lower mileage but higher price - which is more important...

[DodgyGeezer]

just curious about the varying opinions here. There are a few limited edition cars available, all identical specification, year and colour but with differing mileage and delivery dates - which is the most appealing?


Available now:

20,000 miles - £60,000


available in 3 or 4 months:

16,089 miles - £50,822

3,203 miles - £54,405

98 miles - £68,934

2,506 miles - £60,831

188 miles - £63,260

526 miles - £61,522

[Tiglon]

Depends what you're going to do with it and how much money you have.

[omniflow]

If you need a car now, buy the one that's available.

If you don't need a car now and you're going to put loads of miles on it, buy the cheapest one

If you don't need a car now and you're only going to put a few miles on it, buy the cheapest one

Alternative viewpoint - if you don't need a car now and you're only going to put a few miles on it - don't bother buying one at all.

[Glenn63]

3,203 for £54k for me. Save nearly/over £10k for 3k miles which is nothing.

[Pica-Pica]

I would place the presence of features, and model year updates as more important. Then, number of owners, maybe; mileage would be low priority on my listm

[kambites]

How old are they? IMO there's an optimal yearly mileage for a car and it's not zero!

[paddy1970]

My overall ranking (most to least appealing)
3,203 miles – £54,405 ← best all-rounder
16,089 miles – £50,822 ← best value if driving it
526 miles – £61,522
2,506 miles – £60,831
188 miles – £63,260
98 miles – £68,934
20,000 miles – £60,000

[DodgyGeezer]

kambites said:

How old are they? IMO there's an optimal yearly mileage for a car and it's not zero!

in this particular case they are all 2023 and all identical so the only two differentiating factors are miles and price. Obviously if people are looking at different models (for example, the afore-mentioned Escort Harrier) then mileage becomes less of an issue as the years go on... 4k a year on a 1975 car is still 200,000 miles and ownership numbers are likewise totally different indicators

[ChocolateFrog]

Depends on the condition as that's not necessarily got a lot to do with mileage.

But everyone picks the lowest mileage they can afford so just do that.

[SFTWend]

DodgyGeezer said:

in this particular case they are all 2023 and all identical so the only two differentiating factors are miles and price. Obviously if people are looking at different models (for example, the afore-mentioned Escort Harrier) then mileage becomes less of an issue as the years go on... 4k a year on a 1975 car is still 200,000 miles and ownership numbers are likewise totally different indicators

Unless it's something exotic that is difficult to sell it its done more than a couple of k pa, the value is surely in the 16k and 3k cars.

[ExBoringVolvoDriver]

I would be going for the 16k mile car for just over £50k

Unless in the next 4 months it will have increased the mileage dramatically of course. 16k on a 3 year old car, even a limited edition is not a lot.

[WelshPetrolhead]

If the 16k mile car is in as good condition as the 3k mile car, that's the one I'd go for. If not then the 3k mile car.

[Gulf7]

It depends how many miles you'll be doing per year and whether you want your car to stay low mileage for future resale.

I'd say either the 16k or 3k look the best "value".

If it's a 2023 car is it a 23 plate or a 73 plate? Average UK mileage is ~7k.

Edited by Gulf7 on Sunday 28th December 23:03

[Mr Tidy]

At those prices it must be something fairly exotic so the 20K available now one looks over-priced.

What I'd chose would probably depend on what the car is and it's age, but the 3,203 miler looks like a good combination.

[Colinv6]

DodgyGeezer said:

in this particular case they are all 2023 and all identical so the only two differentiating factors are miles and price. Obviously if people are looking at different models (for example, the afore-mentioned Escort Harrier) then mileage becomes less of an issue as the years go on... 4k a year on a 1975 car is still 200,000 miles and ownership numbers are likewise totally different indicators

But wait… wasn’t 1975 only 30 years ago??

[Hub]

Just on that info I would wait as you'll lose money on the currently available option. As others have said it depends on other factors too, including condition and history. Curious how you know about all these other options that will become available though?

[DodgyGeezer]

Hub said:

Just on that info I would wait as you'll lose money on the currently available option. As others have said it depends on other factors too, including condition and history. Curious how you know about all these other options that will become available though?

US import so available now, but will take up to 3 months before I get my grubby mitts on it

[DodgyGeezer]

Colinv6 said:

But wait wasn t 1975 only 30 years ago??

I know - shocking isn't it!

[alscar]

DodgyGeezer said:

US import so available now, but will take up to 3 months before I get my grubby mitts on it

3 months wait time is nothing -especially at this time of year - I had to wait 18 months for my (new) Dark Horse.
The one at 3k miles on that basis seems a good compromise especially on money saved.

[fooman]

I would always buy on car condition - this is harder to fix than mechanicals.