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Years ago I recall being told that if a car had very low mileage for it's year, it could be just as bad as having really high miles. The reason was that the exhaust didn't get a chance to burn up the build up in the system if the car didn't get out on the highway often enough. Not sure if this applies to cars in the 21st century. Any truth to this? I'm looking at a 2005 Honda Accord with 20K miles and wondering if that's too little. Is there a minimum amount of miles that should be on a car each year?
If it was 15 yrs old with 5K miles on it, I'd be more worried about dry rot and things like that, but most cars with those mileages are collector/show cars. A 2005 with 20K miles sounds like a good deal to me. I bought my car with 17K on it and it was 3 yrs old. The 87 yr old lady hardly drove it. I have 52K on it now, 2 yrs later, and I love it. It gets plenty of 'excersize' and never misses a beat. Good luck!
I would worry that if the mileage was too low it meant that the car was in the shop more often than it was on the road. I was one of the handful of idiots that bought the Renault Alliance when it came out in the early 1980's. What a piece of crap! When I finally got rid of it after 3 years or so the mileage was very low, but that's because it was hardly ever running.
I've only put on 10K miles on a new Ford Escape in the past 5 years. As long as the vehicle has been maintained, it shouldn't be a problem. Maintenance items are based on mileage and time, whichever comes first. For most folks, it's mileage, but for some like me, it's time.
There are quite a few low-mileage vehicles in the Phoenix area due to much of the older snowbird population storing vehicles down here during most of the year and then only using them when they come down for the winter. When you're retired and only drive a vehicle for 3-4 months out of the year, the mileage tends to stay fairly low. I've seen 2004 Cadillac's with only 10K miles! These vehicles are often impeccably maintained and stored in climate controlled facilies for the majority of the year. I'd have no qualms about buying such a vehicle...
Years ago I recall being told that if a car had very low mileage for it's year, it could be just as bad as having really high miles. The reason was that the exhaust didn't get a chance to burn up the build up in the system if the car didn't get out on the highway often enough. Not sure if this applies to cars in the 21st century. Any truth to this? I'm looking at a 2005 Honda Accord with 20K miles and wondering if that's too little. Is there a minimum amount of miles that should be on a car each year?
The only time I've ever heard of a problem with mileage being too low was when purchasing a vehicle from a rental fleet. If one vehicle of a particular year shows a substantially lower odometer reading, it probably means it was out of service more than the others. Presumably, this would be because it was in the shop more. In that case, you are probably better off getting one that is close to the average as far a mileage is concerned.
Location: Still in Portland, Oregon, for some reason
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Originally Posted by SpeedyAZ
There are quite a few low-mileage vehicles in the Phoenix area due to much of the older snowbird population storing vehicles down here during most of the year and then only using them when they come down for the winter. When you're retired and only drive a vehicle for 3-4 months out of the year, the mileage tends to stay fairly low. I've seen 2004 Cadillac's with only 10K miles! These vehicles are often impeccably maintained and stored in climate controlled facilies for the majority of the year. I'd have no qualms about buying such a vehicle...
Neither would I...
Example: On eBay motors a few weeks back was a 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe (similar to mine; better equipment, had the sunroof and whatnot). It was in Florida but only had 21,000 miles on it and looked impeccable. Willing to bet you money the snowbirds bought it and stored it down there and only drove it during the winter months. If I had the money I would have bought it.
A 2005 with 20k miles usually means it was driven only sparingly. I bought a car like that which was basically in mint condition and drove it ten years. It was a accord too. Might want to check maintainace but mine was cared for well with everything marked off and receipts in the glove box.Depending on when it was bought; that's about 5000 miles a year;plenty.
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