mileage

Question

Hi,(1) "My car's mileage is not very high yet" vs "My car mileage is not very high yet" - I wonder if both the versions are OK?(2)  "Nick's Chevy has travelled more than 100K". Q#1; What other verbs can be used for "to travel" in the above example? Will the verbs 'to run'/"to do" /'to cover' do?What are other ways to say a car's mileage?Q#2. How to say "...100K"? "one hundred + name of the letter "k"?(3) Is there a similar word yet based on "kilometer", not "mile"? :-)  Supposed I am asked how many kilometers my car has travelled.Can I say, "The mileage is very low... no more that 15,000 km"(4) low and high mileage - it is fine afaik.Can the adjectives "small", "little", "big" "large" be also used before "mileage"?  mus-te

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

MUSCOVITE(1) "My car's mileage is not very high yet" vs "My car mileage is not very high yet" - I wonder if both the versions are OK?

Yes.

MUSCOVITE(2) "Nick's Chevy has travelled more than 100K". Q#1; What other verbs can be used for "to travel" in the above example?

driven

MUSCOVITEWill the verbs 'to run'/"to do" /'to cover' do?

No, not for me.

MUSCOVITEWhat are other ways to say a car's mileage?

That's about it.

MUSCOVITEQ#2. How to say "...100K"? "one hundred + name of the letter "k"?

Actually, the phrase is alien to my English. I don't use 'K' at all. It would be said and written '100,000 miles'.

MUSCOVITE(3) Is there a similar word yet based on "kilometer", not "mile"? :-) Supposed I am asked how many kilometers my car has travelled.Can I say, "The mileage is very low... no more that 15,000 km"

kilometers = klicks or kliks

MUSCOVITEafaik.

What is that?

MUSCOVITECan the adjectives "small", "little", "big" "large" be also used before "mileage"?

No, not to me.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

A few more comments.
In my experience, conversation about this is usually pretty idiomatic.

In a context which is clearly about cars, I say
eg I've only done 160,000 clicks. (the word 'kilometers' can also be used.)
eg I've done 100,000 miles.
eg It's only got 160,000 clicks on it.

eg What's your mileage?
eg How many miles has it got on it?
Both of these questions can be answered in miles or clicks. In Canada, we speak of both systems.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

1. In the US, the word "mileage" is typically understood to mean how many miles to a gallon of gasoline you get, as in: "What kind of mileage do you get on your car?"

2. In the US, you would usually say: "Nick's Chevy has more than a hundred thousand miles on the odometer." Or simply: "Nick's Chevy has more than a hundred thousand miles on it."

3. In the US, kilometers are not used when talking about cars. You'd say: "I've only got fifteen thousand miles on my car."

4. In the US, a "high mileage" car is one that get many miles to a gallon of gasoline. A "low mileage" car would be one that gets few miles to a gallon of gasoline. The words small, little, big, and large are not used before the word "mileage."

MUSCOVITE · Answer

CliveIn a context which is clearly about cars, I sayeg I've only done 160,000 clicks. (the word 'kilometers' can also be used.)eg I've done 100,000 miles.eg It's only got 160,000 clicks on it.eg What's your mileage?eg How many miles has it got on it?Both of these questions can be answered in miles or clicks. In Canada, we speak of both systems.

Very interesting&useful, etc. comments

Thank you so much Clive!

MUSCOVITE · Answer

Anonymous1. In the US, the word "mileage" is typically understood to mean how many miles to a gallon of gasoline you get, as in: "What kind of mileage do you get on your car?"2. In the US, you would usually say: "Nick's Chevy has more than a hundred thousand miles on the odometer." Or simply: "Nick's Chevy has more than a hundred thousand miles on it."3. In the US, kilometers are not used when talking about cars. You'd say: "I've only got fifteen thousand miles on my car."4. In the US, a "high mileage" car is one that get many miles to a gallon of gasoline. A "low mileage" car would be one that gets few miles to a gallon of gasoline. The words small, little, big, and large are not used before the word "mileage."
Very interesting comments! And very good "food for thought" too

Now I see that the key point is that "mileage" (when referred to in car related context) has the following two main meanings:

(1) A number of miles traveled or covered (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/mileage)
(2) The number of miles traveled by a motor vehicle on a given quantity of fuel (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language)

A. Curiously, although ALL Onelook dictionaries report (1), NOT ALL of them mention (2).
Btw, the meaning (1) always precedes the meaning (2) if both are present in the dictionary ... would it be correct to assume that the most common/typical meanings are always listed first in a typical dictionary? If this assumption is true, doesn't it contradict your remark "mileage" is typically understood to mean how many miles to a gallon of gasoline you get?

In my mother tongue we have two absolutely different words for mileage (1) and mileage (2)... so I was taken aback whem I saw a comment on (2) in your post.

B. You always use "miles" and "gallons", we have always used "kilometers" and "liters" when talking about cars.

I still don't understand if "mileage (1)" can [so to say] coexist with "kilometers" in e.g.such context:
EX-1: Table 5 shows the average mileage (in km) of the used cars offered by ABC [meaning (1)]
EX-2: Table 6 shows the average mileage (in lt per km) of the new SX-4 during Moscow traffic jam hours [meaning (2)]
(I realize these examples of mine must be looking unnatural/funny to you :-) Sorry )

C. Anonymous In the US, a "high mileage" car is one that get many miles to a gallon of gasoline. A "low mileage" car would be one that gets few miles to a gallon of gasoline. The words small, little, big, and large are not used before the word "mileage."

Very interesting and (I must confess) unexpected note! Thanks a lot!

So if mileage (2) is meant, "high mileage" means a good car, "low mileage" means a bad one, correct?
On the other hand, it is very .... unusual or even confusing (for lack of a better word) to my eye that there are NO collocations such as "adjective + mileage(1)" in English?

Never thought that the word "mileage" might be so involved

Philip · Answer

High/low mileage sounds unnatural to my ear. I am more accustomed to good/poor(bad).

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