Buying high mileage newer cars

[xl2ockl3ottomx]

I am in the market for a newer car / small truck and a few of the cars I've looked at have (at least what seems to me) a crap-load of miles on them in a short period of time. In one particular case, I found a 2012 GMC Canyon that I really like. It has 4WD, crew cab, and looks really good cosmetically but it has 38k miles on it in a year and half. This leads me to believe it must have been a rental or work truck of some sort.

Would you shy away from a vehicle that averaged more than 20k miles per year?
What would be your cut off for miles per year?
Anyone ever bought an ex-rental car? Would you do it again?
If you bought it (asking price is slightly over KBB), what effect would it being an ex-rental have on your offer (as in go low on the KBB or does it not effect it)?

 

[WireEater]

No because if it's a high mileage car in a short period of time, most of those miles are probably highway miles. If it was a rental, then yes I would stay away.

 

[ElscottHavoc]

First, I think your calculations are wrong and secondly, I think we need to reconsider what is high mileage.

A lot of people are commuting a lot farther to work these days. I've always assumed the average was 15k per year, but I wouldn't be surprised to see this number increase. Our town is largely a "bedroom" community and a lot of people (including myself) travel about 40 miles to work...as above noted is mostly HWY. Assume I drive 40 miles there and 40 miles back (80 total) 5 days a week just 49 weeks out of the year and I've already racked up nearly 20,000 miles. And that's just commuting to work, and doesn't factor driving it on weekends, after work, or my 3 weeks of vacation that sometimes see lots of travel out of state.

More importantly, the car in question is mire than just one and a half years old. Car models are usually released a year prior to their model year which is why there have been 2014 mustangs on the road already and why were awaiting the official release of the 2015 mustang next year. You really need to add almost one more year to your calculation (depending upon what quarter of 2011 the canyon was released). GMC is saying the 2015 model should be released by Q4 of 2014.

That 2012 model was actually released part way through 2011 which was 2 to 2.5 years ago considering this is nearly 2014 as we've just entered November. So at 38k miles, they really only put on about (assuming 2.5 years old)15,000 or so which is average by my insurance company's syandards or 19000 if we consider it as just being 2 years old, which per my personal example isn't beyond what I consider "normal".

I know a lot of it ultimately rests on maintenance and treatment, but newer cars ought to be built to last longer. Maybe "ought" is they key word there, but I don't see any reason a high mileage vehicle should be avoided with the exception of perhaps a rental/business/fleet vehicle. Its hard to be certain of anything, but I wouldn't consider high mileage to be odd these days for new cars.

In fact, on some occasions, a vehicle that's been driven often, treated right, and well maintained will be more reliable than a vehicle that has insanely low miles and hardly driven to the point of belts, hoses, moving parts, etc going bad or becoming clogged from just sitting around or carbon buildup from being putted around.

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[Coiled03]

I wouldn't be too concerned unless you have proof it's a rental. That's the only thing I'd stay away from.

The quality in newer cars is much higher than it was just a decade ago. My F150 is a perfect example. It's a 2007 that I purchased in early 2009 with 33K miles on it already. It now has just over 100K miles and drives like the day I bought it with just a few additional rattles. I can see getting 200K out of it easily.

 

[BlueSnake01]

No because if it's a high mileage car in a short period of time, most of those miles are probably highway miles. If it was a rental, then yes I would stay away.

This.

I have seen some cars be more abused in and out with less miles than other cars with double the miles. Rental/loan cars are the worst of the bunch, everyone always beats on those cars, I know I do.

 

[xl2ockl3ottomx]

I've beat on rentals before as well. I was looking at the car fax and that says it was a personal lease.

It would say rental if it were an ex-rental, right?

 

[97ReoCobra]

Things have flip flopped from what they were 30 or 40 years ago. Used to be millage was everything. Drive trains were pretty beat out by 80K miles. 100K cars were rare. The bodies outlasted the drive train. Now days it's the opposite. You don't change spark plugs until 100K. Cars with over 200K are not too uncommon. Now the bodies rust out and interiors get trashed before the drive train dies. IMO it's the model year that is critical now. 38K miles is barely broke in.

 

[ElscottHavoc]

Rental/loan cars are the worst of the bunch, everyone always beats on those cars, I know I do.

Makes me think of a funny story.

In high school, I did detailing work for a dealership and one aspect of the job was prepping the loaner cars for use. Basically, every loaner car was given an immediate detailing after it was returned because it had to be ready for the next customer requesting one.

On one particular occasion, I cleaned a car out at 8am that was left the night before. One of things I became accustomed to do was checking under seats and between seats for loose change, better in my pocket than the next driver and if you found something important you could easily return it.

Anyways, I had the car ready to go and it was picked up by a guy at 9am to be used throughout the day. He returned it at 5pm to pick up his car. I took it back to the wash bay for one last job for the night and start my work when suddenly I feel something under the seat...something slight gooey...a filled condom, twisted and tied.

On another occasion, a customer brought a loaner car that left in immaculate condition and came back with tire rubber and brake dust all over the wheel, rocker panel, etc. I actually think the dealership approached him about burning the tires up because he was pissed his experience with the dealer was unsatisfactory but not sure what came of it.

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[thomas91169]

Dont be afraid.

I bought my 2010 Fusion SE in 2011 with 65k on the clock. It was a fleet car and I have check-ins every 3,000mi intervals, from San Jose to Pennsylvania and back again. Being fleet maintained isnt that bad of a deal really, it means usually the cars are gone over pretty well. Techs will replace shit that doesnt need replacing just so they can get more hours on the clock.

I now have 112k on the clock. My only issue thus far was a slight leak from a transmission seal that was fixed by simply tightening the bolts to proper spec as they had loosened for whatever reason. Shifts great, drives as good as new. I consistently get compliments when I take it into Ford or whatnot about its condition and the mileage. Most dont believe it.

Theres a big difference between "rental" and "fleet maintained". Even rentals, unless they feel and drive like a pos, are maintained pretty damn good, better than most private parties.

 

[Jebadias]

First, I think your calculations are wrong and secondly, I think we need to reconsider what is high mileage.

A lot of people are commuting a lot farther to work these days. I've always assumed the average was 15k per year, but I wouldn't be surprised to see this number increase. Our town is largely a "bedroom" community and a lot of people (including myself) travel about 40 miles to work...as above noted is mostly HWY. Assume I drive 40 miles there and 40 miles back (80 total) 5 days a week just 49 weeks out of the year and I've already racked up nearly 20,000 miles. And that's just commuting to work, and doesn't factor driving it on weekends, after work, or my 3 weeks of vacation that sometimes see lots of travel out of state.

A few years back my job site was 120 miles from home. I was driving 50 miles one way to pick up my kids up and drop them off every other weekend for a total of 3080 miles every two weeks. That's two oil changes a month plus whatever I used the car for after work. I was at that job site for about 6 months and quick math tells me that I racked up around 40,000 miles like that. Thing is they were almost exclusively highway miles without much wear on the brakes, suspension, doors or most of the parts that wear out. I would trust that 40,000 miles over 5,000 miles of 1/4 mile drag followed by intense braking, roll into the pits and open/close door, jack car up, ect...

The car above was a 95 Mustang GT. I got rid of it at 197,000 because the car was badly rusted out. It still ran great and pulled a 14.4 sec 1/4 mile a few weeks before I sold it. I gave my son my 94 Supercoupe at 202,000 and I believe he got rid of it at 210,000 because his wife could not drive a stick. It still ran decent when he sold it. My current daily driver is a 99 F350 which just passed 236,000 and runs fine. If cars built (and properly maintained) in the 90s can do that then I would not be scared of buying a properly maintained quality used car that was built 20 years later. Just make sure that the vehicle is a well built (not a throw away) vehicle and has been properly maintained and cared for, just like you would any used car.

 

[lowflyn]

Nah...don't really worry about mileage much anymore. Look at the overall condition of the vehicle and go from there.

I bought my 07 Focus in 09 and it had 35k miles. It currently has 113k miles and is still on factory brakes and battery. Put a set of tires on at 53k and an alternator at 68k, other than that just gas and oil changes every 5k. I average around 25k a year on my DD vehicles so it doesn't take much time at all to rack up mileage, but like stated above it is primarily highway time as the brakes show.

As far as the rental, I got a steal on my 02 V6 Mustang I bought in 02 because it was a rental. I sold it in 08 with 112k and it is still running today with over 200k. Not all rental cars are to be looked over, just check it well and play the price game with the dealer, they buy rentals for dirt cheap.

 

[Red94SVT]

My parents have bought 2 ex-rental cars and have had good experiences with both

2001 Excursion V10 they bought 1 year old with 22k on it, it currently has 165k on it, towing a trailer twice a year since they bought it, no major issues outside of basic maintenance and still going strong

2001 Buick Regal bought with 25k on it, they sold it with 130k on it, it had allot of typical Buick/GM issues (radio going out, went through 2 sets of window actuators)
but no issues with either being an ex-rental

Although, I have heard some horror stories from friends so my parents may have just gotten lucky on both.

 

[black92]

Have them toss in a 100,000 mile warranty as part of the deal and buy it.

 

[cobrakidz]

We have purchased 2 ex rentals too--both gave us no problems and we had them for another 100k+ miles.

 

[TrevorR90]

Just because the car has high miles doesn't mean it was a rental, unless it shows on the carfax. I bought a 2012 Altima coupe new with 45 miles on the clock, 12 months later, it had 35k miles on it before I traded it in. I took care of it.

 

[R.D.P.]

When I bought a new daily driver SUV for my wife last year - I did the old school thing, put mileage above model year and I sort of regret it now. It's a Volvo with their turbo 5cyl so it will probably run forever. Looking back I should have gone with one newer and with more miles.

 

[czwalga00gt]

Unless its german mileage doesnt mean much on cars these days under 100k.

 

[Blackness03]

I beat on rental cars like there is no tomorrow. Don't buy a rental

 

[Sick03Vert]

Mileage doesn't mean near what it used to. We get higher mileage vehicles in on trade here all the time, and more than our fair share of rentals.

While I can totally understand not wanting to purchase a previous rental car, the one upside to doing so is that usually rental companies are very good at keeping their cars maintained.

I'd rather have a 2012 with 40k well-maintained miles that was a rental than a 20k mile one-owner personal vehicle that was maintained by a teenager.

Just saying....and, as always, YMMV.

 

[Sick03Vert]

I've beat on rentals before as well. I was looking at the car fax and that says it was a personal lease.

It would say rental if it were an ex-rental, right?

If the Carfax says personal lease, then it was not a rental. If it were, it would say it was registered as a fleet vehicle, or part of a rental fleet.