So I'm looking at buying a used vehicle and I've come to somewhat of a dilemma, I'm trying to stay in a particular price bracket and in order to do that I have to make a compromise. It's either of these options, what would you do and why?

1: Get all the options you want, at the sacrifice of higher mileage (about 100-110km/60,000mi ish)
2: Get a lower mileage vehicle at the sacrifice of all the luxuries (about 60-80km/43,000mi)

I'm having a tough time making the call, I mean if the higher mileage/loaded car was maintained well (has service records) does it really matter?

Edit: the luxuries include: Sunroof,leather,all power options, heated seats.
Basic would be: cloth seats, power windows/locks, but manual seats.

The sunroof is really the clincher for me, I love them and have had them in most of my cars and I think it's becoming a must for me.

 

Come on Dougler,....you gotta tell us what you are considering.

 

+1

We need to know what 2 cars they are first.

 

Unless one of the cars has a feature that you can't live without (like a sunroof in your case), get the one with lower mileage because it will have better resale value.

 

^ Not always the case. I mean, car #1 could be a Lexus/BMW/Merc/etc. while car #2 is a Chevy/Ford/Dodge/etc. That's why we need to know what two cars are being considered.

 

the car would be from the same manufacturer, its just a matter of trim level.

 

ohhhh.... so like... 4 cyn. accord vs the v6?

how longs the commute? and i, myself would pay the money for those options... but thats because im a techy person and we usually keep our cars long anyway. whats the difference between the EPA ratings?

 

More info........Come on now, why the secrecy? Maybe we'll think its :ghey:

Seriously, how about a manufacturer? Something..... Or come to your senses and buy a Subaru, like I did

 

Need more info.

What cars? How much do you plan on driving it?

If it's a good manufacturer, then the extra miles should not be a huge issue. My car drives as good today with 104K on it as when I bought it at about 52K. And I choose it over a Maxima with about 10K miles less because of the added luxury.

 

The more important things is how well the car's been maintained. Honestly if I were given the choice I would buy a car that has more miles, e.g. 40,000, costs only a little less, but has full service records rather than a car of the same make, model and year that has 15,000, has no service records at all, etc. Throw in the extra luxuries and that higher mileage one is a winner, especially if it drives better than the low mileage one.

I opened my sunroof almost every time in decent weather. Even if my windows were up, the sunroof was open. Would be hard to have a car without it or something similar to it.

 

All other things equal, I get the one with the higher end features. Life is too short to drive boring cars...

 

Well I had the same choice as you did, but I did it between different brands. For example I was debating between a Subaru 2.5i, Acura RSX and a few others, but I decided to opt for the BMW5 series, because they have a much higher resale, even with 120K miles some are retailing as high as 11,500 or more. Also the company selling the vehicle was able to tender a copy of a clean CARFAX and maintenance records as well, while the other cars with only 35~50K miles did not offer any.

The RSX would not sell for more than 8K as a 120K auto, base model.

I will post pics later of my purchase, unless something falls through.

 

3 years ago i bought a 99 es300 for 12k with 70 on the clock. It has worked well for me, but......

since i purchased it i had to replace all 4 struts, brakes all around, tires, timing belt, alternator, o2 sensor, charcoal canister. So in all i spent about 3k repairing or replacing parts.
So i guess i spent 15k, but i know what i have in the car and plan on keeping it til 250k and save up for the cayman or 911 as long as we don't have any little ones running around.

In retrospect i still may have done the same thing.

 

seriously. more info.

if all things are equal: same maker, model, and year. if it's a honda or toyota or something, i'd go with the one with luxury items if you feel like you need them (ala sunroof in this case).

 

if it was me i'd go for the less fancy one and less miles on it. but it's up to you man.

 

need more info

 

#1 if Japanese manufacturer (other than Mitsubishi); #2 if American, German, Swedish manufacturer or Mitsubishi- in anticipation of breakdowns per law of averages.
If it's English, you're better off to start walking now.

 

Ok, fine I'll tell, i'm looking at an 05 FORD F150 Supercrew FX4 w/5.4l loaded it's has 107,000km on it and it was sold and serviced at the Ford dealer selling it, they are asking $16,800 which is obviously high and negotiable.

I was originally looking solely at 05-06 Crew Cab Z71 chevys, but the Fords styling is more appealing too me.

 

 

The difference in mileage you are referring to is approximately one year's driving. Not a big deal. It all depends on how the car was maintained and used. I've seen cars with low mileage that were basically worn out and cars with several hundred thousand kilometers that still looked and drove great. If the higher mileage car has proper service documentation and has been taken care of, I would have no issue with purchasing it. And especially since the difference in mileage is basically negligible to begin with.

Terry

 

What do you guys think is a reasonable price for this truck? there asking 16,888 CAD keep in mind, but I think it's high and should have room to move cause I bet they rapped the person that traded it in.

 

You could certainly try, but if I were you, since you seem to be in the market for a Pickup, I would consider the Toyota Tundra into the equation as well, from my understanding they're great trucks.

 

Dougler,

If you are buying this truck in the Windsor area ... there are a GLUT of trucks. If they're asking like $16k ... offer them $8k ... no one wants those things due to sky-high gas prices (Toronto is going to go up 12 cents/L tonight to $1.36/L) and the trade-in on a truck like that is next to zero. Seriously, my friend was thinking of trading in his '05 Silverado 2500 extended cab with 50k on the odometer and he was gonna get something like $7k for it. (averages $7900-$9700 on blackbook) That's craziness.

 

I chose the luxuries with high mileages.

I would have some stipulations with that, including a previous owner who took very well care of their car, inside and out...but generally speaking. Yea. I would pick luxury with higher mileage.

 

I just moved out of Windsor (graduated), but I'm not opposed to going down there to haul something out for that cheap. I keep hearing stories of trucks going for like 50% of asking price, but I have no idea how to negotiate that price, this would be my second vehicle purchase and the first one (TL) was an employee pricing through my Dad so it was already non negotiable in terms of price, so I'm pretty green when it comes to talking these sales guys down.

 

if that equals 5,000 us, then i will say

 

Simple negotiation tactic:

The Dougler: I like that truck, but $16,800 doesn't cut it, how about $9,000?

Salseman: ummm no..Hmm, how about $15,800?

The Dougler: Well, how about $8,000?

Salseman: You must be joking, right? There's no way we could......

The Dougler: I'm going down to XYZ Ford, and they have a slightly nicer one for $10,500. I know they want to sell me their truck.

Salseman: Ummm, let me get my manager. Don't go anywhere.


You can do this, just don't be weak and never, ever let them sell you Zeibart and a fabric protection package .

 

If you want the simplest and fastest way to get the deal (or at least not waste your time going back and forth with ridiculous offers), AND if you are willing to let the truck go if they don't meet your ideal price, try this:

This is what I'm willing to pay for the truck....
If you aren't interested in meeting those conditions: No deal.

If they don't give you that price or anything really close to it, walk out.

There's really no need to stay there for hours trying to find a happy medium if you already know in advance what you are and aren't willing to pay. Ask for it, and leave if they can't meet it. Try going later on in the evening, a few days short of the end of the month too, when there is more pressure for them to make a sale. Again, you have to be prepared to walk on the truck though. It's immediate pressure for them not to be retarded about it or they'll lose the deal...it'll get them making a serious sales pitch right off the bat, and skipping the negotiating. If you choose to walk, and they really want your business, they'll either come right after you or call you a few times over the next few days, trying to work with you.