Does crossing 100,000 km lower your car's value?

It can, but not because anything happens to the car at that number. Crossing 100,000 km takes a car outside some buyers’ limits, including ours: we buy cars, utes, SUVs and 4WDs from 2021 or newer with 100,000 km or less. If you plan to sell within the year and you’re close to the mark, selling before the odometer ticks over keeps more buyers in play.

There’s no single “best” reading to sell at. What matters is how your kilometres compare with the car’s age, what’s due on the service schedule and who you plan to sell to. This guide works through each one and shows how to time a sale around the milestone.

Why does 100,000 km matter to buyers?

Nothing mechanical happens at 99,999 km. A car that has been serviced on schedule is the same car the day after it rolls over as it was the day before.

The change is in how buyers read the number. A six-figure reading stands out on a listing in a way a five-figure one doesn’t. Buyers searching online can filter by kilometres, and a round number is the obvious place to set the cut-off. A car at 98,000 km and a car at 102,000 km are almost identical, yet one of them can drop out of a buyer’s search results.

Kilometres are one of the main things that move a used car’s value, along with age, condition, service history and demand for the model. What nobody can honestly give you is a fixed figure for how much value disappears at 100,000 km. There’s no official one, and the effect varies from model to model. Be wary of any article that quotes a set percentage.

Who draws a line at a set kilometre reading?

Some buyers, manufacturer programs and finance products write kilometre limits into their rules, and each one sets its own line. These are the ones a seller is most likely to come across, as published in October 2026:

A dealer buying your car has to sell it again, so the reading it will have by then matters as well as today’s. Certified pre-owned programs only take cars inside their limits, so a car already close to a line gives a dealer little room to sell it that way. Škoda’s rule shows 100,000 km itself can be the line: it says its certified used cars that have travelled less than 100,000 km are also eligible for its GFV finance.

If your car sits outside our range, because it’s older or has more kilometres, send it through anyway and we’ll tell you straight away if we can help.

If your own car is on GFV finance, the line that matters most is the one in your contract. Moneysmart notes that these products come with a limit on the agreed kilometres you can drive, plus a condition that the car is returned in good condition, not beyond fair wear and tear. If you’re tracking over that allowance, read our guide to GFV finance: return, refinance or sell well before the end of the term.

Is your reading high for the car’s age?

Buyers judge kilometres against age. A 2021 car with 100,000 km tells a different story from a 2014 car with the same reading.

The official benchmark was the ABS Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, which has since ended. Its final release covered the 12 months to 30 June 2020. Passenger vehicles averaged 11,100 km over that year, light commercial vehicles (utes and goods-carrying vans) averaged 15,300 km, and all vehicles averaged 12,100 km. That year took in the 2019–20 summer bushfires and the first months of COVID-19, so treat the figures as a rough guide rather than a target.

Here’s what those averages add up to over the first six years of a car’s life, which covers every car in our 2021-or-newer range:

So a 2021 or newer car that is close to 100,000 km has done well above the passenger-car average. To reach that by October 2026, even a car first registered in January 2021 has averaged more than 17,000 km a year, and a younger car with the same reading has done more again. That isn’t a fault in itself. It does mean a buyer will compare your car with others of the same year that have fewer kilometres, and the service record is what makes the case for yours.

Kilometres aren’t all equal, either. Expect a buyer to ask what kind of driving produced them: long highway runs, short city trips, towing or fleet work.

What falls due on the car around 100,000 km?

For many owners, the milestone arrives with a bigger service. Each manufacturer sets its own schedule, listed in your logbook or the brand’s owner app. Depending on the model, items such as spark plugs, coolant, brake fluid, transmission fluid or a timing belt can fall due at or near this point.

Check your own schedule so you know what’s coming and roughly what it costs before you decide anything. Whether to pay for that service or sell first is a decision of its own, and our guide to servicing or selling when a big service is due walks through it. One rule holds either way: don’t let a service go overdue while you think it over. Buyers notice a missing stamp in the logbook, and they ask about it.

Warranty is the other worry. Check whether your factory warranty has a kilometre limit at all. Kia’s 7-year and Mazda’s 5-year new-car warranties are unlimited-kilometre (Kia sets different terms for its EVs), while Isuzu UTE’s runs for 6 years or 150,000 km, whichever occurs first. If yours is unlimited, the 100,000 km mark has no effect on it. If you still have cover left, see whether remaining warranty adds value when you sell.

Do utes and 4WDs get more leeway than city cars?

Generally, yes. Buyers expect more kilometres on a ute or a 4WD, and the ABS figures above show light commercial vehicles, the group utes fall into, covering more ground each year than passenger cars. On those figures, a ute first registered in January 2021 and driven an average distance would be on about 88,000 km by now, so a 2021 ute with ordinary use may already be near the line. Utes and large 4WDs such as the HiLux, Ranger, LandCruiser and Prado are also regularly named among the vehicles that hold their value best in Australia.

That doesn’t mean kilometres stop mattering. A ute buyer looks harder at how the kilometres were done:

• Towing: whether a tow bar is fitted, what it pulled, and whether the servicing matched that kind of use.
• Touring and off-road driving: marks on the underbody, the state of the suspension and how accessories were fitted.
• Work and fleet use: wear in the tray and cabin, and whether the logbook is complete.

Our buying range is the same for every body type: 2021 or newer with 100,000 km or less. You’ll find more on how we buy utes on our sell my ute page.

How do you time a sale around the milestone?

Start with simple arithmetic. Divide your current reading by the number of months since the car was first registered to get your monthly average. Then divide the kilometres left before 100,000 by that average to see how many months you have.

Worked example (hypothetical numbers): a car first registered in March 2022 shows 84,000 km in October 2026. That’s about 55 months, or roughly 1,530 km a month. It has 16,000 km to go, which at the same rate takes about 10 to 11 months. If the driving stays the same, the odometer passes 100,000 km around August or September 2027.

Then match the timing to your plans:

Leave a buffer. A sale to us runs in set steps: the offer, a deposit, the inspection, the balance, then collection. If there’s finance owing, the loan payout usually takes 2 to 3 business days to settle. If you’re within a couple of thousand kilometres, don’t leave it until the last week.

Don’t try to hold the number down by parking the car for months. Rego and insurance keep running, and a car that sits for a long time can come back with a flat battery and other problems of its own.

The reading is also on the record. On a private sale in Queensland, the seller gives the odometer reading at the time of sale when starting the online transfer. In NSW, the free Service NSW registration check shows anyone the three most recent yearly odometer readings, where they’re available, so a buyer can see how the car’s kilometres have built up.

What if you’re already past 100,000 km?

Then the number is behind you, and the job is to make the rest of the car’s story as strong as possible. Buyers look for:

• A complete service history, in a stamped logbook or digital records, with receipts for the bigger services.
• All the keys the car came with.
• No warning lights on the dash, and any open recalls completed.
• Tyres and brakes with life left in them.

Our buying range is 2021 or newer with 100,000 km or less, but that isn’t the end of the conversation. Send your car through anyway and we’ll tell you straight away if we can help. If we can’t, our guide to selling a car older than 2021 or over 100,000 km sets out the other routes.

Should you sell before the odometer ticks over?

If you’re planning to sell within the year and your car is close to 100,000 km, selling before it crosses keeps you inside more buyers’ limits, including ours. If you’re keeping the car for years, the milestone on its own isn’t a reason to sell. Keep servicing it to schedule, and the logbook will back up the kilometres when you do.

When you want a firm answer, request a free valuation. A licensed dealer will call you with a genuine offer, not an online estimate, with no obligation and no fees taken out of the offer. If you accept, we can often pay a deposit the same day and inspect the car at a time and place that suits you. We pay the balance into your bank account and collect the car only after you confirm the funds have cleared. If there’s finance owing, we deal with your lender directly to pay out the loan, then pay you any equity. You can also call us on 1800 73 55 73.