Rise of the high miler: Six million UK cars now past the 100,000 mile mark
Wed, 13 May 2026
Now research by eBay has found that one in seven vehicles on the road in 2025 had over 100,000 miles on the clock as the cost of living crisis reshapes motoring as we know it.
With bigger bills arriving for those who buy and run any type of vehicle, 45.7% of cars are now over 10 years old, a figure that's set to climb as drivers hold on to vehicles longer.
Following a Freedom of Information request to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) for MoT mileage data, eBay discovered that over six million vehicles had over 100,000 miles on the clock, more than 406,000 had gone past 200,000 miles and 43,000 exceeded 300,000 miles.
Impressively, almost 2700 had racked up between 500,000 and a million miles.
Avoiding the high-mile club
However, despite the increase in high-mileage motors on UK roads, buyers are still put off by buying a well used car.
eBay's research noted that 81% of UK drivers were put off by high mileages, a number that eBay discovered was around 96,000 miles, according to its survey respondents.
The data also revealed that 72% of those surveyed would not buy a car that had covered more than 100,000 miles and almost half (52%) said that they would not consider buying a car with a mileage of more than 50,000 miles.
eBay's survey revealed an age discrepancy in how long drivers planned to keep their cars. Those aged 18-24 average 4.5 years, while those over 65 expected to keep their cars longest, with an average of nearly seven years.
Hybrid high milers
“High-mileage cars can offer outstanding value, especially when they’ve been well maintained," says Abir Tewari, UK director of commercial operations, parts and accessories at eBay. "Even the latest hybrid models, with their low running costs, are engineered to deliver high mileages."
DVSA data confirmed that more than 93,000 hybrids had covered 100,000 miles at their MoTs in 2025, and nearly 32,000 have driven more than 200,000 miles.
