Car buying - age vs mileage

[BlueSharp]

Ah, 2014. Audi TT Mk3. It was mostly only a facelift of the Mk2 which I currently have, unlike 1->2 which was much more extensive.

In that case it would be B or C. I'm always sceptical of low milage old cars but can't articulate why I'm sceptical and think there is a drop off on prices if I own a car when it hits 100k miles.

[Protagoras]

There's no easy answer to this one. An older car is an older car - regardless of milage, things wear and perish, especially rubber stuff - so seals, bushes etc. But also rust etc, it's been exposed to the elements.

+1.

I got rid of my 10 year old VW last year, since it was too expensive to keep going. Milage was low; age-related failures were the problem. In the last 18 months of ownership - flap actuators on the heating system, exhaust recirculating valve, clutch slave cylinder plus the usual brake discs, pads which corroded long before they wore out.

[woody1]

+1.

I got rid of my 10 year old VW last year, since it was too expensive to keep going. Milage was low; age-related failures were the problem. In the last 18 months of ownership - flap actuators on the heating system, exhaust recirculating valve, clutch slave cylinder plus the usual brake discs, pads which corroded long before they wore out.

My TT is 18 years old (57 plate, 39,000 miles). Age related problems (corrosion, stuff seizing up/perishing) are compounded by living near the sea, and not being able to garage it.

If I used the car more I'd get one under 3 years old, but doing only 2000 miles a year I can't really justify spending £25k+.

I could get something different but nothing much else takes my fancy. Not many sports cars/coupes have the practicality of a decent hatchback. Everything seems to be SUV these days which I'm not a fan of. The current TT was discontinued last year and is apparently being "superseded" by an SUV.

[Snooky]

My TT is 18 years old (57 plate, 39,000 miles). Age related problems (corrosion, stuff seizing up/perishing) are compounded by living near the sea, and not being able to garage it.

If I used the car more I'd get one under 3 years old, but doing only 2000 miles a year I can't really justify spending £25k+.

Are parsimony-shaming INKSPE replies a thing of the past now?

[woody1]

Are parsimony-shaming INKSPE replies a thing of the past now?

It's the price you can pay for taking early retirement. In our case so early, I'm embarrassed to say how young we were.

And it's a question of priorities. We'd rather splash the cash on holidays than on a car that will spend most of its time just sitting on the drive doing nothing (other than deteriorating).

[b0redom]

SLK worth a look? I bought (a very old) one last year because I needed an emergency runabout after my Galaxy exploded. I was looking at potentially selling it and the bottom seems to have fallen out of the market, so I decided to keep it.

[woody1]

SLK worth a look?

Problem is lack of practical hatchback. Would be great as a 2nd car but we've gone down to one car. My wife used to have an MX5 but I had a Merc estate at the time so it was fine. Although she did have fun taking our German Shepherd to the vet once.

[Snooky]

It's the price you can pay for taking early retirement. In our case so early, I'm embarrassed to say how young we were.

And it's a question of priorities. We'd rather splash the cash on holidays than on a car that will spend most of its time just sitting on the drive doing nothing (other than deteriorating).

Agreed. I'm still working & earning decent money but we have a 15 year old car with 100k+ miles on the clock and I plan to keep it going as long as possible

[woody1]

Agreed. I'm still working & earning decent money but we have a 15 year old car with 100k+ miles on the clock and I plan to keep it going as long as possible

Barring any catastrophic failures, and as long as it's reliable enough, it's usually cheaper to keep it going. Certainly in my case, the annual depreciation on a newer TT would be far more than it costs me to keep mine on the road.

And, as the mechanic at our local garage said to me, sometimes it's better the (old) devil you know.

[Paracelsus]

How about a 4 series GC for something sporty with the practicality of 4 doors and a big hatchback? More of a tourer given the weight, but by all accounts having one of the spicier engines in it makes up for that, and it's seated fairly low.

Age v mileage - I wouldn't put too much weight on age if it's been maintained well. My car is getting on for 19 years old and it's only just starting to become a PITA - rust, bushings going, pipes corroding etc. 200k miles. The main issue with age, besides rust, will be brittle plastics, which engine bays seem to be full of these days. But not too big an issue to resolve usually.