Is it better to buy a newer model used car with very high mileage or an older model used car with average mileage?
It’s Best To Buy A Newer Model With Average Or Lower Miles.
Barring doing that the car’s history is key. The condition of the vehicle and maintenance done on the vehicle takes precedent.
The newer the vehicle, generally the more safety features come with it.
“Newer” and “older” are vague terms. “Very high miles” is a vague term to me. Very high might not matter as much if the price is “very right”.
Without posting specific vehicles, miles, maintenance histories, and price, it’s anybody’s guess. If you’ve got the information, let’s have it.
I would buy NEITHER, unless I could view the maintenance records and verify that they had been maintained at least as well as specified by the manufacturer’s maintenance schedule, or preferably–better than what the maintenance schedule specifies.
If you spend some time on this site, you will see that far too many people DO NOT maintain their cars properly, and the second (or third) owner of the car is the one who winds up paying the price–both literally and figuratively.
Type of mileage is important also, highway mileage is much kinder to cars than in town mileage. Imagine 2 cars of the same model a New York city taxi with 40k vs 60k by someone who did a 40 mile a day commute on the expressway.
For a retired person, who is not going to drive very much, a newer car with high miles is ideal. He gets low price, a good body and parts availabilioty will not be a problem for years to come.
On the other hand an older car with few miles will leave the retired perosn stranded later on. But a good old car with few miles would be great if you are running a courier agency or delivering pizza. You get a cheap car and good service for a few years. Then you dumpt it and buy another one.
In both cases we assume the cars have seen good maintenance and are in good shape. I bought a 1977 Dodge Colt (11 years old) with only 20,000 miles on it. Had great difficulty getting parts since Chryler had dropped the brand (Misubishi) and Mitsubishi had not entered the country yet.
" I bought a 1977 Dodge Cost"
Was that the model that was legendary for high maintenance expenses?
;-))
Sorry, VC, that would be a Dodge Colt.
Maybe It’s Just Me, But I’d Steer Clear Of Any Car With Cost Or Expense In Its Name.
Docnick, is “Chryler” the new corporate name for Chrysler? Have they dropped the “s” as a cost saving measure? Good idea!
Common Sense; I miss the spell checker sometimes! The way they’re going it will likely end up as Chinler, since there will be few buyers for them with deep enough pockets to make them competitive.