Hi everyone! We are a family looking for a 3rd row car. Because of my height there are only a few cars that I fit comfortably in, namely American. I have run into (literally) almost every dealer on the automile to sit in their cars. Its been eye opening how some dealers try to talk me into fitting in the car when I look like a scrunched up pretzel. We have settled on finding a used GMC Acadia - 2010 or newer. This is a big purchase for our family and plan on having this car for at least the next 8-10 years (at least in our minds). My question is this: how many miles on a used Acadia is reasonable to purchase? 25k? 35k? 45k? We are about 12k - 15k miles/year family. Thank you for any input!
-tallcar
It’s not always a matter of miles,
but a matter of maintainence history and current condition.
I’ve seen both ends of the spectrum ;
15k vehicles I woundn’t touch with a ten foot pole and 150k vehicles in pristine condition.
( I sold my 92 Explorer with merely 130k in 09 to a coworker’s family who was glad to get it. )
I’d try to stick to the 12k per year average when shopping for used.
Also look for the Chevy twin, the Traverse, you might also look at the Ford Flex. As to miles, I wouldn’t worry about 15k or less per year, so 45k on a 2010.
How many miles will you put on the Acadia each year? If you drive less than 10,000 miles per year, the SUV could have over 50,000 miles on it when you buy it and still have about 150,000 after another 10 years. As ken green said, maintenance history is very important. Try to find one where the maintenance and repair receipts are available. If it’s on a dealer lot, maybe the dealer maintained it for the last owner and can pull up receipts fro their own database.
The higher mileage models will be that much closer to needing things like brakes, spark plugs, tires, coolant changes, etc etc. But like the others pointed out, a higher mileage car is a good compromise if it has been properly maintained. In college I bought a used car with nearly 120k and the dealer was able to print out a history of all the maintenance that the owner had performed there. It’s been good to me, has needed a few little repairs but it is nearly 13 years old. Shop around for a good one. Be sure to have a mechanic inspect it before you make the purchase!
Accordion
What I would look for is a verifiable maintenance history with special emphasis on how often the oil was changed both as to mileage and time intervals.
Many a new vehicle has suffered a damaged or totally trashed engine at far less than 40k miles due to not changing the oil often enough.
I like the Acadia and think it is a well designed SUV, as does my neighbor. But, if I were planning to buy used and keep a car for ten more years, in that size, I would look first at Highlanders and Pilots. They have a ten year track record…Acadias don’t at this time. Also, how the body was maintained and how YOU will continue to is JUST (if not more imo) as important as the number of oil changes.
Keep in mind that a used one, especially 2 or 3 years old, might very well be really close to the cost of a new one. I don’t know how soon you need a new vehicle, but if you can wait a couple months, the 2013 models will start showing on dealer lots and the 2012 models will most likely have specials on them to get them off the lot to make room for the 2013 vehicles.
One bad mile can do a lot of damage. For a used car I would be far more worried about how your car was treated than how many miles.
Find a good local <b>independent</b> mechanic to check it out an offer you an opinion.
Good Luck