When purchasing a 2nd hand car: low kms or more recent model?

Question

When purchasing a 2nd hand car: low kms or more recent model?

Answer 1

i would say both. but always suggest to purchase new one.

Answer 2

I'd always go for the least mileage, all other things being equal (well- maintained, little or no rust, suits your needs. Newer cars are sometimes more expensive to repair. Myself, I drive a 25 year old beater that starts every day.

Answer 3

Newer is always better. Don't buy somthing that's 10 years old.

Answer 4

Its more complex than that. What are the running costs? Do they break down lots? Which one costs more and will that price depreciate further (a newer car depreciates more)? Are they mechanically sound/in good condition and well maintained? How much will insurance cost? Who/what was the previous owner?

There's lots to buying a car...sadly only not all of these questions can be answered merely by buying a new car.

Answer 5

i would say the low kms, say for instance if you had a 2000 car with only 100 kms and a 2005 car with 300 kms i would def same kms, if there isnt much of a substantial difference it prob would matter

Answer 6

a little of each. lower miles should indicate that your service costs will be lower. newer models will cost more to insure. I've owned new and used cars, and gotten great lives out of both. my best purchase was my '99 civic (new), I got 9 years and 250k (miles) out of her! because hondas are one of the most popular vehicles on the road, parts were always easy to come by. by contrast, my '98 mystique costs more to insure, because it wasn't as popular a car, but it was my dad's, and available when the honda died.

also, if you tend to be "green", the carbon footprint of a used car is much smaller (next to zero actually) than a new one. get a later model compact that gets high gas mileage..

Answer 7

Why do you want/need a car..... I assume for convenient transport.

Why a second hand car....  probably because its cheaper.

What you don't want....  a lemon, high running costs and lots of repair costs.

I would suggest that you check the reliabilty figures for various makes and models as a good starting point  THEN consider the actual mechanical state of the vehicle BEFORE considering the age v kms situation.

If the car is not mechanically sound it will be out of action and hitting your hip pocket so that has to be the first priority.  

Of course the more Kms it has done the more likely it is that parts are worn and on the way out but that doesnt mean that a low Km is in better shape if a car hoon has been driving it!

In relation to older discontinued models the older they get the harder it gets to find parts if you need them. Recently a small engine mechanic said that once a model is discontinued they manufactuers only allow for 5 years of spare parts and once that runs out .. tough you might as well throw it away. Apparently cars are bettter catered for but a similar principle applies.

I have had my car 6 years and only done 20,000km because I dont do much driving and mechanically speaking its still a fairly new car. My friend has a 6 month old car that already has almost double that on the clock so age doesnt on its own mean much.

My suggestion would be to focus on how mechanically sound the car is and get one of those checks from the RAC as in the long run the cost of the check may save you thousands down the track.

One thing to keep in mind is the trade in value of cars in general. New cars are very expensive and loose the biggest part of the value in their early years some models can depreciate as much as 50% in just the first three years and even if you never drove the thing you would still loose half your money when it come to trading it in. An old car looses value much more slowly which means that as new car prices go up those increases flow through to increased used car prices with the effect that old cars tend to hold their value better than newer ones.

I personally would be looking for an older car that is mechanically sound with lowish Kms and an ordinary looking body (because a car hoon wouldnt be seen dead in an ordinary boring car!).

Answer 8

Both, really.

And generally speaking the newer the model the lower kms it should have.