by "Klaus Schmoll" (klausschmoll)
Published 01/13/2017 at 16:42
by "Klaus Schmoll" (klausschmoll)
Published 01/13/2017 at 16:42
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STARS: 3
When shopping used cars, would you pay more for a younger car with similar mileage? The miles tend to wear out mechanical components whereas rubber parts and electronics age even when sitting unused. And we are not talking paying more to get a fancier new body style, or finding that low mileage little old lady classic.
To give you some specifics: Over christmas I said no thanks to a 2014 B8 A4 Avant 3.0 TDI quattro S-line 110K kms with summer and winter wheels and some nice options for € 23K. (stepdad has a business partner who deals in bankrupt companies, those companies have company cars... they sell at dealer aucton prices)
As you all know, I’m half-assedly shopping around for a 2007-2010 post LCI E61 with around 120-130k kms for €15K.
Despite that irritating cheap plastic cover around the gauges that all A4s and A6s of that vintage have, it was a good deal. And a much newer car (albeit at almost the same milage) so I tried to trick my mind into thinking that paying a little more would be worth it. But is it? Is a newer car with similar mileage worth the extra money?
In the end I never wanted an A4 in the first place so what’s the point, but they are getting a couple of BMWs in soon, so I might be tempted again.
My current favourite. Almost perfect but it has black leather instead of the tan/saddle (hard to describe) I want.
"TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts." (thebloody)
01/13/2017 at 16:48, STARS: 0
Mileage and if that particular model year had any major failures.
"bob and john" (bobandjohn)
01/13/2017 at 16:48, STARS: 1
honestly, i wouldnt mind a newer car with higher miles on it. its shows that the person obviously relied on it for SOMETHING, and HAD to have taken car of it as they didnt want down time.
ah, there does come a point where it gets a little ridiculous, and the wear items do become more expensive. but its a game of compromise.
"Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell." (oppisitelock)
01/13/2017 at 16:49, STARS: 0
It really depends on the car and what you need it for. For my DD I bought something relatively new and with 35k miles because I knew Id be driving it a hell of a lot. If I had a short commute or rarely drove I wouldnt really mind.
"Arrivederci" (arrividerci)
01/13/2017 at 16:50, STARS: 0
I’d personally prefer newer with higher miles versus older with lower.
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
01/13/2017 at 16:52, STARS: 3
There’s a newer car window where to accrue a certain number of miles, it has to have been highway driven for the vast majority. That tends to be less of a put-off. There’s also a window for old cars where below a certain miles count, it’s clearly spent too much time sitting. In the middle zone, high miles can be bad, but I don’t know where the boundaries really are.
"bob and john" (bobandjohn)
01/13/2017 at 16:55, STARS: 0
agreed. it really does depend on the car. would I buy a 100K mile audi? yea. Would I buy a 200k mile audi? probably not. a 200k mile honda? just broken in.
"DutchieDC2R" (dutchiedc2r)
01/13/2017 at 16:56, STARS: 1
I would argue that this really depends on the brand and type of car youre looking at. With certain brands, I really wouldnt care about the mileage, however, with other brands, I’d rather it not be a high-mileage car.
I feel the same way with age. There are car brands and cars that are known to be very prone to rust (the new FiST is a car Im very surprised to hear with paint issues, sure, maybe no rust, but still), which might play a role in the age-issue of shopping for a car.
On the other hand, whenever I shop, I look at a certain correlation between those two. I can believe if an ad says that a car has been babied (old car, very low mileage), but if the paint/parts dont show it, somethings off.
Same goes for a brand new car with very high mileage. Who knows what kind of (rough, but short) life it had?
In short, both are quite important, but both differ with each brand/type of car.
"Honeybunchesofgoats" (honeybunche0fgoats)
01/13/2017 at 16:56, STARS: 0
True that. While shopping for XK8s, I saw an immaculate 2002 with about 20k on it. After my initial amazement wore off, I realized that there is no such thing as a happy Jaguar that has only been driven about 1500 miles a year.
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
01/13/2017 at 16:57, STARS: 0
Here’s another interesting case - it can be relatively new *and* relatively low mileage, even from a mostly favorable situation, and still have something badly wrong caused by generally positive circumstances of origin. A family I know inherited a car that came from Texas, a relatively new big Mercury, and you’d think that the lack of winter and rain damage would be a plus. Except... the heat had been very hard on rubber parts, causing suspension boot failures and necessitating major front suspension work before it would otherwise have been due, some vacuum lines and other parts gave up, and the door seals gave trouble, causing a leak which led to interior damage and other issues. It was eventually scrapped.
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
01/13/2017 at 17:00, STARS: 1
On the other hand, maybe all the issues that kept it sitting for much of that time have been resolved and will never recur, leaving it perfectly reliable, with no additional issues from decomposed fuel or things sticking! Also, monkeys will fly out of my butt.
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
01/13/2017 at 17:01, STARS: 0
200,000 mile Ford or Chevy, check the body condition and local labor rates, because it
will
need things fixed but the parts will be about the cost of a Big Mac.
"Bytemite" (bytemite)
01/13/2017 at 17:02, STARS: 0
I’d take a 2010 model year, 200,000 mile car any day over a 1990 model year, 10,000 mile car. That’s a little extreme example but still, even with a 2005 m/y, 100,000 mile car vs 1995 m/y, 10,000 mile, the choice would be the former.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
01/13/2017 at 17:05, STARS: 0
Have you ever owned a newer German automobile? There isn’t a whole lot of difference between a 100k mile one and a 200k mile one.
-owner of two modern BMWs who does his own car repair
"bob and john" (bobandjohn)
01/13/2017 at 17:05, STARS: 1
yea. our 2010 A3 feels as tight at 130K miles as it did when new.
also, YOU own a modern car? bullshit.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
01/13/2017 at 17:07, STARS: 0
There’s not going to be a whole lot of difference between rubber and electronics wear on cars that are within a decade of age of each other on modern vehicles. I have fifty year old vehicles with the original wiring still. I just swapped out the original shocks on a forty-three year old motorcycle and it is still running the original rubber tank mounts (the strap did just teat). Mileage is more important for vehicles within 10 years of age of each other.
"Tazio, Count Fouroff" (tazio0625)
01/13/2017 at 17:08, STARS: 1
Counterpoint:
What truly matters is the level of care and maintenance
...now, given a lo-miler and a hi-miler with the same levels of care I’m not so sure! Low mileage perhaps
When one finds a car in the model one is looking for at a given time that’s had truly knowledgeable, careful, consistent maintenance — ime these are usually uncommon enough that you don’t have more than one to choose from anyway tho
"Tazio, Count Fouroff" (tazio0625)
01/13/2017 at 17:08, STARS: 0
Counterpoint:
What truly matters is the level of care and maintenance
...now, given a lo-miler and a hi-miler with the same levels of care I’m not so sure! Low mileage perhaps
When one finds a car in the model one is looking for at a given time that’s had truly knowledgeable, careful, consistent maintenance — ime these are usually uncommon enough that you don’t have more than one to choose from anyway tho
"Tazio, Count Fouroff" (tazio0625)
01/13/2017 at 17:11, STARS: 0
If you find two at once go with maintenance
If maintenance for both is comparable, go with lower miles — unless the color or options of the higher mile car make it something you’d enjoy more
"duurtlang" (duurtlang)
01/13/2017 at 17:17, STARS: 0
Honestly, at the age you’re looking at, both a year or two extra and a few tens of thousands of kms are moot. I’d look for maintenance/usage. How was the car treated? Second: Is the price right? Does it have the options you want?
This is ignoring model-specific problems. I know nothing about those BMWs.
"FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem" (fuelstratifiedinjection)
01/13/2017 at 17:34, STARS: 1
Depends on the overall condition in my opinion. I really regret passing on a 98 Golf Mk4 Highline 1.6 with less than 60k km driven by an old lady. Though I’d also wouldn’t say no to a higher mileage car with s good service history.
The E60 is really getting much better with age design wise I think.
"OPPOsaurus WRX" (opposaurus)
01/13/2017 at 17:41, STARS: 0
Age cuz rust being in New England.
"My citroen won't start" (lucasboechat)
01/13/2017 at 17:42, STARS: 0
I can buy a 2004 Cayenne Turbo with 30k km with my eyes closed but will not touch a 2015 Golf with more than 100k km.
"DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time" (dc3ls-)
01/13/2017 at 17:52, STARS: 0
Also consider if they lived out in the country that they’ll have more miles, however it would be much less abused than a car that had fewer miles in a city.
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
01/13/2017 at 17:59, STARS: 0
^This.
"Klaus Schmoll" (klausschmoll)
01/13/2017 at 18:18, STARS: 3
I had problems with the E60 when it was released, but now it still looks modern while being somewhat restrained compared to predator grilles and whatnot.
Maybe it takes some time for Chris Bangle’s works to sink in.
These were ugly as sin when new, but somehow I can now see what he did there.
That thing though, was terrible from the start and never will grow on anyone!
"TXCarGuy" (driversjournal)
01/13/2017 at 21:00, STARS: 0
As someone who who owns a dealership and juggles this question all the time, I can say that the answer is “it depends”. Most people prefer the lower mile, older cars but brand has a lot to do with it as does service history, location of the car (I’ll take a high mile Texas car over a low mile Illinois car all day long). In your case, I would take a newer, higher mileage car assuming its been taken care of. The E60's have issues that come up at 100k or so (water pump, valve cover gaskets, etc) so if all that stuff has been done I’d go that route. Higher mile newer cars are usually commuter/highway miles and not hard on suspension, brakes and other wear and tear components.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
01/14/2017 at 00:07, STARS: 0
The ride doesn’t change a whole lot, but lots of little bullshit stuff starts to break every 100k miles or so. I’ve owned three modern German cars (335d, 328i, amd an X1) and a ‘84 325e with over 200k miles that I fixed up.
Japanese made stuff seems to hold up a lot better, but is usually less fun and interesting.
"bob and john" (bobandjohn)
01/14/2017 at 00:12, STARS: 0
ours has a EGR valve that keeps getting stuck every 50 or so K miles due to diesel soot (yea, its a TDI) but other then that and 1 lone sensor, its just been consumables.
"FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem" (fuelstratifiedinjection)
01/14/2017 at 05:24, STARS: 0
I actually rather like that 7 Series behemoth more than the S Class of the same vintage. Not all of Bangle’s work is horrible, afaik he was involved with the E46 which is my favorite BMW.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
01/14/2017 at 10:18, STARS: 0
That’s pretty good then. My dad’s gf had a A4 gasser with a bit over 100k miles on it and she was starting to spend a few hundred a month fixing little things. My diesel BMW was a nightmare.
"bob and john" (bobandjohn)
01/14/2017 at 10:43, STARS: 1
IDK if its just been us getting really lucky, but seriously, this has been one of the most trouble free, reliable, and cheapest cars we have ever owned. Dad originally planned on owning it for 500K km, but the deal that VW wants to give him for the buy back is just too sweet to pass up.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
01/14/2017 at 11:13, STARS: 0
It’s usually all the emissions devices that cause issues with modern cars (like your EGR). Since the VW emissions equipment usually wasn’t doing anything, they’re probably fairly reliable vehicles.
"bob and john" (bobandjohn)
01/14/2017 at 11:14, STARS: 0
funny enough, the one sensor that went? yea, EGR pressure sensor LMAO.
$1109 part and 20 minutes of my time. (oh, and a rear wheel bearing went at 200K km. forgot about that one)
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
01/14/2017 at 11:18, STARS: 0
$1,100 part using $2 chinese electronics
"bob and john" (bobandjohn)
01/14/2017 at 11:19, STARS: 0
shit that was a typo on my part, it was 110, not 1109
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
01/14/2017 at 11:55, STARS: 0
That’s not too bad. I could totally see a VW sensor costing $1,100 bucks though.