Very low mileage car

Eliza_2

A neighbour has a car that he bought for his wife but who never drives it so I was thinking of maybe making an offer for it. It's 10 years old and has a very low mileage. I have no idea what to offer so will obviously dig about on Autotrader a bit first but wonder if there are any pitfalls in buying a low mileage car. He seems to take it for a run every so often but other than that they use his other car for most trips. So presumably battery's ok, tyres will be easy to check. Anything else considering it hardly goes anywhere?

MOT due shortly so may wait till that's done first. Thanks.

AdrianC

What sort of mileage are we talking about? You can check the MOT history online - https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

A very low mileage is certainly no show-stopper, but nor is it necessarily a positive.

Iceweasel

We need a bit more info than just 'low mileage'.

How low is low?

What make and model of car is this?

Has it been serviced / oil changed every year - irrespective of the low mileage?

Garaged or sitting outside unused in all weathers?

Check for rusty brake discs.

Why do you presume the battery will be OK?

Any old battery can be given a boost and last for a few days or so.

Same with the tyres - the advice these days is to change them if they are 6 years old.

It's easy to check the production date of a tyre - there is a 4 digit code on the sidewall.

rocketrob5

Other half's dad bought a low mileage BMW a couple of years ago. looked immaculate, and drove well. He drives a lot and as soon as the miles started going on he started having problems.

A run every now and then will possibly not even warm the car up. You won't be getting out of the maintenance that is x miles or x years either. I would rather spend a little more and get something with average miles that has been regularly serviced.

Eliza_2

Sorry, I was just wondering if there were any general issues to check. It sounds as though low mileage isn't necessary an advantage. Swings and roundabouts.

I've checked the MOT history which is how I know what the most recent mileage is. It was about 25k at the last MOT. Honda Jazz. It's been outside for the last year or so but I don't know about before that. I haven't been to look at it other than just peering over the gate so don't know any other details. Not close enough to check tyres but I don't mind changing those.

I assumed the battery was ok as it seems to start when required. Obviously I was wrong there.

Thanks very much.

Strider590

The big problem is lack of servicing on these cars, people assume that not using it means they can avoid servicing costs, but coolant goes off as does engine oil and both start attacking the engine from the inside, equally the belts (cam and auxillery/fan) can dry out as the phthalates leach out and the rubber starts to crack (same applies to tyres).

If servicing has been done to schedule,.then other issues can creep in depending on how it was driven.(ie short journeys).

chrisw

Did it have any advisories on the MOT history? A lot of doom mongerers on here. It might have been well looked after. All comes down to the price, condition and how it drives (clutch?) really. The Jazz is quite a tough little car and will take some neglect but could be a good litttle runabout for say £1500.

Get someone who knows about cars to give it a look over, often a local garage will do it for you quite cheaply. I would guess the neighbour would be happy to agree to it for their peace of mind as well.

Johno100

chrisw wrote: »

Did it have any advisories on the MOT history? A lot of doom mongerers on here. It might have been well looked after. All comes down to the price, condition and how it drives (clutch?) really. The Jazz is quite a tough little car and will take some neglect but could be a good litttle runabout for say £1500.

Get someone who knows about cars to give it a look over, often a local garage will do it for you quite cheaply. I would guess the neighbour would be happy to agree to it for their peace of mind as well.

BIB Indeed, if a low mileage is so detrimental why do such vehicles attract a premium on the second hand market and when valued by the various vehicle valuation guides?

BeenThroughItAll

Johno100 wrote: »

BIB Indeed, if a low mileage is so detrimental why do such vehicles attract a premium on the second hand market and when valued by the various vehicle valuation guides?

Because a lot of people are still living in the 1970s, when a car with more than 70K miles on it was ready for a 'Gold Seal' engine.

Johno100

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Because a lot of people are still living in the 1970s, when a car with more than 70K miles on it was ready for a 'Gold Seal' engine.

And do you include the likes of Glass's and Parkers in that assessment?

BeenThroughItAll

Johno100 wrote: »

And do you include the likes of Glass's and Parkers in that assessment?

Glass and Parkers reflect the marketplace and its operation, and the fact is that the marketplace still regards low mileage as beneficial, regardless of whether that is true any longer.

If the marketplace regarded a car with <4000mi per year on as lower in value, Glass and Parkers would reflect that with an age/mileage matrix that devalued them.