would take any of them on a cross county trip without worry.

My 2013 F150 is at 109,000 miles. It still has the original brakes and battery in it. Still looks really good too. I’d drive it cross country without hesitation. My wife has urged me to trade for a couple years now, but I like the truck, I’ve owned it since new, and maintained it faithfully. I think a comparable truck would probably be $70k. A car salesman once told me that 60,000 miles is the maximum you should keep a vehicle to get good trade-in value, and I suppose if you prefer new, or nearly new cars and trucks, that makes sense.

I think a better/alternate metric would be miles driven/year, than total mileage.

If I'm looking for a relatively new used car, I'm looking at miles/year more than total miles. When I bought my Explorer, I lucked into an almost 3 year old model with only about 10k/yr.
My preferred dealer had almost the same truck, at the same price, with nearly double the mileage (and in a less preferable color combination).

With my wife's Expedition, I was originally looking for a Suburban/Yukon XL, but they were all nearly double the milage when compared to similar spec Expeditions.
Purchased hers with 35k on it, in Sept 22, so it was about 4 years old at that point.

10-12k miles/yr seems a reasonable rate, for a Houston car at least.

I tend to think in terms of total cost per mile or per year. Yes, some makes and models have a stellar reputation for longevity, but purchasing a used one is consequently a higher % of the new price. They hold their value, and that is issue.

Maintenance costs can be found online for specific makes and models, and it is clear that after 100k there will be higher expenses.

The overall cost per mile to buy new and drive it 100k miles vs buying the same but older vehicle with 100k on it and driving it to 200k is frequently essentially the same.

"they" say that 100k is the new 60k and 200k is the new 100k. Surely for Toyota and Honda along with their premium versions. Expect this to come at the cost of maintenance items as listed in the owner's manual. The older they get, the higher to cost to "keep on schedule" and the more likelihood of unexpected breakdowns.

So buying used cars becomes somewhat of a balancing act between the price of the car and expected longevity and reliability As miles go up, buy price goes down (Caption Obvious)

Despite all of the longevity cited for todays cars, I'm in your camp with the 80k mark being the highest I'd buy. I want reliability. If I need to go somewhere, I want to feel 100% confident I can slide into the seat and drive off with AC and other creature comfort things working and no surprise road side break downs.

Varies greatly dependent upon make, model, and my planned usage.
If it is a Toyota/Lexus with the 4.7L or 4.3L and the oil has been changed and timing belt done at the proper intervals I’d buy in the 200k range with no hesitation if everything was in proper order. The Land Cruiser, LXs, GXs, LSs, 4Runners.

Not many/if any American cars I’d buy for a daily driver with over 75k miles would want to be closer to 50k.
Japanese I’d buy at 100k but would prefer to be closer to the 50k.

Very unlikely for me to have a German vehicle as a daily again. So that would have to be a case by case vehicle specific call.

I should clarify, if I'm buying for myself or my wife, I won't go over 40K

Anymore, high mileage is after the original factory warranty is expired on the vehicle, or would have expired...by mileage. That's the amount of miles that the manufacture was comfortable staking their money on, with proper preventative maintenance. Anything after that is a gamble, and should be entered into with eyes and pocketbook open.

I have a 2009 Honda Civic with 320k on it, and my wife’s 2004 Mitsubishi Endeavor has 340k on it. Both were purchases used with ~40k on them. Neither has had any major mechanical issues. Maintenance has been done regularly and issues repaired as they came up (wheel bearings, radiator, starter, alternator). I guess I’d consider them to be “high mileage”, but they continue to serve us well.

I bought an old Volvo with about 165k on it... ran it without worry for another 20k or so and sold it to a fellow who wanted it as his high-mileage commuter. I bought an '84 Nissan pickup back in about '93, showing 80k or so on its clock. I ran that for another 50k or so. My bought-new 2002 Nissan has just under 323k miles on now. In about 2011 I bought an '01 just like it, already showing 100k; the lady I sold it to sold it again at 225k. Routine maintenance is key, and is evidenced by my '02. All in all, I've had pretty good luck with high-mileage vehicles.

Three years ago, I bought a 2012 VW showing only 50k miles. It hasn't been perfectly "trouble-free," but it hasn't cost me much at all in repairs, either. I'll run it until it pukes, or whenever I find that leprechaun and his pot-o-gold.

Back to the original question: at this point in life, I'll buy used if it's got less than about 60k miles and has a thorough service history. If it's a vehicle whose history I know (buying from a friend, for instance), 100k wouldn't bother me a bit.

Used vehicles from Honda, Nissan, Toyota and their derivatives... odometer reading probably isn't a concern to me. I'd probably shy away from Jeep, the German makes, and "economy" cars from the Big Three.

I routinely but cars at or over 100k and routinely take them to 200k and beyond. Typically these are GM trucks with V8s.

But I've also had two Mercedes (09 E350 and currently 13 ML350) and both have served well over 100k miles. Current vehicle has about 140k on it now I think. My wife drives it and we've never really had to do anything to it.

I will add a few caveats on owning high mileage vehicles:
1. we dont have rust in the south like up north where it snows a lot. This is a big deal for a car's longevity.
2. I am no mechanic but am somewhat capable and know enough to generally not get bamboozled by a mechanic.
3. The cars I tend to drive cost a LOT of money new or low mileage. My Yukon was just over $30k and had 116k miles. There one with 80k miles for $51k. One with 25k miles cost over $70k. I can fix a lot of things for that amount of money.
4. You can always trade in at Carmax with no questions if you get down the line and have a mechanical problem. As long as you can drive it to the lot...

I had a Honda Accord Sport, 2014 model. It was a good dependable car. It lasted about 150,000 miles. Nothing wrong with it engine, suspension, electrical, etc. The killer was the CVT
When it was diagnosed as transmission issue the dealership was the only one who wanted to fool with it and wanted a lot to replace (not repair)
Visited a few local transmission guys and the said they had rather not mess with it. Was told by the transmission shops that they would not get a CVT car. My replacement is a Toyota Camry with a conventional transmission that cam be rebuilt if it is needed.