Both hugely important factors when buying a used car, but what is your priority?
Newer or worked less?
Be interesting to know what your thoughts are.
Newer or worked less?
Be interesting to know what your thoughts are.
Age or Mileage?
- Thread starter Magic Johnson
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Age or Mileage?
depends on the type of mileage to be honest.
A high miler regularly serviced doing mainly motorway miles is better than a low miler doing 25 miles a week to the shops and back a few times and only serviced at the prescribed mileage intervals.
A high miler regularly serviced doing mainly motorway miles is better than a low miler doing 25 miles a week to the shops and back a few times and only serviced at the prescribed mileage intervals.
It depends I think.
High Mileage should show up any apparent faults with the car with defects as such, e.g. weak suspension springs that have cracked. if its been on the motorway a lot then I think it will be high Rpm(More wear technically, but it will also have warm oil so less wear potentially, if that makes sense?)
Other side of things, lower mile = low rpm around town you would expect and potentially less wear on components, yet also the engine will not be up to temp for a lot of these miles.
I would personally go for a middle of the road mileage one, less overall stress and wear I would expect. It should hopefully also show up what I would think would be a component failure within that time.
Other than mileage, service history and tyre brand are what I also look at
High Mileage should show up any apparent faults with the car with defects as such, e.g. weak suspension springs that have cracked. if its been on the motorway a lot then I think it will be high Rpm(More wear technically, but it will also have warm oil so less wear potentially, if that makes sense?)
Other side of things, lower mile = low rpm around town you would expect and potentially less wear on components, yet also the engine will not be up to temp for a lot of these miles.
I would personally go for a middle of the road mileage one, less overall stress and wear I would expect. It should hopefully also show up what I would think would be a component failure within that time.
Other than mileage, service history and tyre brand are what I also look at
OP
OP
Naturally you won't get an honest answer from a private sale, and won't get any answer from a used car dealer.
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Condition is more important. I would rather have a car that has 200,000 miles, but well looked after than a car with 20,000 miles that hasn't been looked after.
OP
OP
But you will get the answer from the paperwork
. If the last registered owner is BIG COMPANY PLC then it was probably a reps car so the high mileage will be motorway. If you buy private and its low mileage then you can ask why so low? and most people will either say "we only use it to go to the shops" or "its been parked up for the last 3 years" etc. both of which would ring alarm bells but for different reasons, although I wouldn't go to see an old very low miler unless I was anticipating changing the engine.
OP
OP
But you will get the answer from the paperwork
Aye, or it could have been a pool car absolutely ragged to bits by employees taking it out for the day.
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Yes but that isn't the question I've asked. :bang:
But neither are important to me
.
A 27 year old car with 500,000 miles and 1 owner will be a better proposition to me than a 5 year old car with 50,000 miles and 6 previous owners. Ergo, previous owners to me is the most important factor.
OP
OP
Ok, exclude all variables.
You have two choices:
Buying a car that is old with low miles
Buying a car that is new with high miles
What car do you chose?
You have two choices:
Buying a car that is old with low miles
Buying a car that is new with high miles
What car do you chose?
You can't exclude all variables, lol, no-one will ever have to make that choice because there will always be more to it.
OP
OP
OK then, neither
OP
OP
OK then, neither
LOL!
Personally I'd prefer a newer, higher mileage car. (see simple! haha)
Age would be last for me really, priority wise for me would be...
Mileage/service history
Then number of owners
Then age
Mileage/service history
Then number of owners
Then age
New with high miles for me, followed closly by number of previous owners and then service history.
Me too. I'd especially avoid ultra low mileage older cars, which IMO are often very poor value for money. Cars which are not used regularly can corrode in places you don't want them to, especially inside the engine.
But the most important thing of all is condition. The current book valuing system undervalues the best cars (of which there are few), and overvalues bad ones (of which there are many).
A simple example to illustrate this - consider two three yr old cars, one completely original with 20k on the clock, the other with 35k that's just had new tyres, discs, pads, battery & exhaust. You'll likely pay a significant premium for the lower mileage car, but you'll probably have to replace all the listed parts within 18 months. The higher mileage car with everything fixed might need no more than servicing during the same period.
The cost of repairs is now sufficiently high to seriously distort the economics if you don't take proper account of what's likely to need replacing during your period of ownership. With some of the deeply discounted cheap small car deals now available on cars like the Panda & the i10, the 3yr cost of ownership may significantly favour new over used.
Older, larger cars are something of a lottery but if you can get in and out at the right time, avoiding both big workshop bills & heavy depreciation, you can travel in style for surprisingly little - but watch out for the cost of fuel.
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I would buy a newer car with high miles. It will have modern technology and styling at a bargain price. Hence my 57 plate bravo, 125k but only £2995.
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Low mileage can be a lot more devastating than high mileage (well serviced) examples. at least with high mileage they've been driven regularly.
