I suspected this was an obvious question but it seems like a lot of people disagree with me. I say kilometres travelled is far more important than manufactured year. I'd rather a 10 year old car with 50,000kms than a 3 year old car with 90,000kms. Cars only age with use so the less it's been driven the better it is.
Would you agree?
In your example op, I'd rather have the 3 year old car.
Nup, So if you buy a 10 year old car (with no warranty) and run it for three or four years you have nearly a 15 year old car.
As opposed to 3 year old car (with the balance of the new car warranty) with maybe 4 years of warranty left…
Then you have all the safety features and benefits and fuel efficiency, availability of parts etc.
Check out the ANCAP rating comparisons at
http://howsafeisyourcar.com.au/
Cars only age with use so the less it's been driven the better it is.
Not true. Aging occurs just sitting around. An old car, hardly used is likely to have seals etc that have dried out and hoses starting to perish.
When it’s close, I’d pick kms. Ie same model, one a year or two older older with lower kms one younger with higher kms I pick the old one.
But, overall condition comes into it too.
I pick my car based on needs/wants/budget, find a model I want then find the best example of that model. Newer, older, accessories, condition and kms all factor into the purchase.
Our SES road crash rescue truck is 22 years old and has only 15000Km on it because it only rolls for a person trapped accident. We recently replaced all its tires after a blowout on the highway. The whole lot of them were perished from age alone.
Depends.
~10 year old car with around 100,000km, the mileage would be a greater factor.
~3 year old car with around 30,000km, the age would be a greater factor.
Some parts deteriorate with age. Some with use. Some cars have been disused for a long time making it the worst of the lot.
If it's under 5 years I wouldn't be too worried about the kms but then it depends on how long you want to hold it for and how much mileage you'd put on it a year.
Yep, I think this is important. I don't put may kms on my car, so I care less if the next one I buy starts higher, because it will 'age out' before it wears out. Whereas if you're putting lots of kms on each year then higher kms may mean less usable life where as the year might be less important because you'll replace it soon enough anyway.
Older cars are generally less safe in crashes too, so that matters somewhat, but one year here or there doesn't matter much.
Then also depends on how you intend to drive it afterwards.
If I was buying a car for my parents and all they going to do is drive it to the local shops. I rather a 3 year old car
If I was buying for myself as a daily commute to the station then I would buy the 10 year old car.
But then it also depends on car type, brand, and condition of other things.
Why can't we have both?
Because like the speedboat in Wall Street you can’t waterski behind both at the same time…
But, this isn't the jetski.
So many factors come into buying a car and no 2 are alike.
It's like asking "what's more important in a partner, age or health?" Would you pick a 50yr age gap over someone who's too fat or too skinny?
It's not black and white
And lol @ the neg
Probably cheaper to run two cars than keep two partners afloat.
It would depend, I would have thought, on the age of the car you are buying … newer cars go more on age, older cars go more on kilometres.
Within the ranges of "normal use", I would have thought a 2 year old car would be preferable to a 4 year old car even if kilometres are similar. On the other hand, I would have thought a 100,000km car that's 10 years old would be preferable to a 200,000km that's 5 years old.
It's a false dilemma. Neither age nor km are solely indicative of condition and value.
100% this.
Car year or kilometres travelled - what's more important?
The price that the buyer is willing to pay for it.
A 3 year old 90,000km car will be much safer than a 10 year old 50,000 km car. If it was 3 years vs 5 years then the 40,000 kms might matter more.
Mileage… Pfft… Americanisms. Kilometreage
Isn't kilométrage French ? I've always said that word with a fake French accent.
41% of the English language is French or derives from French.
I guess you can start working on your fake French accent
depend, some European cars die after 10 years
my old Saab, was in great condition, was a tank
after 10 years, everything started to die, lucky was able to sell.it fast
Say you're comparing two of the same generation car, as '12 model and a '15 model. The '12 has 50k kms, the '15 has 150k kms. Both have full service history etc.
In this case, I would definitely not rule out the newer model with higher ks - as typically someone who drives these high distances will maintain a car well, and likely be driving longer distances (primarily highway). This puts a lot less wear and tear on everything. In saying that, it is very context dependent. Just because a car is low ks doesnt mean its good, likewise high ks doesn't mean its bad.
Lots of factors at play really. I want all the latest safety features and so was looking for cars from say 2011 onwards just to get blind corner assist and adaptive cruise control to name a few. Then I look at my budget and choose something not too old and not too high a mileage. Close to 100k KMs would mean timing belt service for most vehicles so I was looking around the 50k km mark.
Best i found was a 2011 Ford Mondeo Titanium with 50k KMs for $14k at a Ford dealer with 3 yr extended warranty. That was my choice. I could've bought a small Korean new vehicle for that price, but picked this one.
With most modern cars from Japan you are going to get way more than 200k from them without a worry at all (except normal wear and servicing), a diesel then way more than that but with the anti diesel movement resell could eventually be a problem.
Many cars between 100-150k are going to have a CAM belt replacement requirement and that can be an extremely expensive service item, so you want to check that out before buying.
Personally I would purchase the 3 year old car with high kilometres, because as many have said, better safety, better features, possible warranty, new parts still available and it will look more modern when you are showing off to the neighbours :-)
European cars have a use by date though and you would be well advised to ask the service places what a service is going to cost on any euro car over 7 years old, they aren’t cheap and they are not as reliable as a Japanese vehicle. Korean cars would probably fit into the same category as the Japanese ones.
I bought a high mileage car, because it was cheap, yet in excellent condition and well maintained.
The real clincher though, they were country miles. Not the same as the destructive stop and start, high traffic, shopping cart treatment city cars get.
After two years the car has been flawless.
Its a combination of both.
More importantly is ensuring the car has a good service record and is up to date with service and repairs.
Ive seen a near new Hyundai with 50,000km blowing plumes of smoke because the owner missed a couple of services???????
You need to do more than miss a few services with a Hyuandai to have it start blowing smoke. Sounds like it was abused or driven by someone who can't operate machinery.
The year is more important as compinent can be outdated, rusty or defect. While it's easy to say how much kilometers might matters, i saw people buying cars from japan (12 years old but really really low kilometers) and end up having to fix most parts of it.