Buying in this way is the way I have in the past preferred to do it, having purchased both high and low mileage cars.
In 2004 I bought a 4 year old Mondeo Ghia X with 1 owner from new and full Ford history. It was in immaculate condition having been looked after well by its single owner. It was top of the range with absolutely loads of kit. It cost me just £2650 because it had 115k on it. Because it had been used for long trips rather than short trips the interior wasn't any more worn than you'd expect of a lower mileage car -after all, he'd got in and out of the car thus wearing the bolster probably the same amount of times per day as the people who drive 3 miles down the road.
It was a brilliant car and I ran it until 2006 with absolutely zero issues at all. It eventually died in 2009 after the tensioner on the cambelt failed, but for this I blame the Ford main dealer who, on being instructed to replace this part in 2004, didnt as they claimed it wasn't required.
My next car, in 2006, was another 4 year old car. This time an immaculate BMW 530i Sport with not a mark on it inside or out. No rattles, no squeeks, nothing. At the time my father had a 530d of the same age which he'd had since 19k miles. Viewing the 530i revealed that despite a staggering 140k miles on a car just 4 years old, it was comparable in condition (Infact better if we include parking dings etc) to the 530d we turned up to view it in. Paid less than £10k at a time when comparable low mileage cars were £15k. It was owned by a lovely chap who was a director at a leading IT firm and lived 140 miles from his office, hence the mileage.
I still have this car today and it remains in fantastic condition inside and out. You cannot tell the mileage. It now shares the drive with another almost identical car - a 530i Sport Touring -with just 61k miles on it. My 530i is the better condition car inside and out. The 530i hasn't been the zero-hassle experience the Mondeo was - stuff has broken, some of it expensive, some if not so, but it's all stuff that tends to go wrong on E39's on account of age not mileage. The few mileage related issues I have had happened far later than you'd expect. The rear nearside wheel bearing for example is good for about 80k before the heat from the exhuast dries them out. Mine didnt go until 150k, reflecting the fact it's really time not miles that wears cars.
Its worth nothing you really need cars under 5 years old to do this. The older they get the less likely the high mileage is to be mostly long trips. A 7 year old car with 140k on it could quite easily have had 140k of completely average stop start driving....
HOWEVER...
Some cars today are so ridiculously complex that no matter what mileage they have on them, you would be mad to run one without a decent warranty. If you are buying something like this then sadly you are stuck with low mileage cars in order to qualify for a decent warranty. Last year I did just this and bought a 25k mile 335i in order that i'd be protected from the numerous issues these cars have. There was not the 'this is a lower miler and that is a high miler' difference you might expect from both cars. Sure, there is a bit of wear on the bolster of my 530i but at the point I bought the 335i it was 9 years old. The 335i had more trim rattles infact. The ONLY benefit I could see of the lower mileage was the fact I had that cast iron warranty.
My opinion is that age and how a car is looked after and driven has a far greater effect on the car than its mileage. But mileage has the biggest effect on a cars value. It is not correct to say 'high mileage good', because there are numerous crap high milers out there. More that you will find many 1 owner big mile cars to be in far greater condition than you'd expect and have far more life than you'd expect.
Cars these days last for pretty much ever, provided you are happy to repair them. Gone are the days when a car reaches the end of its life and is not repairable. Cars are still scrapped when they go wrong but this is because they are worthless not unrepairable. If your £10k car goes wrong and costs £1k, you will fix it. If the same car goes wrong again in 6 years time and is worth £1k at the time, most people will bin it and blame the fact its high mileage when infact its the same fault again you fixed before.. only this time it makes no economic sense.
Oh and don't expect to be able to sell it.
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