Newer car with higher mileage or older car with low mileage?

[Summerberries49]

Struggling to decide! Please someone help..

Not much difference in age I know but spec will be better on the 17 plate..

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202211252002370

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301243565939

I've been looking for ages and want to make sure I choose the right one as I'll be keeping it for a few years..

It depends on many factors, but I have just bought a 2019 reg Polo with 11,000 on the clock in preference to a 2022 reg with 23,000 on the clock. It cost me less and is as new - clearly not used very much.

Look at both MOT certificates. Find out if they have been looked after before you decide....

How many miles do you do per year? If you drive a lot you will probably want lower miles. If it's just normal/lowish I'd go newer and higher spec.

I'm currently looking at cars and I know I won't put that many miles on it so looking at newish but highish miles. I figure that in 5 years time of me driving it and not putting many miles on, it will average out for its age.

You know one of them is a diesel?

BMW cost a lot to repair as parts are expensive, what is your car being used for mainly., long commute, holidays, just running short distances?

I'd go for older with a lower mileage. A car with one owner from new that has only done 21k miles in 7 years will have been looked after, and is a lot less likely to have had its engine thrashed around by a boy racer. Does it have a full service history?

I'd also advise this. The older car has service history (its in the description), the older one doesn't mention that. 75,000 miles on one of these is considered "high" and you're not too far off that with the new one which has certainly seen some use.

The older one has just been services and has a longer MOT as well. The newer one, they done mention this at all and tbh their off of free labour for warranty makes me wonder why they feel they need to offer it. The interior of the older one looks nicer too and a nice spec. The "newer" one. looks grubby and well used.

63k over 6 years isn't high mileage!

I'd probably avoid a diesel though, even more so such a low mileage diesel.

Sorry quoting myself…should have said, I only mentioned usually people want either diesel or petrol depending on what type of driving they will be doing and tbh, personal choice, but I’d rate that above what spec difference there might be and maybe even above mileage - even one that low.

I just saw that ones a diesel and the other is petrol. You should get the diesel if you're doing longer distances and motorway driving and the petrol otherwise. Personally, I'd not touch a diesel with the way that the government are targetting them at the moment.

Thanks so much for all your replies.

To answer some of your questions -

I roughly do just over 10,000 miles a year, maybe a bit more. My commute to work is 20 miles each way but I only work in the office 3 days a week and normally stay close to home during weekends, unless I'm going away or something which isn't very often. I'm guessing petrol would make more sense if I'm driving short journeys?

I've checked the MOT history for both vehicles which look to be fine, but the older car has an outstanding recall listed. I have no idea if that's been sorted or not yet. I'm also concerned that this car is based nearly 5 hours away from where I live (wouldn't feel comfortable buying without seeing it first), as where the younger model is only 2.5 hours away which would make things easier if I needed to return for any repairs whilst still under warranty.

I currently have an Audi A3 which I've owned for 4.5 years but it has 140,000 miles on the clock and is starting to cost a fortune in repairs. I emailed the garage about the older model and they will only offer just over 1k for it. I was hoping to get more and would like to see what the other will garage will offer. I can see that garage hasn't listed anything about services which is worrying so I'll check that as well.

Trying to weigh up the pros and cons!

I'd go for older/lower mileage any day, rather than newer/higher mileage.

We've had both kinds.

The two we've had that were higher mileage (not stupidly high just average or slightly above average, I think one was around 10k on a car less than a year old, and the other was around 20k for 18 months old), had lots of problems over the time we owned them, so were probably badly driven (gearbox, suspension, etc).

The ones we'd bought new or used with very low mileage have had no problems at all other than routine servicing, consumables, etc. even though we generally keep them many years.

The lower the mileage, the less chance they've been driven by boy racers, travelling reps, engineers, or even hire cars, so less chance they've been driven badly.

More chance driven badly, not less!

Ignore that correction, brain fog!

I’d avoid the diesel like the plague. 3k miles per year in a modern diesel won’t have done it any favours at all, whoever bought that new was an idiot, a petrol would’ve been a much better choice.

I wouldn't buy that diesel. It's seven years old and has only done 21,000 miles — that's 3,000 a year. Diesels need to be driven, otherwise various bits of the fuel system can gunk up and cause expensive maintenance issues.

If it had 121,000 miles on it I'd be happier to part with money for it, ironically.

Besides, you don't do the mileage yourself to justify the additional maintenance costs and fuel costs of running a diesel.

I'd err towards petrol in your circumstances. The one you list is OK (although I'd be checking through the service and MOT history to make sure no major issues). But BMW 1 Series' aren't exactly thin on the ground so you can afford to keep looking for alternatives, too.

No way would I buy a diesel

@Summerberries49

I'm also concerned that this car is based nearly 5 hours away from where I live (wouldn't feel comfortable buying without seeing it first), as where the younger model is only 2.5 hours away which would make things easier if I needed to return for any repairs whilst still under warranty.

Surely you have garages more locally?

I sold my car, which I loved, because it had so many miles it was getting a bit costly in terms of repairs. Bought exactly the same car, 6 months older but with half the miles… it lasted me for 6 years more without trouble and… it only cost me 20% of what I would have paid for replacing it with a newer (not new) model of the same car.

By the way, if your car is in good condition you can certainly sell it for far more of you put it on eBay than if you use it as a part exchange (I got 4 and 6 times what the agency and car traders wanted to give me as credit for a new car).

Also, as we’re talking about cars which are pretty much “white goods” I’d be looking at something made by Toyota or Honda. BMW aren’t exactly renowned for their reliability.

My work vehicle is a Citroen, I did 125k miles in the three years I had it. Looked new from the outside, under the bonnet it was a wreck. Personally I’d avoid high mileage, it’s been abused, mine is falling apart despite being serviced about 8 times in those three years!