I’m trying to decide if I should buy a 2006 Toyota corolla with 11,200 miles, or 2010 Toyota corolla with about 52,000 miles. Asking price is the exact same, $12,000. As far as looks, the 2010 is a better looking car with more “bells and whistles”. However, the 06 is in EXCELLENT condition and I like that it has VERY few miles on it. Any advice?
The '06 has only 2K miles per year which isn’t good IMO. It must have been driven in town only on short trips. Likely the owner didn’t do oil changes every 6 months (which would be every 1K miles). They are jacking up the price for the '06 based on low miles, but that few miles is really a disadvantage. The motor could be full of sludge from lack of use. All the hoses and fluids are 4 years older and that much sooner to replacement. I’d skip the '06 at that price.
What model Corolla are the cars? The choices are base, LE, S, XRS and XLE for the 2010 and CE, LE, S, and XRS for the 2006. This will help price it.
I’d still go with the 2010 at this point. It’s 4 years newer and the 40,000 miles difference is not all that much. The car can last over 200,000 miles if you do the basic maintenance described in the owner’s manual. BTW, do either car have maintenance paperwork? That can go a long way to telling how either will age. This is especially important for the 2006, since it is 6 or 7 years old.
2010 without a doubt.
The life expectancy is 200k miles…take the newer one. Cars age by time as well as miles. 4 years is a significant length of time with respect to safety features and age related problems. Besides, both should be thoroughly inspected as you can ruin a car in 10 k miles nearly as easily as 50 k miles depending upon local drivng conditions, maintenance and driving habits.
thank you everyone for your input. i think I’m going to go with the 2010.
JTSANDERS- the 2006 is a CE and the 2010 is an LE
good choice. $12,000 is a decent price for a 2010 LE with auto trans at a dealer, even without options.