eBay study says British drivers fear high mileage cars, even though millions are still on the road
According to an eBay study, 81 per cent of UK motorists avoid high mileage used cars, while 72 per cent would not buy a vehicle with more than 100,000 miles, or about 161,000 kilometres, on the clock. At the same time, official data shows that millions of cars with more than 100,000 miles are still out there doing exactly what cars are supposed to do, namely carrying on.
Buyers still flinch at big numbers
The eBay study suggests that high mileage remains one of the biggest turn offs in the used car market. Some 72 per cent of respondents said they would not buy a car if its mileage exceeded 100,000 miles, roughly 161,000 kilometres. A further 52 per cent would not even consider a car with more than 50,000 miles, or around 80,500 kilometres, on the odometer.
On average, respondents said they regarded a car as high mileage once it had passed 96,000 miles, around 154,500 kilometres. Their own cars, meanwhile, averaged 58,134 miles, or about 93,560 kilometres.
The real car parc tells a different story
Data from the DVSA, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, shows that in 2025 more than six million vehicles in the UK passed their MOT with over 100,000 miles, or 161,000 kilometres, recorded. Nearly 407,000 of them had covered more than 200,000 miles, around 321,900 kilometres. About 43,000 cars had travelled beyond 300,000 miles, close to 482,800 kilometres, and nearly 2,700 vehicles had even gone past 500,000 miles, more than 804,700 kilometres.
That points to something many buyers still seem reluctant to accept. High mileage no longer means a car is automatically at the end of its useful life. Properly maintained modern cars can keep going far longer than the market often gives them credit for.
Hybrids are piling on the miles too
The figures also show that high mileage is no longer the preserve of diesel and petrol cars. More than 93,000 hybrid vehicles with over 100,000 miles went through inspection. Of those, nearly 32,000 had already passed 200,000 miles.
That matters because it suggests newer powertrain types are perfectly capable of building up serious mileage too, rather than fading away the moment the warranty brochure stops smiling.
eBay picked a 293,000 mile Prius to make the point
To back up its case, eBay bought a 2014 Toyota Prius with 293,000 miles on it, or roughly 471,500 kilometres. The company is maintaining the car with new and certified recycled parts to show that a high mileage vehicle can still make sound financial sense.
The choice is a knowing one. The Prius is already well known for durability and low running costs, which makes it an almost unfairly suitable poster car for breaking down buyer prejudice.
Drivers trust their own old cars more than someone else’s
Even though a high mileage used car from the market raises suspicion, 85 per cent of respondents said they would keep their current car longer than the previous one. That reveals a neat contradiction. Drivers trust their own ageing car, but remain wary of buying somebody else’s.
Economically, that makes perfect sense. You know your own service history. With a stranger’s car, you are buying faith as much as machinery.
What does it all mean?
In the used car market, buyers still react strongly to the odometer reading, even though real world data shows that many cars pass 100,000 miles and keep going without drama. That means a well maintained high mileage car may offer better value than many assume.
In practical terms, it is worth looking beyond the mileage figure. Service history, mechanical condition and how the car was used often tell you far more about its true quality than a single number on the dashboard ever could.
