Buying a used car on a budget - mileage vs age

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Fri 6 Jul 2018 00:09
Buying a used car on a budget - mileage vs age - dave500

Hi all, when buying a used car on a tight budget would you go for an older car with lower mileage or a newer car with high mileage?

I've been looking at a 2009 Vauxhall Meriva 1.4 petrol with 88k on the clock. The dealer wants £1,700 for it. The car looks and sounds ok but how many more miles could one reasonably expect a Meriva to do before it starts to fall apart and cost money. Would I be better trying to find an older car with fewer miles on it?

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Fri 6 Jul 2018 00:30
Buying a used car on a budget - mileage vs age - Leif
I might be wrong, but I would not have thought Vauxhall had a reputation for being long lasting. That’s not a young car! At that age some cars start showing rust, and falling to pieces.

Regarding mileage, if you do high mileage, get an older car with low mileage, if you do low mileage, get a younger car with high mileage. At least that’s my thinking.
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Fri 6 Jul 2018 00:40
Buying a used car on a budget - mileage vs age - Andrew-T

The car looks and sounds ok but how many more miles could one reasonably expect a Meriva to do before it starts to fall apart and cost money. Would I be better trying to find an older car with fewer miles on it?

At 9 years old that depends on how the car has been maintained, which you may be able to find out from its history. If that looks encouraging, 10K a year is about average, and most cars are only middle-aged after 9 years. If everything looks intact, go for it - but remember it may have damage repairs, so check for variations in paint colour, etc. Check MoT history online too.

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Fri 6 Jul 2018 01:55
Buying a used car on a budget - mileage vs age - SLO76
Condition and history mean far more than age or mileage. A well maintained ten year old car with 100,000 miles up will be far more dependable than one at half the age and mileage which has never seen spanner’s in its life.

A short list of small cars with good reputations for reliability at this money would include.
Honda Jazz
Honda Civic
Toyota Yaris
Toyota Corolla
Mazda 2
Mazda 3
Hyundai i20
Nissan Micra
Ford Fiesta/Fusion 1.25/1.4

The Meriva May be ok if it has been looked after but they’re far from the best made cars of their era.

Avoid anything complex like turbo diesels or prestige/performance models.

Edited by SLO76 on 06/07/2018 at 01:56

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Fri 6 Jul 2018 20:59
Buying a used car on a budget - mileage vs age - dave500

Thank you all for the replies. I'm going to leave the Merivia because it's not got much service history with it.

I have had a couple of Nissans over the years and they've always been good. I'd been ignoring adverts for the mk3 Micras because I'd heard they had dodgy timing chains which were prone to streaching or snapping without warning. There are a few for sale near me so I will go and look at some to see what they're like. I've seen a few Toyotas and Hondas advertised too so hoepfully I'll find something soon.

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Fri 6 Jul 2018 10:55
Buying a used car on a budget - mileage vs age - sandy56

Buy a Toyota or Honda, Suzuki. You cannot beat good basic petrol engineering from the Japanese. ( Avensis, Corolla, Jazz or Civic, for example. I ran a Suzuki Alto for years, serviced by me, never let me down). My other car was a classic Jag.

DOnt get a turbocharged diesel of any kind. The French made some great TD but there are very old now and the newer ones are too complex.

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Fri 6 Jul 2018 16:36
Buying a used car on a budget - mileage vs age - nellyjak

As said...^^^^...go Japanese..and go petrol...history and condition are FAR more important than age and mileage.

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Fri 6 Jul 2018 21:24
Buying a used car on a budget - mileage vs age - SteveLee

For that sort of budget - buy a Suzuki. They tend to be bought privately (very few Suzukis are hire cars or company cars) by elderly people and therefore get driven gently and serviced properly. Suzukis are basic no-frills cars which are extremely dependable. Hondas and Toyotas are generally the "go to" Jap cars so you'll get less car for your money. Swifts can be owned by young boy racers (wannabe MINI owners), so get an SX4 instead - which are just as much fun to drive (pretty much the same car under the skin.) Yes there are more refined and economical cars - but in terms of total cost of ownership the Suzuki will come out on top because, 1) it'll be cheaper to begin with, and 2) It simply won't go wrong.

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