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To me it's a gem. If you were suspicious about odometer roll-back, there are a lot of signs you can find. I put my Corvette up for hibernation in the cold months and it gets driven 3k miles a year on average; this is the lowest mileage I have. No odometer roll-back on this thing, unless you know someone with very extensive knowledge of GM electronics.
Since I have multiple cars, the mileage is spread out and that means they have average mileage way below industrial standard (12-15k a year); most of them have half to 3/4 of the standard. Even the one with highest mileage still averages out at 10k/year (my wife's daily driver with a 53-mile-round-trip commute). It's helped by the fact that I seek out cars with very low mileage.
On a lighter note, I got teased by this one friend who is into bicycling. He puts more miles (avg ~4k miles/year) on his bicycle than I drive my Corvette. Outrageous
Phoenix is the closest thing you can get to a hub of older-ish vehicles with very low miles. With 500,000 snowbirds coming down each winter, many of them trade off their vehicles here before they go home (aka why dealers in the Midwest say "Arizona car" or "California car"). If you are in the market for a luxury or near-luxury vehicle that is older but in immaculate condition and has extremely low mileage for the year, come to Phoenix during the winter! Throughout my years of living down year year-round and having parents that are part of the snowbirding crew, I've met other snowbirds as well as their children (usually around my age of 30) and some of the kids of the snowbirds specifically come down in the winter to trade off vehicles in this area if they live in the midwest or on the east coast. Most of them say that you can get a better deal on a used, luxury vehicle in Phoenix because of the large supply left behind by snowbirds returning home.
The vehicle obviously has to be one-owner, I wouldn't buy a two-owner vehicle with low mileage simply because that raises a few questions inside. But if the vehicle is one-owner and is a vehicle a snowbird would drive (I'd nix cheaper and smaller vehicles). If you are curious as to what many drive, go to Mesa on a Sunday morning and drive in the parking lot of the Holy Cross Church as well as St. Timothy's and you'll see a huge array of vehicles ranging from trucks to crossover SUV's to luxury cars. Surprisingly enough, I'm seeing less and less vans and more crossover SUV's like the Buick Enclave, Chevy Traverse, and Lexus RX350.
If you want an excellent deal, go to the dealership in March and you'll find a large selection of both late-model and older-model vehicles with extremely low mileage and you can score a great bargain. Here's just a quick search:
2007 Buick Rainer...25K miles (6250 miles/ year)
2007 Buick Rainier for sale at Arrowhead Lexus Peoria AZ - 5GAES13M272210233 (http://www.arrowheadlexus.com/VehicleDetails/used-2007-Buick-Rainier-CXL-Peoria-AZ/949617293 - broken link)
2007 Lexus ES350...31K miles (7750 miles/ year)
2007 Lexus ES 350 for sale at Arrowhead Lexus Peoria AZ - JTHBJ46G372113116 (http://www.arrowheadlexus.com/VehicleDetails/certified-2007-Lexus-ES_350-Ultra_Luxury-Peoria-AZ/917332843 - broken link)
2004 Lexus RX330....44K miles (6285 miles/ year)
2004 Lexus RX 330 for sale at Arrowhead Lexus Peoria AZ - JTJHA31U840047914 (http://www.arrowheadlexus.com/VehicleDetails/used-2004-Lexus-RX_330-4WD-Peoria-AZ/936009623 - broken link)
2001 Toyota Avalon...77K miles (7700 miles/ year)
2001 Toyota Avalon for sale at Arrowhead Lexus Peoria AZ - 4T1BF28B01U181082 (http://www.arrowheadlexus.com/VehicleDetails/used-2001-Toyota-Avalon-XLS-Peoria-AZ/919825583 - broken link)
It's unusual, but not entirely something to throw a red flag over. Many people might have a second car for that doesn't often get a used, a "toy" they only take out occasionally in the summer,..etc
I'd use tires as my first red flag. If I looked at a car with 29K, I would expect to see either evenly-worn original tires, or perfectly matched replacements with very little wear. Anything else would be a red flag. If you don't already know how to detect re-painting, stop by a friendly collision shop and ask somebody to take 30 seconds to show you how to tell. Or watch this:
Just curious what you savvy car buyers think about an older car with very low miles. I am looking to replace our 12 yr old car and my budget is pretty slim. Approx 8-10k.
I have always wanted a BMW 3 series and just found one out of state. 2002 with 29,000 miles for 12,000. I emailed the dealer and was told the car is a one owner trade in. She said it is like new. Clean Carfax, etc.
I am undecided if I will pursue this mainly because
1.) it is over my budget but I could swing it,
2.) it is pretty far from where I live (about a 14 hr drive)
3.) not sure if it would be a practical purchase since I have heard many stories about how high maintenance these cars can be.
So I got thinking, why would anyone trade in a car with that low of miles! I guess I hang onto my cars too long. I drive em till they drop. So I can't help but be suspicious when I see a deal like this.
Thoughts?
Could have been grandmas and she drove it only around town and now can't drive anymore.
I had an 10 year old corolla with only 55k miles on it when I traded it in. Kids were too young to hang onto it for thier starter car and I am short garage space as it is.
Especially in some dense urban areas some people only use thier car occasionally to run errands.
Just curious what you savvy car buyers think about an older car with very low miles. I am looking to replace our 12 yr old car and my budget is pretty slim. Approx 8-10k.
I have always wanted a BMW 3 series and just found one out of state. 2002 with 29,000 miles for 12,000. I emailed the dealer and was told the car is a one owner trade in. She said it is like new. Clean Carfax, etc.
I am undecided if I will pursue this mainly because
1.) it is over my budget but I could swing it,
2.) it is pretty far from where I live (about a 14 hr drive)
3.) not sure if it would be a practical purchase since I have heard many stories about how high maintenance these cars can be.
So I got thinking, why would anyone trade in a car with that low of miles! I guess I hang onto my cars too long. I drive em till they drop. So I can't help but be suspicious when I see a deal like this.
Thoughts?
The KKB is listed at $ 11,310 based on 29,000 miles and in * good condition * for private party value. I did not check dealer / or other price.
Be careful though, alot of scammers selling ( non-existant ) cars extremely low price and wants you to pay to have it shipped.
Is my brother selling his BMW? Seriously, the guy drives around 3000-4000 miles a year. It's very possible to have low mileage cars.
Although it would "probably" show up on carfax/autocheck, have the car inspected for previous damage. One of my friends owns a body shop, and he purchases later model damaged cars and repairs them, then sells them for a nice profit. Not all of them have a branded title or a carfax/autocheck entry indicating that the car was damaged, either. If he's busy with customer work, the repair projects can wait for a year... or years. The cars depreciate because of age, but the age depreciation is offset by the fact that the car was not driven another 25-30k miles while it sat for 2 years. Therefore, he may be selling a 5 year old car with 36k, while most comparable models have 60k.
I don't consider the 29000 as low mileage. Three years ago I purchased a 2003 S-10 with 9500 miles on it. Today, three years later, it has just turned 13000 miles. I sold a '98 Oldsmobile at the time I purchased the truck, and it has 30,000 mikes on it. Every car I've purchased has been older with extreme low miles on it.
I bought the truck from a dealer in New Jersey, and I live in So Calif. I paid $800. to have it shipped to my door. Cheaper than driving across country.
I could tell you more stories like this. I purchased a '07 Vue inFlordia with 8K on it. You have to be willing to go anywhere to find a diamond
yeah, it sounds like a second car, or someone in a more urban environement that didnt' need to commute 30 miles+ a day.
OTOH, my wife's ex-husband recently gave my stepson his old BMW 325i (same year, a 2002 model year), that was sitting for the last two years. It has 245k miles on it now (yes, all accrued in it's first 6 years of ownership). 3 series of this vintage are pretty robust, and other than a couple of specific areas, tend to be quite reliable. Water pumps, window regulators and heater fan blowers tend to be the big culprits for them. My stepson just replaced the water pump in the one he got with a couple hand tools at his grandma's house while he was visiting over Christmas break, as it finally failed. The new water pump was $49.95 with a lifetime warranty from FCP Groton.
Unless it's an M3, the parts are actually quite cheap.
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I guess I hang onto my cars too long. I drive em till they drop. So I can't help but be suspicious when I see a deal like this. 
