Price or Miles?

I've been meaning to do a little more on this blog to help you with your car buying experience, regardless of whether or not you come to Bourne's. Today I want to talk about the relative merits of buying a newer car with higher miles versus an older car with lower miles.

There are two Ford Explorers on our lot, one is a 2007 model with 74,000 miles and it's priced at $12,990, and the other is 2006 with 47,000 miles for $15,590. Seems like a no brainer, right? Well, I thought so, and when I talked to one of our salesmen, Gerard, and he said he thought it was clear which truck was the better deal.

I said the 2006. He said the 2007.

There's a bit of a debate going on here at Bourne's right now regarding whether you should buy price or miles. I have always sided with an older, lower miles vehicle over a newer, high miles car, and I have always had good cars with very few problems. Jason Bourne, patriarch of the Auto Center, has always bought high miles, newer cars for himself and his family, and he has always had good cars with very few problems.

The argument for a new car with higher miles revolves around a couple of key issues: corrosion/elemental exposure and type of miles driven. Everyone agrees that driving a mile on the highway produces less wear and tear on a car than driving in the city, due to a more consistent speed, fewer bumps, little to no shifting and hopefully no braking at all. City drivers are more likely to be involved in small bumper to bumper action, stop and go driving that stresses pretty much every system of the car, and definitely more cosmetic issues due to careless pedestrians and the close proximity of parked cars to one another.

Since newer cars are not as prone to rust as my beloved 1985 Chevy Celebrity was, I am less concerned about the corrosion issues, especially for cars less than five years old. However, there is no doubt that a new car with high miles is more likely to have mostly highway miles on it, which can make it a very good value, especially with the long lasting drivetrains in cars today.

However, if you are the type of person who keeps a car for a long time and doesn't drive much, then it may make sense for you to get a low miles car and keep it low miles. My favorite cars are the ones that are at least a decade old and with low miles, because they were usually driven by older drivers who are less prone to abusive driving.

What it really comes down to is the best car for you is one that fits your budget, has the options that you need and works for you in your daily life. All of our cars are inspected by our ASE certified technicians, so whether you take the years or the miles, you can't go wrong.