Newer car with higher miles or older car with lower miles?

[QuiteTheNewbie]

I am about to buy my first car and am considering 2 cars of the same make and model but with the difference as follows:
- almost 3 year old with 40k miles and no history of service until it got to the dealer around 2.5 years later.
- 5 year car with 18k miles and impecable service history carried out every year at the franchise.
Price for both is about the same.

Both are manufacturer approved so have the related warranties (is this even worth paying premium for?).

I'm leaning towards older, lower miles, well cared for. Is that reasonable? The older one is in my preferred colour too
Or would be better to go for the newer one, considering it's now high mileage and has gone through the franchise review and approval anyway?

Thanks in advance.

[AllyBassman]

Always buy on condition and history.

I'd be going for the old one too by the sounds of it.

[griffter]

I’d go for the old one too. Miles wears cars, age doesn’t (caveats apply).
If the newer car is warrantied maybe the dealer can access some history online that you can’t? If not, check the t&c’s because if the car hasn’t been serviced to manufacturer specifications the warranty terms may be affected.
Final thought. At the moment one is roughly half as old as the other. One is roughly half the mileage. Both these things will influence relative values. As time passes the relative age difference will decrease. The relative mileage will depend on your use.

[0liver]

The car condition, mileage, and history are the most important thing when you're buying a used car. The novelty of the car doesn't describe its condition. I’d go for the old one too.

[andyalan10]

I'd say neither of those unless they are the only two of that model and you are really set on it.

a 3 year old car with only one service, 6 months late, and probably way over on miles too. Or a car that has done such a low mileage that you can be pretty certain that most of the time its been driven when not fully warm, and they'll be charging a high price for it.

My preference is for a car with way higher than average miles, but failing that I'd be looking for something with average miles and a correct service history, not either of the two you have found.

[QuiteTheNewbie]

Found another one of the same model:
- 3 and a bit years old, 37k miles, 2 services (after 1 year and after 2 years, so due one now for year 3)
Price is 8% less than the older with lower mileage.
Not manufacturer approved but with a large and popular dealer. And in my preferred colour too.

After the advice I'm ditching the newer one with higher mileage and patchy history and now between the above and the older one.

[Mr Tidy]

I would have ditched the newest one with the overdue serice too. That just seems to suggest the owner wasn't the sort of person you'd want to buy a car from!

The other two sound like they were looked after better - now you just need to decide which one.

[EthanSmale]

Typically I'd go for nearer and higher miles over older and lower miles, but in this case I wouldn't be particularly concerned about either