I’m considering purchasing a 2005 Element LX manual that has 393000 miles.

What issues am I looking at with that many miles. According to current owners the vehicle has been professionally serviced since 2010. They are second owners.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

I bought a 2002 Civic Si with about 250k miles on it. I did some preventative engine work - flushed the radiator, replaced the upper and lower hoses, new plugs. The starter went out after a couple months; that was a real PITA to replace. New tires, battery, struts all around. Serpentine belt. Now it's running okay. My wife drives it for her work and puts about 120 miles a day on it. Mileage is around 27. The main issue now is oil usage; it uses a lot. I switched to 5w-30 which seems to help a bit.

if you buy an old car, any car, I'd suggest you replace anything made of plastic or rubber. Change the oil and flush the cooling system. And expect it to use a lot of oil. Hondas are a bitch to work on, no room to do anything and they are poorly designed when it comes to maintenance. Learn some new cuss words, if you plan on doing your own maintenance on a Honda car you'll need them!

 

Ya, 250,000 is where you can really start to have problems.

 

I would just buy it. Even if there is any issues. A new low milage jdm motor is 800-1000 bucks. these motors, if oil change is done on time will drive over 500k easily. Often times a new motor is cheaper than repairing/resealing your current motor so keep that in mind. A timing chain/water pump job is over $1500 in labor.

 

Unless it's a new car in which case you start having issues as soon as you drive it off the dealer's lot.