Year or Mileage?

when In doubt it's always a good thing to have a respectable mechanic that you can trust to check out the vehicle for you. Because even if a 10 year old car if it has just been sitting there can be come major problems. but in my own personal opinion mileage is very important because transmissions and engine tend to go out when they are over the 100k mile range and last thing you want is to drive a car you just bought for 50 miles and have it's transmission fail.

I always like to look at the mileage on a car. That shows the wear and tear. the year doesnt always show that to you.

Low mileage is important. A ten year old car with 50,000 miles on it will last longer and cost less maintenance than a 12 year old car with 175,000 on it. It's used less so won't wear out as fast. If you can, look at the maintenance records--a car that's had it's oil changed regularly will have an engine in better shape than one that hasn't been maintained, despite maybe having more miles on it. Look up the car on the internet and see how many complaints the model has had. For instance, I had a 1970 VW Beetle--way before the internet--with very few repairs, most of which I could do myself. You might find that a newer VW has a lot of complaints. Newer cars aren't always better, so see what car owners are saying. Finally, if you have a mechanic you trust or a friend that knows a lot about cars, listen to them. Ask your dad if he's into that sort of thing, he'll never intentionally steer you wrong! And check out the insurance rates, too, since you can be charged a lot more for sports cars or ones that are popular with car thieves. (lots of discounts are available with insurance, like where you live, if you house it in a garage, if you're a student, etc.)

Both, really. Year and mileage are important, although I'd actually say MILEAGE and CONDITION rather than the actual year. It really depend son how the car runs, whether it's a reliable company, and how much it's been used before. (Because the lower the mileage, the better). I honestly think you should be a little more open-minded and look into cars other than "Japanese" ones just because that seems like a silly reason to pick a car - and leaves you with only the choices of Suzuki, Mitsubishi and Toyota. Toyota's are alright, although my sister had a '92 Camry for the longest time, and as the mileage LITERALLY turned over 200,000 miles - it KICKED the bucket. Haha. Just thought I'd share that story! Saturns are pretty good, before the switch to GM (I believe). But keep open minded. I like my little old semi-junker, it was cheap ($1,400), had slow-ish mileage (92K, and now I've got it up to 130K lol), gets good fuel economy (about 25 miles to the gallon), and is generally low-maintenance.

Buying a used car can be risky because we don't know what the car has been through. Checking the mileage is probably not a good idea because the odometer in a car can be tampered with or clocked, especially for the mechanical odometer. The digital odometer is a little bit difficult to be tampered with but not impossible for someone who's determined to do so. YOu have to know the history of the car that you want to buy (whether it has been through accidents or not etc). Check the service card/booklet of the car for the history of periodic maintenance of the car. If the owner can not provide this it is not good sign because cars that are not regularly maintained or inspected are usually in a bad condition.

For me I certainly looking at the condition of the car and the type of the car. I also buy used car for my first car. First I look at the condition. Is it well maintained or not or is it still like new (I like it to be like new if possible). Then I look at the year and price. Mile age is not important to me because it can be change actually if they know how. The year is year you can deal the price and look for bargain. Always try to ask the bank the value of the car for the model and year make. You don't want to be overpaying for the car as the insurance only paid the car, if anything happen, based on the value of the car on current market. Becareful when selecting the car. I wish you luck to find the car that suit you. Always test drive before buying.

I think mileage is more important than a year for me when I will go for purchasing for a used car. I think if car give us a good mileage then it always be in good condition and also its maintenance will be good also.

It's important to take both into account, but more so, in your case, the year. In these later model second-hand cars, the exact make, model, liters & year is important in determining what sort of problems to look out for. The cars you'd be looking at will most likely be built in the 1990's. The computers in many of the Japanese cars in particular will bugger up after about ten years Regardless of the Mileage! I should know; I've been fixing them at work for the past 13 years. Japanese cars are good when they're going, but wholesalers all over the world with Japanese ECU's TCU's, etc sitting on their shelves, worth over a thousand dollars each, have had to dump them because they will not work after about ten or so years. Let me know which ones you're looking at & I'll tell you the parts you need to inspect & how to get to them before you buy. If these parts have been repaired properly, they'll be good for at least the duration of the repair warranty which you must also locate. Unless you're a good electronic technician yourself, be prepared to spend more on such a car than you have ever spent on your Beetle! You've probably fixed most of the problems with your Beetle by now anyway, so it may well be a better idea to stay with the Beetle & save up for a near-new car.

Well, according to me in older days the longevity of the car (how many years it would run) was the most important factor but the model (how the car looks) was not that important.....But nowadays in our modern times people buy a car ans sell it after 3-4 years of running......So according to me in our present day of life Mileage is far more important than how many years its running.......Because the present number of cars has increased like anythung and as a result the roads are full of traffic and this results in wastage of fuel my standing at the signals.........So my opinion is to buy a car with more mileage.........And of course the model is a factor nowadays...........So keep that in mind and buy a car that suits your needs...........Hope this helped ya!!!