What's the most important thing to look for when buying used?

"willkinton247" (willkinton247)
05/06/2014 at 11:05 • Filed to: Let's Discuss, Used Cars, QOTD

For me, it's mileage above all else. If your ad doesn't list mileage, I'm skipping it. Mileage is the chief determinant factor of value in my opinion. One of the top reasons I bought my Jetta was because it had only 23k miles on it. But some people don't worry about mileage, which blows my mind. So what do you think is the most important criteria to consider when shopping for a used car?

DISCUSSION (23)

Brian Silvestro > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 11:06

People usually worry too much about the year it was made, but the age of the car isn't the real age, it's how many miles it has that determines how used it is.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 11:09

I agree on milage but rust is another big thing for me, body work is a huge pain and ton of cost/time. Accidents are important too but those are usually pretty easily masked if repaired right.

McChiken116 - Patrick H. > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 11:10

For me, it's actual condition of the running gear. If it's high miles, but still running good, and clean engine and stuff, who cares how many miles it has? My S2000 is still a honda at the end of the day.

JGrabowMSt > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 11:13

How honest is the seller being with me about what is wrong with the car?

willkinton247 > JGrabowMSt
05/06/2014 at 11:14

You're browsing car-classified ads. What makes you send the email, or pick up the phone?

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 11:15

Agreed on mileage. If someone skips putting it on there, I'm closing the window and continuing my search. My favorite is the people who just put "low miles" -_-

willkinton247 > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
05/06/2014 at 11:16

Low miles! Only around 135,000!

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 11:20

Those ones are definitely annoying, but I was referring to people who don't even list the numeric figure and just let you know that it's "low" lol Which is a very relative term when it comes to cars.
Examples:
100,000 on a 22re is pretty low for that car, both in terms of the overall life of the car and years since production.

100,000 on a 2008 Jeep... well, I hope you enjoy paying for repairs and not driving your car. lol

Justin Young > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 11:21

While mileage is the crucial part, what about the state of the interior?

JGrabowMSt > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 11:37

Do I want the car? Even if something appears that it may be a scam, I know better than to give out my personal information to a seller. Worst case, it's a scam, and I look elsewhere.

I just bought a Magnum, and the honest of the seller helped the sale. The condition of the car was a major factor, but I would not have bought the car if I didn't get along with the seller, or the car was in terrible condition.

I looked into online communities for magnums, and knew about many issues to look for before purchasing, so I knew what to listen for on a test drive. It's not an appliance to me, so I'll go that extra step before purchasing because I'm spending hard earned money on getting the vehicle. If I'm buying a used car, I understand that it will not be factory fresh, and there may be inherent, or bigger issues with the car, but I'm going to wail on during the test drive. If the seller gets nervous about that, it means that I probably shouldn't be looking at the car anyway.

duurtlang > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 11:39

Mileage is important, but to me maintenance is more important. I'd rather have a 150k miles car that was babied and well taken care off than a 50k miles car of the same age with an owner who considered filling the tank as equivalent to proper maintenance. That said, I spotted a nice BMW E30 Touring recently which seemed to be taken care off properly, but the 500+k km on the odometer was a bit too much for me.

Hooker > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 11:44

Interior. I my experience, if an interior is dirty beyond the point of restoration with normal cleaning products (and no replacing of pieces) it's a no go.

Typically, if an owner can't even be bothered to take care of the place they spend most of their time, they likely didn't take care of the car as well.

This is not always true but mostly in my experience.

STANDARD6SPEED > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 11:52

Tires.

I believe tires are the most important part of a car. If a person lists not only the exact brand/model of the tires on their car, but it also happens to fall inside my list of approved tires, I'm much more likely to go after that ad.

I can't stand ads with "brand new tires" listed that leaves it at that. Okay cool, they're new. They could be brand new budget tires from WalMart. Doesn't mean the car will be bad, but it won't interest me as much.

Jeremy H formerly Kalakaboooom > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 12:12

If it was properly taken care of, and priced appropriately, I wouldn't care at all about miles. Hell, my Accord I bought with 204k miles, because the guy was only asking 800 bucks, it ran, and had current safety/emissions inspections as well.

The biggest thing I look at while buying private party besides looking at the car, is the seller, I could go on about how I am super anal about checking those control arms, and that it has the right size tires on it, and that it doesn't have a new radiator cap, and so on, but I pay the most attention to the seller.

Example, "car ran when parked." No shit it ran, that's how it got there. How long's it been sitting? What type of oil was in it while it was sitting so I know if there is a huge amount of sludge?

"High miles but it will it's a "insert JDM car name here". Well, yeah, any car can run for forever given it's been maintained/fixed well enough, where is your proof that it was taken care of?

I hate people who don't take the time to do a proper ad. If you aren't going to take the time to do a proper ad and give me the information that will make me want to come out and see it, why should I give up my time to waste on this seller?

I dunno, I just pay very close attention to how people write and word things on ad's. That is the thing I think is most important, how the seller is presenting their car, and by extension, themselves.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 12:19

mileage is the deal breaker for me. Especially when compared to age.

I bought my 2007 Mercury Milan in 2012. But it was a 5 year old car with only 44k miles. Waaaay under the average miles driven per year.

ReallyColorful > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 13:00

I have a friend who believes that mileage is not important. 40k or 400k doesn't make a difference to him as long as the car looks good...

Racescort666 > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 14:01

For me, mileage is important to a point. I generally do all of my own service so I worry less about mileage than making sure the particular model I'm getting is relatively free of unfixable issues. E.g. I'm looking at buying a beater Silverado/Sierra for a winter vehicle and I don't really care what kind of condition the interior is in and mechanically, most things are pretty durable even with high mileage.

newton > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 14:13

Mileage is only an issue to me if the car has collector status at all. Otherwise, enthusiast owned is a big big factor. Don't seem like you give a shit about your car? No thanks.

thebigbossyboss > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 16:44

Once saw a 2008 Crown vic listed with 591,000 kms (367,000 miles) at $1500 Was tempted just because it I wanted to roll a car over the 600,000 mark and my Cavalier will never make it that far.

NaturallyAspirated > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 17:44

I had a guy try to convince me that his 300,000 mile Jetta TDI was "low miles" because everybody knows those diesels run forever...

NaturallyAspirated > Jeremy H formerly Kalakaboooom
05/06/2014 at 17:49

I agree. If the seller is upfront about the mileage, I don't really have a problem buying a high-miles user car. My Subaru had 198,000 miles on it when I bought it, and my Miata was at 176,000.

I also agree that the "perceived honesty" of the seller is the biggest factor for me in buying a used car. To use my Subie as an example, the guy was obsessively detailed when describing the car's faults to me, so when he told me that his father-in-law was the original owner of the car and it had been in the family it's whole life, I believed him.

Makoyouidiot > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 19:23

I get underneath and check for oil leakage. I hate oil leakage. This also usually lets me see what type of oil filter is on the car, which can tell you if the person bought good stuff/changed the oil themselves or used crappy masterpack filters that chain lube places use.

wiffleballtony > willkinton247
05/06/2014 at 22:19

For me its the mileage to year ratio. Pure mileage doesnt mean much if the owner wants to sell you a car with 25k on the clock when the 30k service is several K.