Used Car Buying - About mileage or year ?

[z1ggy]

I'm helping my g/f shop for a new-to-her car. I'm not so much looking for car suggestions as I am for the the trade off between miles on car, and year of said car. She's looking to have around a $300-$320 car payment each month, so ideally she needs to look at cars around the $15k range.

I have a hard time trying to advise her on getting something older with low miles, vs newer but higher miles. For example, there is a Subaru Forester XT trim with only 18k miles on it, but is a 2010 for about the same price as a 2014 Forester X trim with double the miles on it.

I lean toward the newer car with more miles, especially if they were mostly all highway.

 

[NutBucket]

To me $300 a month buys a new car...just sayin.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

To me $300 a month buys a new car...just sayin.

Depends on down payment and loan duration. YMMV and whatnot.

 

[z1ggy]

To me $300 a month buys a new car...just sayin.

Price irrelevant. Pretend it's X dollars for an 5-6 year old car with Y miles, or X dollars with 2Y miles for a 1-2 year old car if you must...

 

[BurnItDwn]

time = rubber or plastic parts can start to rot
miles = wear on bearings, belts, and such

if one has proof that regularly scheduled maintenance was performed on time, I think the better choice would be to pick a newer car with higher miles over an older car with less miles.

Now, about the ones in the original post
2010 XT 18K miles
2014 X 36K miles

36K miles is practically nothing, a difference af 18K miles means nothing. In this case, the trim makes the most difference.
The XT will be MUCH faster, and also drink more fuel.
The X will drink a lot less fuel, and will be slower.
The XT will be a little bit more costly to maintain due to the turbo, and potentially could be more likely to develop problems.

The 2014 X is the more "practical" car to get.
The 2010 XT is the more "fun" car to get.

 

[NutBucket]

IMHO 2014 has the "better" drivetrain for daily use. Subaru should be ashamed of themselves of using that antiquated 4-speed automatic for so many years. You'll be lucky to get 20MPG around town with the XT.

 

[z1ggy]

In this case, sounds like the X is the better car to buy.

What about something like ford escape where the dif. Is v6 vs i4? Same situation. .. older v6 with less miles or newer i4 with more miles? Price being about equal.

 

[Scarpozzi]

In this case, sounds like the X is the better car to buy.

What about something like ford escape where the dif. Is v6 vs i4? Same situation. .. older v6 with less miles or newer i4 with more miles? Price being about equal.

I'd say a 4 cylinder would power an escape just fine. I don't think you'd need more than 4 to move it.... That's also 2 less cylinders to fail.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

In this case, sounds like the X is the better car to buy.

What about something like ford escape where the dif. Is v6 vs i4? Same situation. .. older v6 with less miles or newer i4 with more miles? Price being about equal.

In that case, I'd want to know what the use case for the car is, since the V6 gives you more capability for towing, etc., but at the price of mpg. (So there's more tradeoffs than just age vs. mileage.)

 

[SearchMaster]

I'd say a 4 cylinder would power an escape just fine. I don't think you'd need more than 4 to move it.... That's also 2 less cylinders to fail.

I always heard the adage that a V6 or V8 would have less wear per cylinder than a 4, so I guess it depends on how you look at it

A 4 cylinder will certainly move an Escape competently but will struggle under load unless it's the Ecoboost 4. With <170hp and that much weight, passing and merging will be more difficult. I drove a 4 cyl Accord with 135hp for many years (but 400-500 fewer pounds), and it was difficult when you needed any sort of acceleration. The Ecoboost with 240hp+ will move it just fine.

 

[z1ggy]

Thinking ahead, car would be a kiddie hauler, and need roof rack for kayaks. Maybe haul a pop up camper, but that's just his guess. We don't own one yet.

Car would see mostly highway or back roads.

 

[NutBucket]

A Subaru with a CVT is only rated to pull 1500 lbs so keep that in mind. The XT should be rated to pull 3k IIRC...but might be only 2k. Pretty similar for most small CUVs.

 

[eng2d2]

depends really on the vehicle and how it was used if its years.

 

[z1ggy]

That's probably fine. If we needed more down the road, I'd trade in whatever fun car I had for some lame larger SUV.

 

[thomsbrain]

I vote year. Highway miles are practically freebies. Almost any car driven to work will have 2+ cold starts per day, and that's what really causes the wear and tear. How far you drive it after each cold start doesn't make nearly as much difference. I'd take a highway commuter over a grocery getter any day.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Isn't the general logic that higher mile cars have typically been highway driven, with supposedly "gentler" miles?

That said, my 2005 Forester XT has just 24,000 miles and runs like a top. What's deteriorated most is the body condition, accumulating a million dings, scratches and dents from parking lots.

 

[Torn Mind]

If the former driver ever delivered pizzas or did heavy Uber, etc, you are getting tons of CITY miles.

Motor mounts, brakes, suspension and exhaust must be thoroughly examined or else you are in for a world of hurt either time-wise or money-wise, depending on which you value more.


In some states like Maryland, even the parking brake cable needs to be in good order to pass the safety inspection.

Oh, and in some cases, even changing sensors like the crank or cam position sensor is something you should keep in mind because those are random and not predictable(it happened to me),

And get I4s. Save yourself the hell of removing plenums from transverse mounted engines.

Don't buy anything from the lands of heavy salt. They age more poorly than those in less brutal areas.

Also, makes vary in terms of how long they were designed to last. You bread-and-butter Toyotas(Corolla and Camry, with no fancy sunroofs that Toyota cannot get right) with 100k should still be fine for another 50k, then they'll need some new "pink" coolant. Whereas, a Euro vehicle might be due for a litany of services at that point, and maybe some wonky electronics problems.

As far as highway miles go, the previous owner needs to have 35+ mile commute for it to be really worth worth. Because if they live 5 miles from the interstate in suburban-turning-into-urban lands and then travel 3+ miles in a dense hellhole of a city and need to navigate one-way roads and other nutty things, about 60-70 percent of the miles are highway and 30-40 percent of the miles are freeway.

 

[z1ggy]

If the former driver ever delivered pizzas or did heavy Uber, etc, you are getting tons of CITY miles.

Motor mounts, brakes, suspension and exhaust must be thoroughly examined or else you are in for a world of hurt either time-wise or money-wise, depending on which you value more.


In some states like Maryland, even the parking brake cable needs to be in good order to pass the safety inspection.

Oh, and in some cases, even changing sensors like the crank or cam position sensor is something you should keep in mind because those are random and not predictable(it happened to me),

And get I4s. Save yourself the hell of removing plenums from transverse mounted engines.

Don't buy anything from the lands of heavy salt. They age more poorly than those in less brutal areas.

Also, makes vary in terms of how long they were designed to last. You bread-and-butter Toyotas(Corolla and Camry, with no fancy sunroofs that Toyota cannot get right) with 100k should still be fine for another 50k, then they'll need some new "pink" coolant. Whereas, a Euro vehicle might be due for a litany of services at that point, and maybe some wonky electronics problems.

As far as highway miles go, the previous owner needs to have 35+ mile commute for it to be really worth worth. Because if they live 5 miles from the interstate in suburban-turning-into-urban lands and then travel 3+ miles in a dense hellhole of a city and need to navigate one-way roads and other nutty things, about 60-70 percent of the miles are highway and 30-40 percent of the miles are freeway.

Thing is, none of these things are never known. When anybody goes to look at a used car, other than a carfax and what an independent mechanic says about a vehicle, everything is literally unknown. Do you think a salesmen knows how the car was driven? Half the time they barely know the specs of the car, let alone any of the previous owners driving habits. I bought a used mazda3 2 years ago and got a receipt saying there was basically new everything (brakes, tires, bulbs, etc). Well when I changed my brakes this summer the pads were COMPLETELY worn down, nearly to the metal. There were ~64k miles on car when I did the change and 34k when I purchased. No way did I crank through an entire pad in 30k miles given my driving habits (mainly all highway, no hard starts and stops). Dealers are total crooks, they'll lie and say anything to you to get you in a car.

But, odds are though a newer model year which high miles was highway driven just simply because a car driven primarily in the city that is new just doesn't have enough time to rack up high miles, unless it's a public transit vehicle that operates 24/7.

Other points like buying a car in a "high salt area" isn't realistic. I live in the Northeast. We aren't flying/driving down to FL or some state where it never snows... Just not practical for us.

 

[pauldun170]

An older grand parents car with low miles, or a newer commuters car with high miles.
I've dealt with both.
My current station car was an older car with low miles. Bought a 2002 in 2008 with around mid 3XK on the clock.
It now has 80K on it.
Most reliable, low maintenance car I have ever owned.

I vote flip a coin and try to stay as close to that individual model's current model generation as possible.
If you find a car you like, scour car forums for common issues.
Some cars with low mileage might be prime candidates for sludge (owners do lots of infrequent short trips and only change the oil based on the mileage)
Some cars with high mileage might have known issues with wear in the drivetrain (Don't matter how well you treat it, vale guides are toast or transmission is on its way out @ XXX miles and your highmileage creampuff is 15K away from needing the transmission replaced or the oilpump is about to fail)


Summary - Find a nice flippable coin and scour the internet forums

 

[z1ggy]

Well for what is worth, she is very interested in the forester I mentioned before. I'm a fan of subaru but not that old 4 speed tranny on some of the not as new models.

 

[pauldun170]

Well for what is worth, she is very interested in the forester I mentioned before. I'm a fan of subaru but not that old 4 speed tranny on some of the not as new models.

Isn't there a big "Internet drama" over Subaru oil consumption?
In old timey days it was "Ur Subaru doth shat a head gasket". Then it was "Where'd my oil go?"

I may not be up to date but I do recall reading about as recently as last year

 

[z1ggy]

Isn't there a big "Internet drama" over Subaru oil consumption?
In old timey days it was "Ur Subaru doth shat a head gasket". Then it was "Where'd my oil go?"

I may not be up to date but I do recall reading about as recently as last year

I had leaky head gaskets on mine, but not til 7 years in. Not sure if this issue has been fixed or what root cause was.

 

[NutBucket]

Meh, to me it's overblown but maybe that's because mine doesn't use much/any oil ('15 Forester).

Our 2005 WRX is losing a bit of coolant...gotta be seeping at the HG or maybe from the turbo but it's not enough to be concerned about. Gotta pour some stop leak in there.

 

[thomsbrain]

Isn't there a big "Internet drama" over Subaru oil consumption?
In old timey days it was "Ur Subaru doth shat a head gasket". Then it was "Where'd my oil go?"

I may not be up to date but I do recall reading about as recently as last year

Don't forget leaking gasoline from the fuel lines under the hood! That's always a fun Subaru party trick. Or the disintegrating turbo propeller at 100K.

 

[z1ggy]

I don't think she's going to go for the turbo trim purely Bc of the price upper. It would be cool Bc at least it wood have some giddy up, but is probably not worth it in the long run...