Low mileage vs late model

tiborgh

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Given a fixed budget for an used car, for the same price, what would you choose, a late model with high mileage or an older model with low mileage? In my case it was the first.
 
depends on the make of car and other factors,
if a honda which usually go on for a long time then id go for the first, if a lower quality american car then id go for the second just for one example.
 
Given a fixed budget for an used car, for the same price, what would you choose, a late model with high mileage or an older model with low mileage? In my case it was the first.

Reminds me of my brother. Makes a commitment then asks for advice. You either make him feel bad now by disagreeing or get called up later when things go wrong and you get told you agreed.

Please give some numbers. Are we talking low mileage 1989 Chevy vs 2010 Ford with 750,000Km.
 
high mileage how? commuted 200km a day to work and back or 200km a day doing deliveries in downtown traffic....two TOTALLY different wear and tear situations. I was never afraid of high mileage cars as long as i saw maintenance was done on time and not ignored.
 
when I was car shopping, I found higher mileage, newer cars to be ex-rentals. I wouldn't buy those even if they were certified because I just didn't trust them.

My old car, 95 with 180000km on it wasn't great either because it sat for a long time. lol.

If I had to choose, something within the last 10 years with an average mileage of 10k km.
 
How long are you proposing to keep this vehicle?

A hi-miler can be hard to sell. Good when it's time to buy, bad when it's time to sell.

If you plan to run the vehicle into the ground then I'd go for the newer hi-miler, especially if it has a knowledgeable owner and/or good maintenance records.

My own vehicle is a hi-miler that will probably be near impossible to sell ... but I've kept up the maintenance, everything works, it drives the same as it always has, it just has a big number on the odometer. Worth more to me than what I could get by selling it. If you can find something like that, that someone has to sell for whatever reason, go for it.
 
^ You'd be surprised.
We just sold (today) a 2006 Jetta TDI GLS with 358,000 KM's for $7000!
The car didn't stay on the lot for 2 weeks.
 
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My own vehicle is a hi-miler that will probably be near impossible to sell ... but I've kept up the maintenance, everything works, it drives the same as it always has, it just has a big number on the odometer. Worth more to me than what I could get by selling it. If you can find something like that, that someone has to sell for whatever reason, go for it.
Your car is still worth $$ because it's a Diesel that was well cared for.
 
Reminds me of my brother. Makes a commitment then asks for advice. You either make him feel bad now by disagreeing or get called up later when things go wrong and you get told you agreed.

Please give some numbers. Are we talking low mileage 1989 Chevy vs 2010 Ford with 750,000Km.

Your brother is looking more for reassurance than advice :-). Understand that it's a bit late to ask for advice, it was more like checking other opinions, pros and cons that I might have overlooked. I bought a 2008 VW Passat Wagon 2.0T 6spd with 142K.

How long are you proposing to keep this vehicle?

A hi-miler can be hard to sell. Good when it's time to buy, bad when it's time to sell.

If you plan to run the vehicle into the ground then I'd go for the newer hi-miler, especially if it has a knowledgeable owner and/or good maintenance records.

My own vehicle is a hi-miler that will probably be near impossible to sell ... but I've kept up the maintenance, everything works, it drives the same as it always has, it just has a big number on the odometer. Worth more to me than what I could get by selling it. If you can find something like that, that someone has to sell for whatever reason, go for it.

I would like to get 5-6 years out of this car, was mostly looking to get the best bang for the buck when considering comfort, reliability, features, etc. Usually I do not make plans to resell my cars.


My experience with the previous three cars that I owned in Canada was that the engine/powertrain were capable of more kilometers, but the body and other parts were giving up due to old age. And while I don't mind driving an older model car that is in good condition mechanically and estetically, it looks that in Ontario cars just don't age gracefully.
 
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