Thinking about buying a Mazda 3 with high miles?

[jradzx3]

I found an 04 Mazda 3 for $3750, and it's in extremely good condition, garage kept, 1 owner (an aircraft mechanic), seems to be really well taken care of - and from what I could tell by the short test drive, runs good.

Only problem is it has 217k miles on it. Should I go for it or not?

 

[sunrun176]

Well.. 217K is a lot of miles. I would be very careful.

At the very least you should most definitely have a mechanic of your choosing look at it. Most independent shops will do pre-purchase inspections (often w/o appointments, though heads-ups are usually appreciated) for $50-100 -- a worthwhile investment (even for a ~$3500 car).

Does the seller have any service records for it?

 

[mjstew]

217K miles is a lot, even for a well built vehicle like a mazda. Once you get to mileage like that, all of the little things during the first 100k become big things if they were neglected (regular oil changes, mfg recommended maint, fluid flushes etc) also, regardless of how well maintained the car was, every part has an expected life span, and as with any car regardless of make, most parts probably arent designed to last much past 250K, i'd be very very careful