What's the "sweet spot" age/mileage for a used car purchase?
Discussion
nonuts said:
Ozzie Osmond said:
Rough rules of thumb,
10 years and 100,000 miles? Guess my M5 is dead then as it's 11 years old and has done over 160,000.- Cars last 10 years and 100,000 miles
- Cars lose half their value every 3 years
I've got a question regarding mileage.
Would you regard a 10 year old car with 30 thousand miles to be a bit suspect. I'm talking a family saloon or coupe here, so not a sports car.
Would I be better off looking at cars that seemed to do a decent mileage each year, rather than driven to morrisons 4 times a week with no propper time to warm up?
I ask this, because I'l probably need to get a new car or spend money on the current one within this year, and I'd rather not spend money on a car that has been battered so badly on the outside. (before I got staff parking, I had to park in a public carpark)
Would you regard a 10 year old car with 30 thousand miles to be a bit suspect. I'm talking a family saloon or coupe here, so not a sports car.
Would I be better off looking at cars that seemed to do a decent mileage each year, rather than driven to morrisons 4 times a week with no propper time to warm up?
I ask this, because I'l probably need to get a new car or spend money on the current one within this year, and I'd rather not spend money on a car that has been battered so badly on the outside. (before I got staff parking, I had to park in a public carpark)
You just check very different things on a low mileage older car to a high mileage newer one, because different things will have worn. I wouldn't call it "suspect" as such, but I'd be worried about it having been run cold for almost all of those miles so would check for the kinds of faults that that would cause.
Ozzie Osmond said:
Rough rules of thumb,
Your having a laugh right?- Cars last 10 years and 100,000 miles
If not then - you keep thinking that and we can have all the bargains.
I run 2 cars
Car 1 150k 11 years old - had it three years and changed a bulb
Car 2 100k 16 years old - had it 8 years - 1 x Coil Pack, power steering pipe - This car is modified to give 300bhpish instead of 200 standard, with no engine mods and is systematically abused every time I drive it, either on a 'run out' or on track. Sits in a garage probably 1-2 months at a time without use and still starts every time first time.
fellow Car 2 owner with similar setup but is a daily driver as well has just rolled over 200k
Edited by sparkyhx on Thursday 26th April 19:13
kambites said:
otolith said:
Ozzie Osmond said:
Rough rules of thumb,
- Cars last 10 years and 100,000 miles
The reason you don't see so many cars over 10 years old is the most people simply don't want them and they get scrapped - even perfectly servicable ones. Back in the 80s this never happened, any running car with an mot was saleable.
I like the Trigger's Broom analogy. For me, a car will usually last much longer than 10 years/100k but they generally need a lot more maintenance past that age - great if you don't mind tinkering and fixing things; not so good if you haven't got the time or enthusiasm and don't want to pay your local independent garage lots of money each year.
Either get quite a new car with a warranty (especially if it's a premium model where repairs are expensive) or go for a 5 year old car (especially if it's quite a basic car where there isn't all the electronic gadgetry to go tits up).
Either get quite a new car with a warranty (especially if it's a premium model where repairs are expensive) or go for a 5 year old car (especially if it's quite a basic car where there isn't all the electronic gadgetry to go tits up).
otherman said:
The 100k thing was true of Austin Allegros, but things have moved on a long way. My last three cars have gone to 200k and the last one sold for £1000 with those miles on because everything still worked.
The reason you don't see so many cars over 10 years old is the most people simply don't want them and they get scrapped - even perfectly servicable ones. Back in the 80s this never happened, any running car with an mot was saleable.
No-one made any comment on why there aren't many older cars on the road. Just that there aren't. The reason you don't see so many cars over 10 years old is the most people simply don't want them and they get scrapped - even perfectly servicable ones. Back in the 80s this never happened, any running car with an mot was saleable.
kambites said:
otherman said:
The 100k thing was true of Austin Allegros, but things have moved on a long way. My last three cars have gone to 200k and the last one sold for £1000 with those miles on because everything still worked.
The reason you don't see so many cars over 10 years old is the most people simply don't want them and they get scrapped - even perfectly servicable ones. Back in the 80s this never happened, any running car with an mot was saleable.
No-one made any comment on why there aren't many older cars on the road. Just that there aren't. The reason you don't see so many cars over 10 years old is the most people simply don't want them and they get scrapped - even perfectly servicable ones. Back in the 80s this never happened, any running car with an mot was saleable.
My dad never once in his life bought a car on the tick. It has become much, much more widespread to do just that in the last 20 years, and now we are at the point where a lot of people consider a car finance repayment as part of their fixed outgoings.
fozzymandeus said:
Availability and social acceptability of car finance and loans.
My dad never once in his life bought a car on the tick. It has become much, much more widespread to do just that in the last 20 years, and now we are at the point where a lot of people consider a car finance repayment as part of their fixed outgoings.
That's not sufficient to explain it though - if people considered the same payment into a savings account part of their fixed outgoings they would have even more money to spend on cars.My dad never once in his life bought a car on the tick. It has become much, much more widespread to do just that in the last 20 years, and now we are at the point where a lot of people consider a car finance repayment as part of their fixed outgoings.
otolith said:
fozzymandeus said:
Availability and social acceptability of car finance and loans.
My dad never once in his life bought a car on the tick. It has become much, much more widespread to do just that in the last 20 years, and now we are at the point where a lot of people consider a car finance repayment as part of their fixed outgoings.
That's not sufficient to explain it though - if people considered the same payment into a savings account part of their fixed outgoings they would have even more money to spend on cars.My dad never once in his life bought a car on the tick. It has become much, much more widespread to do just that in the last 20 years, and now we are at the point where a lot of people consider a car finance repayment as part of their fixed outgoings.
Think: "I work hard, I deserve a new car."
A) Off to the bank for a shiny new car on a 3 year finance plan.
B) Drive the current car for three years and save.
If route B is followed, you have a chance to view your decision more objectively and you'll probably ask yourself: "Why do I need a new car? Mine works OK, I'll wait another year or three", and it becomes a 6 year gap and you spend three years driving an older car. Aggregate this type of thinking across a nation and you have a nation of older cars (and all kinds of other secondary impacts on the used car market as a result).
fozzymandeus said:
Availability and social acceptability of car finance and loans.
My dad never once in his life bought a car on the tick. It has become much, much more widespread to do just that in the last 20 years, and now we are at the point where a lot of people consider a car finance repayment as part of their fixed outgoings.
Agree with that. There's a growing band of people that effectively just hire cars on a permanent basis, they never ever own them. My dad never once in his life bought a car on the tick. It has become much, much more widespread to do just that in the last 20 years, and now we are at the point where a lot of people consider a car finance repayment as part of their fixed outgoings.
kambites said:
Interesting, so from a brief glance it looks like it's actually at about 13 years old that they really tail off. Average age is about seven or eight years.
I'm genuinely surprised about that. Obviously this area is even more skewed towards newer cars than I'd appreciated.
So lets amend that rule of thumb to 13 years and 130k miles?
13 years sounds about right for my locale. Mk3 golfs are starting to become quite rare here now, mk4s still relatively common, and that would be roughly straddling the 13 year mark.I'm genuinely surprised about that. Obviously this area is even more skewed towards newer cars than I'd appreciated.
So lets amend that rule of thumb to 13 years and 130k miles?
And yes, at 130k many cars from the last ten years may still be reliable, but many will start needing minor bits replacing by then. Coil packs, senders, brittle hoses, all that kind of stuff. Enough to make someone without a bit of grease under their fingernails want to get rid, and the car will be worthless, so it's scrap. It's only the interesting cars, more likely to be found in the hands of PHers, that will get past this number and still be considered worth keeping. A 130k Mk 3 golf that has just a minor breakdown or reliability wobble once every six months is probably going to run out of friends awfully quickly.
Certainly my 16v wasn't interesting enough to keep me on its side as soon as its reliability stopped being absolutely flawless.
My a4 is 17 years old and still runs well, my father has an 18 year old a6 which still drives like new, it does seem criminal
How people just throw away decent motors. My theory is if an old reliable car costs me less than £500 to get through a ticket I keep it as better the devil you know.
How people just throw away decent motors. My theory is if an old reliable car costs me less than £500 to get through a ticket I keep it as better the devil you know.
E38Ross said:
nonuts said:
Ozzie Osmond said:
Rough rules of thumb,
10 years and 100,000 miles? Guess my M5 is dead then as it's 11 years old and has done over 160,000.- Cars last 10 years and 100,000 miles
- Cars lose half their value every 3 years
Ozzie Osmond said:
.... which bit of "rough rules of thumb" are you finding hard to understand?
are you saying all cars run trouble-free to 100,000 and beyond with nothing but fluids?
i'm saying cars with under 100k can be more trouble-some than cars with well over 100k miles.are you saying all cars run trouble-free to 100,000 and beyond with nothing but fluids?
most cars these days well maintained will go well past 100k; to suggest they generally only last 10yrs/100k is crap.
i see LOADS of cars pre "02-plate" cars every day.
otolith said:
So if I read that correctly - 28% of cars all cars on the road are 10 years and older on the road
- there are more 10 year old cars (2001) still on the road than there are 2011 2010 and 2009 cars
kambites said:
Next time you're out driving, count what proportion of cars you see are on the old numberplate system. That's about 10 years old now which equates to roughly 100k miles for the average car. 'round here, it's 1/50, if that.
Thats a bit more than 1 in 50 Edited by sparkyhx on Thursday 26th April 21:34
Ozzie Osmond said:
My word there's some stupid people in this thread.....
Ozzie Osmond said:
.... which bit of "rough rules of thumb" are you finding hard to understand?
are you saying cars don't lose half their value in the first 3 years?
are you saying all cars run trouble-free to 100,000 and beyond with nothing but fluids?
People's experiences differ, for me, the newest lowest mileage car was the one that to date has been the most trouble so my views about all of this are tinted.are you saying cars don't lose half their value in the first 3 years?
are you saying all cars run trouble-free to 100,000 and beyond with nothing but fluids?
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