In general, newer is better.

15k miles in 8 years (less than 2,000 miles a year) probably means that the car has barely ever been warmed up, lots of short trips from cold. Or it means that it's sat around for a long time.

Neither of which is particularly desirable.

The 5 yr old one, on the other hand, has done a reasonable mileage. 12k per annum is pretty much 'standard', and is indicative of regular usage.

My son had one in 2007 - nice car in some respects BUT it had lots of teething problems under warranty - lost confidence in the car & the Dealer in Grangemouth - sold it in 2010 - the RAV4 which was more reliable but again not perfect.

I agree with Rob - go for the newer one for the reasons he gives. Hondas last well and there's no reason why you shouldn't get another 100,000 miles out of it if you look afdter it and have it serviced regularly.

But if you value Honda Approved, look on Autotrader and see if there's anything else in your price range whose mileage is neither too high or (just as important) too low.

Suggestion-when you do an on line dealer or trade availability check-reject all "for sale" secondhand vehicles that are pictured with the number plate "whitened out". Being able to access the number plate will enable you enter the vehicle details to check car tax and more importantly-MOT history-including advisables . Those are the facts-without sales hype.

Good luck!