Buying a 2nd hand car: Age or Milegae more important?

• sunboy77

  2 Jan 05, 18:07

  Hi.
  
  Got this query as I am thinking of getting a 2nd-hand, June 03 car. I went to view the car already and found everything nice about the car - well maintained, reasonable depreciation and stuff..
  
  except for one thing... the mileage was a whopping 58,000+ km already.
  
  So what are your opinions?
  
  Which is a better buy? Say two cars - one is a 2.5-years old car at 30,000km and one is a 1.5-years old car at 58,000km.
  Or should I disregard these and just concetrate on the Annual Depreciation?
• manualisbetter

  2 Jan 05, 18:18

  Originally posted by sunboy77:

  Hi.
  
  Got this query as I am thinking of getting a 2nd-hand, June 03 car. I went to view the car already and found everything nice about the car - well maintained, reasonable depreciation and stuff..
  
  except for one thing... the mileage was a whopping 58,000+ km already.
  
  So what are your opinions?
  
  Which is a better buy? Say two cars - one is a 2.5-years old car at 30,000km and one is a 1.5-years old car at 58,000km.
  Or should I disregard these and just concetrate on the Annual Depreciation?

  of course checking the mileage is more important... it's just like to use the engine 24 hours a day compared to another one working only 2 hrs a day... which one will last longer before breaking down A car warranty expired based on the car age or the mileage whichever comes first.
• Ah Wei

  3 Jan 05, 15:46

  Hi Sunboy,
  
  Hope this helps.
  
  1st of all, ask what are you buying the car for? Point to point usage (normally) and weekend go out with family? Or are you a sales engineer or in sales related line and need to travel to and fro regularly everyday?
  
  In a 'normal' singapore context, the mileage used is about 20,000km-25,000km per annual. And for a 1.5 yrs old car, the mileage should be around 35,000km-40,000km at most. Thus, the car mileage of 58,000km sure seems a lot! Its the mileague of a 2.5-3 yr old car, some will say. (Just to side track abit, my 3.5 yr old car also have a mileage of 107,000km already, an average of more than 30,000km a yr.)
  
  So if you are using it for point to point as I say, I believe price will be a more sensible issue to consider. Lets say, imagine you only used abt 20,000km a yr, the mileage will be 98,000km when its 3.5 yrs old (see, its even less than my car now!) So, the longer you drive, the more 'normal' the mileage will get, and eventually will fall within the 'normal' range in 4 yrs time, so it does not make too much of a different. (58,000km + 20,000*4 = 138,000km by the time its 5.5 yrs old).
  
  However, if you are doing sales, or heavy usage, then I will say mileage is more crucial. Imagine using 30,000km+ a yr, by the time its 4 yrs down the road, the mileage is a scary > 180,000km by the time its 5.5 yrs old. And then, you will have problem selling it! No doubt you buy cheap, but you will have to sell it even cheaper. Or, prepared to drive the car all the way till its 10 yrs old, and get back the parf.
  
  Hope this helps in your consideration.
  
• sunboy77

  3 Jan 05, 21:12

  Thanks guys.
  
  Your advice had helped me very much in my decision making.
• Ah Wei

  3 Jan 05, 22:56

  You are most welcome. Do let us know what's your decision like then, okie?
  
  Guess we'll be interested to know. Cheers~!
  
  And all the best in choosing your car.
• ed2004

  3 Jan 05, 22:58

  With the current car prices, buying new is more viable for its warranty etc....too much risk for 2nd hand and really big issue when dealers pysho you into overloan.
  
  Example. Altis 1.6 downpayment is only 6 - 7k now. Vios is about 6k. There are Subaru that takes $1 dp.