We currently have a 2010 60 mazda 6 that we are looking to sell as we are after something bigger.

The sort of thing we are looking at (galaxy/smax/vw t5) all seem to be older than our car for our budget.

Would it bother you going backwards in car age?

What about mileage, would it bother you buying a car with more mileage than the one you are selling?

genuinely interested in peoples views on this !

cheers

Steve

I did last year and hasn’t bothered me in the slightest. Ironically the people carrier had only done 78k where as my car had done 114k iirc.

Went from a 4 door V6 saloon to a 1.6 5 door people carrier and dropped 5 years in the process, changed car due to new baby and lack of room in the saloon.

Only thing that has bothered me is the lack of power and handling. I do miss my car 🙁

Go for it!

yep that is one thing i am worrying about, my current car has 180bhp !!

No and no.

I went from a 2002 Mondeo to a 1999 Golf GTI a few years back. I got fed up with the Mondy living at the garage, and by contrast, the older Golf only ever needed routine services in over 40,000 miles.

yep that is one thing i am worrying about, my current car has 180bhp !!

exactly the same output as mine, new car only has 106bhp, what a difference!

Not with the sort of jump your thinking of. Your still in what I’d reckon to be a new generation of car. It’s not like dropping 10yrs.

yep that is one thing i am worrying about, my current car has 180bhp !!

Are you worried about making it to the corner ahead of all the other boy racers? Your looking at a people carrier time to calm down 🙂

Anything in an older car can be fixed with money.

After that most cars from this century will last a bit longer and modern engines when looked after do seem to go on an on much better.

Wouldn’t bother me going for an older higher mileage model, especially as the value is not just to do with age.

My current car is 13 years old and as long as you check what you are buying ie. service history (or if you don’t know about cars get someone who does to check it over who does) then you shouldn’t really be too concerned. Just make sure it’s not of an age or mileage where a major expensive service is due and do a bit of research to check that there aren’t any problems which appear regularly at a certain mileage.

I think once folk stop regarding cars as white goods and instead treat them as something that needs a bit of care, attention and regular servicing, then questions like this become moot.

I have never, ever taken into consideration either age or mileage when looking for a new car. There are too many people out there (my wife, for instance) with absolutely zero mechanical sympathy. She ran a Ford Ka to the ground and scrapped it within 6 years, less than 70,000 miles on the clock. I, on the other hand, have a 20-year old car that gets used almost daily and runs as well as the day it rolled off the production line.

In other words OP, condition over age/mileage. Try a Zafira VXR if you’re yearning for a bit of oomph in your family wagon. One of those figures highly on our next car shopping list.

I wouldn’t worry about it, but you can be unlucky. I once handed back a contract hire car and thought I would save a bit of money by running a 5 year-old car for a bit. Over 18 months it dumped its transmission, clutch, catalytic converter, some electrical gremlins, and suffered two cracked alloys. On the other hand I’ve run bangers that just won’t die, currently a 2004 vauxhall with moon mileage which refuses to break!

I have a 11yo BMW 330i with 104k miles on it. I’ve owned it for 8 years and looked after it. It went through a series of wear and tear items 2years ago but that’s the only issue. Now that its paid for, it gets me around the motorways for work smoothly, can be a bit of fun and carries my bike stuff about.

With 2 kids and another family wagon i can’t see the point of changing it now tbh.

If this is because you can’t get enough money for your car to buy the one you want, then keep it longer while you save up.

And add a towbar rack and/or roof bars to get you through.

the only thing that would put me off an old car is rust and rot.

Well, what goes wrong with cars these days?

Injectors, turbo, DMF, or electrical sensors, mostly. Lots of those things can go at any time, they become somewhat more likely as time goes on, but they aren’t really wear items. Plus when they do go the cost of fixing them is way less than the money you save on buying an old car. It’s not like in the 60s where you had to rebuild engines, piston rings and big ends all the time.

People might spend 8 grand more on a new car just to save two in the unlikely event they get a big failure. It’s like having an insurance policy where the cost of premiums is way more than the cost of the insured item, and they might not pay out anyway.

id rather fully rebuild an 80s engine than deal with the aftermath of a turbo failure. (1 i can do in my garage …..1 i cannot and 1 will work for a long time after if the jobs done right …. the other is usually followed by an “ill repair it but get it traded in quick afterwards” )

A work mate from some years back could not understand why his girlfriend wanted a new bottom of the range ford fiesta ,when for the same money could of got a fully loaded saab 9 3 convertible? i used to have jeeps and 4×4 all over 10 years old and i ran them for a year or 2 then changed when they cost too much for MOT . I then bought a brand new warm hatch and have had it for 6 years and only bought tires, I guess you get what suits you best and fits your purpose ,mileage is not as important as service history i imagine ? i want a American pick up from the 70’s with a v8 but the wife says i got to keep the shopping hatch ?I might have a mid life crisis sack her and get the pick up and drive to Spain ?? or i might (probably)not ?

im looking at 09 plate galaxy/smax type of thing now.

wife cant get her head around going backwards in age?

T5 probably out of window to be honest.

I cant justify buying an 08 van with near or over 100k on the clock for more than my 60 plate is worth !

There is a T5 for £10900,near me 110k on the clock on a 56(2007) thats a lot of money for a van with so many miles ,its immaculate but come on a lot of money?

mate i hear you loud and clear on VW t5 (and VW parts prices in general) prices – they are not as bombproof as the preachers would have you believe

my experiances of VW repairs have been expensive – significantly more so than the same jobs on any other vehicle.

what they will do is – if you continue to pump money into them on a triggers broom kind of way is hold their value well.

im a buy it and run it/repair it/scrap it at the end kinda guy when its breathed it last breath so i wont really benifit from the residuals – many other vans present much better value for money.

im looking at 09 plate galaxy/smax type of thing now.

wife cant get her head around going backwards in age?
Just ask her to find the cash for the difference to get a new one?

I always like older cars, I enjoying driving around in nice cars people don’t want anymore because ” there old”

And I could not justify buying a brand new car.