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THE BEST WAY TO BUY A CAR.
(Klms, maintenance, travel, model, year, wind back, treatment)
If your only question to a seller is age and klms, then it is possible you have a lot to learn. THE MILEAGE OF A CAR (klms) DENOTES HOW FAR IT HAS TRAVELLED, NOT how well it has been kept, the condition of the mechanics or the general condition! Some manufacturers and models are also better than others, so age in this instance becomes irrelevant. For example, a 1999 Daewoo with low klms may not be a reliable and robust as a 1992 Toyota with higher klms, even if the Daewoo is cheaper.
Klms can mean nothing. If as an example you have two identical cars, say a 2000 Falcon, one owner, a country driver, warms his car up prior to driving and drives 20 klms a day on a freeway to work, his car will be in top gear, nominal revs and the best operating temperature, so the wear will be at a bare minimum. The other owner is in a rush and a city driver, starts and drives the car instantly, endures heavy traffic on his 10 klms journey. His motor in traffic runs at higher temperatures, he stops and starts, the transmission works harder with more gear changes, his brakes and suspension endure much more work.
Combine that with those little dents and scrapes of city parking and even if both cars are serviced regularly, say every 10,000 klms the country car will have more servicing as services are based on mileage. Therefore, after 10 years the country car may have mileage of 240,000 on the clock and the city car approximately 110,000 klms but the country car usually is in much better condition. The mechanics, suspension, bodywork and interior generally will show less wear and it will be cheaper to buy as the uneducated will pay more for the lower klm vehicle, believing it to be more reliable. NOT TRUE!
Furthermore this also allows the dishonest sellers to modify the Speedo reading, i.e. 240,000 down to 160,000 to obtain $2000-$4000 more for the vehicle. Believe me this does happen.
Saving thousands on a higher klms or wholesale purchases, leaves you thousands in the Bank to cover any issues that may arise.
EVERY VEHICLE A FEW YEARS OLD, IS NO LONGER NEW, SO EXPECT SOME MINOR ISSUES, and accept honest sellers tell you about them, if a seller describes a vehicle as perfect, beware.
Maintenance and general treatment of the vehicle also comes into play. Two cars with identical klms driven in similar conditions can be vastly different in their overall condition, depending on their maintenance regime and treatment. This situation is further hampered by the way vehicles are driven. For example, my father in his 60s verses an 18 year old who had his car bought for him, which do you think would be more likely to give the car the occasional thrash or miss important maintenance? So if the car is already lowered, big rims, big exhaust etc., it may require further mechanical investigation than an older gentleman’s original vehicle.
As an experienced dealer, I quite often pay thousands of dollars more for a vehicle just because it has lower klms, only to find it needs huge $$$$$ spent on major issues, like brakes, clutch, timing belts, oil seal leaks and the like.
Even the choice of oils alone can alter a motors condition. So the questions you ask must go much further than age and klms and should include condition, previous owners and their location (i.e. country vs. city), and indication of service history. Does it have a new engine or trans? To be honest you must see the vehicle and feel comfortable with the honesty of the seller.
Inspections are a good idea but only if you understand how to read them. RAA inspections of cars over 5 years old tend to be too critical and result in a failed purchase. Where as other inspections where the mechanic is known or where he or she will explain the report are much more informative and allow the purchaser to better understand the cars true worth.
Yard warrantees are costing you money and do not cover wear and tear items. So consider a discount of $1000-$2000 instead and keep this money to cover future maintenance, if you don’t need it take a holiday, although if buying near new, I would recommend a warrantee and certified inspection prior to expiry of.
My wife and I are honest people and as such have trouble selling cars, as we will let people know any faults or wear the vehicle has and they all do! So when buying keep some money up your sleeve to cover maintenance and repairs. If you do not want to do anything at all, you can BUY NEW, but you will loose thousands the first day you drive it home! From our point of view cars 5-8 years old are the best value as they have already lost the most value by then and will remain at a similar price for another 3-4 years. For example new 2000 model Falcon was around $30,000, Falcon 2000 model in 2007 was about $6000 and now a 2000 Falcon is around $3500 (these are our wholesale values, retails prices will be up to $3000 higher), cost to own per year about $800.
Once the vehicle is over 10-12 years old it must be seen, as klms will be no indication of condition as parts do wear by age alone. Better models i.e. Toyota, Mazda Holden and Ford will be have handled the wear the best. By now most parts have been replaced even engines and gearboxes, so if your only question is mileage or age, you risk making a bad decision
Note: We as honest dealers have regularly had identical model cars with huge a difference in the klms. Where the cheaper high mileage vehicle is much better then the low mileage one. Should the higher mileage one come to have problems down the track, the thousands you saved buying it will more than cover you. So shop smart, the seller saying his is perfect vs. the seller saying his is good but has minor blemishes may simply be being honest, give you business to the honest one, it will be cheaper in the long run.
WE HAVE REGULARLY HAD CARS WITH 300,000KLMS PLUS, THAT HAVE PROVED TO BE BETTER CARS THAN EXACT SAME MODEL CARS WITH 140,000KLM, AND THEY ARE USUALLY HALF THE PRICE!
If you must buy by klms, then ensure the books confirm the klms, wouldn’t want to be buying a car I sold cheap due to klms, that has had the odometer change, now would we J
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