2 y/o car with 40k miles or 4 y/o car with 20k miles?

[anonymous-user]

Which one would be the one to go for?

I guess one plus is the 2 y/o has 1 year of warranty remaining. Assuming like for like spec.

Edited by Super_G on Monday 31st August 08:55

Edited by Super_G on Monday 31st August 09:21

[Welshbeef]

Assuming like for like trim
Identical spec
Identical price

It’s obvious you would go for the 40k 2 year car as you have another one year or maybe more OEM warranty Plus no MOT due.

[jonwm]

I've always gone with higher mileage and younger car as a rule of thumb.

I have a company car and have in past times put 100k on in 3 years and the car has been absolutely fine, yet wife's 3 year old diesel with 12k on currently needs a new battery and rarely gets up to temp so know which I would prefer.

Currently looking to buy the wife a new (used) one as I can't seem to find a decent lease deal and I'm looking at age over miles as we would add so little to it.

[griffter]

How long will you keep it, and how many miles per year?
If all else is equal then presumably the only variable is the value when you want to sell.
Is the road find licence the same for both?

[anonymous-user]

Likely to keep around 3-4 years. Never keep more than 10.

[ZX10R NIN]

In which case go for the newer one.

[gizlaroc]

Super_G said:

Likely to keep around 3-4 years. Never keep more than 10.

That is some spread between 3 to 10 years. Haha


How many miles do you do?

100k miles tends to put many off in the UK.

But age is more of a concern, rubbers perish as they age.



Do you mean which is best for holding price or which is best as an ownership experience?

[TheDrownedApe]

I've always tried to find the high milers when it comes to a new car. You can tell from the interior what they've been up to and which to avoid. they are usually (in my experience) bargains.

The myth that "you should go for low mileage examples" is out of date nowadays but then i want the general buyer to keep thinking this so i can snap up the bargains

[ZX10R NIN]

gizlaroc said:

That is some spread between 3 to 10 years. Haha


How many miles do you do?

100k miles tends to put many off in the UK.

But age is more of a concern, rubbers perish as they age.



Do you mean which is best for holding price or which is best as an ownership experience?

I thought he meant he keeps them 3-4 years whilst doing no more than 10k per year at which point the car that's two years newer will be worth a little more assuming the OP looks after it.

[gizlaroc]

That is my thinking with cars.

5 year old vs 7 year old car makes a fair difference to price still, 8 vs 10 far less so.

Also, depends on mileage. If he does 10k miles a year then in 3 years that 40k car will have 70k on it, which won't make much difference between one with 50k on it. If he does 20k miles a year 80k vs 100k will probably make more difference than age.

To me it is about it being a desirable car, either a bargain on the depreciation curve, which may mean 3 years old with 90k on it, or 1 year old with 10k miles but 40% off list, or loads of nice options that means you put up with it being a bit older or higher mileage.


I'm a bit weird though as I go from a new or nearly new to a 5 year old 100k mile one. I tend to look at cars for sale all the time, if I see something that grabs my attention I don't really care the age or mileage, within reason. It is normally the tech that starts to date and puts me off a car more than anything else.

[gizlaroc]

That is nothing mate.

39k on a 4 year old car.

When they get to 8 years old there is little difference between one with 60k miles or 80k miles, so just enjoy it!!

[ChrisH72]

I've always bought low mileage cars in the past but to be honest it's done me no favours. Issues caused by too many short journeys or lack of use, and also the fact that I've paid over the odds and lost more come resale time.

So a couple of months ago I bought a 2017 66 plate with 67k on it. It was very cheap. But it was one owner and had full dealer history so I thought, why not? I haven't seen another for anywhere near what I paid and although I've only had it a few weeks it all seems to be fine. My mileage is fairly low so over a few years it'll even out. If everything works out okay I'll do the same next time.

[Welshbeef]

ChrisH72 said:

I've always bought low mileage cars in the past but to be honest it's done me no favours. Issues caused by too many short journeys or lack of use, and also the fact that I've paid over the odds and lost more come resale time.

So a couple of months ago I bought a 2017 66 plate with 67k on it. It was very cheap. But it was one owner and had full dealer history so I thought, why not? I haven't seen another for anywhere near what I paid and although I've only had it a few weeks it all seems to be fine. My mileage is fairly low so over a few years it'll even out. If everything works out okay I'll do the same next time.

67k miles os not high miles

I’ve bought a 155k and 180k mile car before very cheap and loaded with options. Still going fine when we changed them.

[ChrisH72]

You’re right, 67k isn’t that high. But it’s all about perspective.

If you were looking at a 6yr old car with 67k it would be completely normal. But on a 3yr old car it's high mileage’. The car I sold was 9yrs old and actually only had 64k on it.

[Mr Tidy]

Unless I was going to be doing loads of miles I'd go for the newer one.