What difference does mileage make to the value of a car?

ElefantEd

Just looking for some rough estimates really, bearing in mind that many other considerations apply. But for two cars of the same model and specs and of a similar age, how much difference does the number of miles they've done to the value?

For example, a 2 year old car with 16k on the clock vs 32k?

Looking to buy a small 2nd hand car and not sure how much to take this into account when assessing value for money of different options. Presumably higher miles might imply greater wear on clutch and the engine generally; on the other hand does it make so much difference with a modern engine?

AdrianC

The effect on the value depends entirely on the market for that car.

As for whether I'd pay much more for a lower-mileage car? Not really. Especially if we're talking 2yo 16k-vs-32k. It's easily possible for a total muppet to muller a clutch in 1k, let alone 16k, and a clutch could easily last 100k+. The gearbox should last the life of the car.

Look at the condition of it, and the history.

You might also consider the use you're going to be giving it and how long you plan to keep it.

If you're going to be doing a very high mileage and keeping it for five years, then it doesn't much matter - it'll be worth buttons at the end of that time anyway.
If you're going to be doing a slightly higher than average mileage and keeping it for a couple of years max, then the lower mileage car might help you sell it without unusually high mileage hitting the value.
If you're going to be doing a low mileage and keeping it for a couple of years, then you could buy low value and sell higher value, as it'll have gone from being a higher-than-average to lower-than-average mileage car.

oldhand

My own opinion would be the make of the car,Renault,Citroen or Peugeot with high miles id avoid like the plague,not really because of the engine as they tend to be pretty good and shared between them but with high miles the R,C,and P show the well known electrical faults which are hard to cure and expensive to fix.
Audi,Merc ,vw have a good reputation for high mileage and good build quality,and fords can be a good buy if well looked after.
Maintanence helps a lot so a high miler with lots of service tickets would sway me more than a low miler with unknown history.just my opinion.......

Strider590

Personally i'd want to see at least 10k per year of age.....

Anything less and you risk buying a car that's been used for the 2 mile trip to the shops and back, low mileage and not letting it warm up is the worst thing you can do to a car.

WellKnownSid

oldhand wrote: »

My own opinion would be the make of the car,Renault,Citroen or Peugeot with high miles id avoid like the plague,not really because of the engine as they tend to be pretty good and shared between them

Funnily enough, I've just handed back a leased 208 with 32k on the clock. Needed a new oil pump, seals and relief valve when the relief value failed at 31k. Known fault because the service manager diagnosed it over the phone...
That said, anyone buying that particular car will have one which was used pretty much every day, run in by the book, warmed up properly each time it was used, and fully serviced at the right time.

oldhand wrote: »

Audi,Merc ,vw have a good reputation for high mileage and good build quality,and fords can be a good buy if well looked after.
Maintanence helps a lot so a high miler with lots of service tickets would sway me more than a low miler with unknown history.just my opinion.......

Audi, Merc, VW have all gone through periods of cost-downs, production ramp-ups, the introduction of new plants, designs and technologies especially emissions driven which have impacted the reliability of particular production lines, models, model years, variants or components. VAG oil pump drives. The first few years in the life of the DSG. The launch of the W203 and the transfer of production to South Africa.
The good news is you don't have to be the first to discover all of this - Google is your friend, find out which to avoid...

mark5

VW are paying the price for long service intervals. I have generally ignored VW service interval guide lines and kept to the older recommendations for both mine and my wife's cars, stuck to annual servicing etc and never had any serious failures, 4 Golfs, 3 Polos, one air mass meter on a mk4 golf, temp sensor on 52 plate polo, I find my local dealer helpful too, much better than the local BMW, ford and Vauxhall dealerships.

Had a Focus and Fiesta which were both great value and pretty much trouble free.

Had a Mini Cooper which should have been scrapped before it left the factory, nearly every component had failed by 40k and despite most problems being widespread BMW mini useless.

Had 2 Vauxhalls in the late 90s early 2000's which had their fair share of problems and the local dealer was crap.

EdGasket

The higher the mileage the lower the value; in general.

[Deleted User]

To me mileage is everything. The nearer the car is to rolling off the production line the better.All components wear, I don t care who makes it or what the reputations for longevity are I personally want the lowest possible mileage. My last car was an ex motobility Vauxhall Corsa ( from CEJ 3000 ) three years old with 3k miles on the clock. Its now on 33k 5 years later and I ve never touched it apart from plenty of oil changes every 6k miles. Anyone who buys cars with say 80k are getting cars all ready for big items to fail, clutches , DPF filter, suspension, brakes, . the newer the better. Engines are better and the days when 100k was the limit before it started rattling everywhere seem to have gone.

anotherbaldrick

The difference is wether you are buying or selling the car.
Buying the Dealer will vaunt the low mileage and push that the car is nearly new and the low mileage is why the price is so much more than the average car alongside it.
Selling the car the Dealer will tell you the low mieage does not add anything to its trade in value as what matters is the age of the components not their distance travelled .

But that's the motor trade

mark5

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

The difference is wether you are buying or selling the car.
Buying the Dealer will vaunt the low mileage and push that the car is nearly new and the low mileage is why the price is so much more than the average car alongside it.
Selling the car the Dealer will tell you the low mieage does not add anything to its trade in value as what matters is the age of the components not their distance travelled .

But that's the motor trade

Very true!

forgotmyname

16,000 miles is so neglible its not working even giving it a 2nd glance. What counts is which one got serviced properly.

The service intervals are a maximum which is perfect for fleet users that spend as little as possible on servicing.