What does "miles" in a Car For Sale ad mean?

Log in / Sign Up

List of Forums + New Post Recipe Box Usergroups Following My Posts Bookmarks

Private Messages Advanced Search Rules New User Guide FAQ Advertise Contact Us

Forum -> Household Management -> Finances

View latest: 24h 48h 72h

amother

Wed, Jul 24 2013, 10:54 pm

I know this must sound so clueless to many of you, but I've never bought a car before.
Now I'm looking into it (used minivans) and I see the ads all say an amount of miles.

Does that mean how many miles it's been driven? THey all seem to have such a high number, is that bad?

In general is there a specific number that would make it be not a good option to buy?

Like if it says in the ad 95,000 miles, that good or bad? Not worth it to buy?
So confused!!

Thanks in advance!

Any other good advice to know about buying used cars. (I do know never to buy without taking it to a good mechanic beforehand, but wondering if there's anything else to be aware of).

Fabulous

Wed, Jul 24 2013, 10:55 pm

amount of miles it's been driven.

in general, the less miles the better.

That being said, a car could have 30-40,000 miles on it and have problems and cars with 100,000 have none. It depends on how heavily used it was and for what I.e. highway, local etc...

amother

Thu, Jul 25 2013, 11:31 am

Thanks!
IS there a maximum amount of miles that a car can use?
If a car has in the 90K miles, about how much life do you think I can get out of it?

thanks

Tova

Thu, Jul 25 2013, 11:51 am

amother wrote:

Thanks!
IS there a maximum amount of miles that a car can use?
If a car has in the 90K miles, about how much life do you think I can get out of it?

thanks

No way to know, but some say that foreign cars last longer than US made ones.
We have a Chevy and a Hyundai, both with over 130K miles. The Chevy we bought 11.5 years ago with 30K miles on it. The Hyundai we were given by a relative with 60K miles on it 7 years ago.

lkwdlady

Thu, Jul 25 2013, 12:13 pm

This is what you are looking out for:

the yr. of the car (is it a 2004, 2010 etc.)

what kind of car it is (toyota, chevy etc)

how many miles the car has on it already (over 100,000 miles is a lot but the mechanic will tell you if it's worth it based on what type of car it is and what condition the car is in)

Good luck!

greenfire

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 1:43 pm

generally a car is driven about 10,000 miles per year ... anything more is cause for more wear & tear and a car to be avoided ... as with all second hand cars - do your research alongside someone knowledgeable with cars or a good mechanic

Liba

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 1:57 pm

If they had a highway commute more mileage may still mean a can in better repair than a car that got 10,000 miles a year in city driving.

Many leases allow for 15,000 miles a year and that amount is still well within reason.

Also keep in mind, that the car was probably purchased before the model year. Most models are released 6-9 months before, so for months now, most people buying new cars have been buying 2014 cars, not 2013.

amother

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 2:01 pm

OP here.
Thanks all for your input.
So does a 02 van with about 100,000 miles seem like a bad purchase. To me it seems that it's so old plus so many miles used. (They say it's in good condition). Obviously we would take it to a mechanic but just from what you hear, does that sound bad?

Also, a mechanic can really figure out how much longer ther car/transmission will last? Or it's just educated guess?

thanks a lot!

Liba

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 2:05 pm

That isn't a lot of miles for a 12 year old van, but 12 years is pretty old. The older it is the cheaper it should be, but also the more likely you are to have major repair bills frequently chv"sh.

Page 1 of 1