Identical Cars Different Mileage - Would selling be affected by much?

marathonic

I drive a '00 Ford Mondeo 1.8TD. It currently has 95,000 miles on the clock and has just been serviced and had a new timing belt fitted. My question is, would it be much more difficult to sell this if I put another 5,000 miles on the clock?

I mean, there will be no difference worth talking about mechanically with the car. The mechanic that serviced it says that it's in very good order. However, I know that when I look at the auto trader, if a car has over 100,000 miles on the clock there'd be some sort of phsycological barrier to stop me from buying it and I'd rather buy a car with 95,000 miles on the clock even though, it's very possible that the car with the lower miles would not be as mechanically sound. Are there alot of people out there like this?

JohnCleary

Say it reaches 1000k when it comes to selling it, just put 99k miles in the advert and if someone rings just say "Oh she's just hit the 100k as I drive her every-day"

Also stating that you drive it every day might give the potential buyer an idea that its a reliable car

Anan1

Short answer - yes, the car will be worth less once the mileage tops 100,000. On the other hand, given that the current value of the car is not huge, the drop mightn't be that big. What is the value to you of keeping the car for another 5,000 miles? Might it outweigh the drop in value of the car?

colm_mcm

yup, 10,000, 60,000 and 100,000 are the milestones, and as soon as you pass any of them, the desirability drops.

bazz26

marathonic wrote:

I drive a '00 Ford Mondeo 1.8TD. It currently has 95,000 miles on the clock and has just been serviced and had a new timing belt fitted. My question is, would it be much more difficult to sell this if I put another 5,000 miles on the clock?

I mean, there will be no difference worth talking about mechanically with the car. The mechanic that serviced it says that it's in very good order. However, I know that when I look at the auto trader, if a car has over 100,000 miles on the clock there'd be some sort of phsycological barrier to stop me from buying it and I'd rather buy a car with 95,000 miles on the clock even though, it's very possible that the car with the lower miles would not be as mechanically sound. Are there alot of people out there like this?

Unfortunately your average Joe tends to run away from cars with 100k miles or more. This makes them difficult to sell especially on the forecourt so most dealers may not want them especially if they are mainstream models that are two a penny.

I agree totally with you though that a car should be judged more on condition and service history rather than just mileage.

Tbh 95k or 100k on a 6.5 year old diesel car is not huge mileage by any means. Also I think at this stage a 00 Mondeo would have reached it's highest depreciation level at this stage whether it has 95k or 100k miles imo.

tensecyclist

definitely! 2nd hand buyers would prefer a car with lesser mileage..means, the car wasn't abused so it is in perfect condition.:)

HashSlinging

Well I'd prefer something that has a little above standard mileage and has been serviced correctly, rather than something that has less mileage and been used to do the shopping in and has gone passed a couple of service intervals.

Blue850

Two most reliable cars I've had were 90 and 94 Opel Vectra diesels,one GM diesel other Izuzu TD, both ex taxis bought at 160k plus for peanuts, first went to 230k when I sold it, saw it later in a bodyshop after a rear end shunt getting repaired with 250K on the clock! still have 94 with 235k on her, keeping an eye on a 00 Octavia TDi with 120k on it now, should be for sale next year.

Wishbone Ash

tensecyclist wrote:

lesser mileage..means, the car wasn't abused so it is in perfect condition.:)

How do you come to that conclusion? :rolleyes: A car with 30k could have been poorly serviced and have the shít driven out of it by incompetent drivers in the wrong gear. It may also have been subjected to very short journeys.

E.g. 1 mile to work, 1 mile back at lunchtime, 1 mile to work afternoon and 1 mile back home in the evening, then of course to mass on a Sunday.

On the other hand a car could have 250k and be running perfectly and has been serviced properly and looked after.

I will rarely use milage when choosing a car but then again I don't go for this thing about worrying about resale value. I buy the car for me not the next owner.

PS My car has 130k and I think it's just run-in.

gyppo

Theres an ingrained perception in the mind of the average Joe Bloggs car buyer that once a car has reached 100k miles its clapped out. This might have had some germ of truth probably 30/40 years ago, but technology has improved a long way since then. Unfortunately, this mindset hasnt changed.

I bought a mazda 626 about 8 years ago with 115k miles on the odometer. It looked/drove like a car that had about 30/40k miles on it. I sold it nearly 4 years later with 220k miles on it.

I met the current owner of it about 3 months ago. Bodywise, its got very tatty, springs/shocks worn out, etc.. But it was still going on its original engine and gearbox at 297k miles. Sounded a little tappety mind, but IIRC if always was a little that way.:D

Wishbone Ash

gyppo wrote:

Theres an ingrained perception in the mind of the average Joe Bloggs car buyer that once a car has reached 100k miles its clapped out. This might have had some germ of truth probably 30/40 years ago, but technology has improved a long way since then. Unfortunately, this mindset hasnt changed.

I was in a taxi recently while abroad (an E class W210) with 880,000 Kilometres on the clock (550,000 miles) and it looked fabulous.

A work colleague has just sold a Honda Accord with 330,000 miles. He didn't get much for it but as he says, it owes him nothing. He wasn't into cars and never got it vacuumed or washed until it was due an NCT.

marathonic

I think from reading the replies that anyone that knows a thing or two about cars (like most of you on the motors forum) do not see mileage as the be all and end all. However, in the case of your average Joe, once the car passes 100K it will limit my potential market.

I only bought the car at 80,000 miles as a runaround until I got financially sorted out. I am considering changing it now but feel like it would be stupid considering it is in such a good shape... i.e. most potential buyers would think it's nearing the end of it's life whilst in reality, there's probably another 100,000 left in it.

I could probably get close to 4,000 euro for it now and would buy a '02 Renault Clio 1.5 diesel - mainly because tax is cheaper and this car does 67 MPG as opposed to the 46 MPG that the Mondeo is quoted as doing. With the price of fuel these days it wouldn't be long before the 4,000 euro extra paid for the Clio pays for itself. Also, the Clio has 18,000 mile service intervals as opposed to the 6,000 for the Mondeo.