The average mileage for a used car, by age On average, a car should have around 10,000 miles per year. So, for an easy way to calculate how many miles on a used car is too much, just multiply its age by 10,000. For example, a five-year-old car would ideally have 50,000 miles or less on its odometer.
As a general rule, you should assume that the average car owner puts 12,000 miles on a car each year. To determine whether a car has reasonable mileage, you can simply multiply 12,000 by its age. That means good mileage for a car that's 5 years old is 60,000.
A car that is six years old should have around 90,000 miles.
For many used vehicles you are wanting to look at cars under 200,000 kilometres. However you can find exceptional used cars on the market that have over 200,000 kilometres that is in excellent condition and has at least 5 years of roadworthiness left.
If you find a car with more than 200,000 km on it, don't be too concerned. A vehicle that has gotten regular oil changes, tire rotations, tune-ups, and a little high-mileage maintenance, should still have some life left in it. Well-built trucks and large SUVs should last longer than other vehicles overall.
Whether a used car is considered high mileage or not depends largely on the year to mileage ratio. Take a five-year-old used vehicle with 100,000 kilometers (or just over 62,000 miles). That works out to 20,000 km per year on average, so not too bad.
As a general rule, most vehicles begin to seriously degrade at around 150,000 miles. It is considered rare, and therefore outstanding longevity, if a car reaches 200,000 miles on the road. That said, there's more to identifying good versus bad mileage on a used car than just the odometer reading.
Do kilometres matter when buying a car? In general, buyers often want the car they are buying to have less than 100,000 kilometres on the clock at the time of purchase.
Mileage is part of the puzzle – but it's not the “be-all-end-all” of used cars. There's no guarantee that a car that's only been driven for 20,000 kilometers is in great shape – and a car that's been driven for more than 150,000km can easily provide you with years of reliable performance.
While this number is influenced by many factors, there are some tried-and-true tactics to figure out the average lifespan of your vehicle. Here's what you need to know. HOW LONG DO CARS LAST? According to Consumer Reports, the average lifespan of today's cars is about eight years or 240,000 kilometres.
All in all, the best age to buy a used car is around the 5-year mark, as this minimizes depreciation and maximises reliability for the price you'll pay, meaning you're less likely to have any problems or need to pay any more money for later on which is a common problem with really cheap or much older vehicles.
Seeing as the average driver covers about 12,000 miles a year, you'll want to see the following: About 60,000 miles on a 5-year-old car. About 84,000 miles on a 7-year-old car. About 108,000 miles on a 9-year-old car.
Generally speaking, it's a great decision to buy low-mileage used cars, even if the mileage seems unusually low. With the lack of affordable cars on the market right now due to the chip shortage, many more buyers seek used cars. As a result, it could be hard to find a 5-year-old car with a few thousand miles on it.
Typically, putting 13,000 to 14,000 miles on your car per year is viewed as “average.” A car that is driven more than that is considered high-mileage. With proper maintenance, cars can have a life expectancy of about 200,000 miles.
Topping that list is the Toyota Sequoia, which has a potential lifespan of 296,509 miles, according to a new study from iSeeCars.com. The automotive research website analyzed more than 2 million cars to determine which last longest and found that 20 models are able to endure for more than 200,000 miles.
Generally, the life of a petrol engine is estimated at 1,00,000-2,00,000 kilometres, however, it may require overhauling in between. Moreover, the engine life would depend on certain factors such as timely maintenance, keeping the oil levels in check, servicing the vehicle at authorized centers, etc.
Average age of all vehicles registered in Australia was 10.1 years, unchanged since 2015. Tasmanian vehicles reported the oldest average age at 12.8 years, whilst the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory had the youngest fleet with an average age of 9.4 years.
What's the “Sweet Spot” for Used Car Age? In retaining “like new” quality and inheriting a slower depreciation rate, the best used car age for buying is 2-3 years. In fact, Americans are saving up to $14,000 on a 3-year-old vehicle.
Posted by Frank Gogol in Auto | Updated on November 15, 2022
At a Glance: As a rule of thumb, a used car should have no more than 12,000 miles for each year since the car was originally bought.
Distance affects a car's value
Due to its high odometer reading, a certain measure of wear-and-tear is brought into the depreciation calculations, leading to a lower trade-in value than for the low-mileage car, which is seen as “closer to pristine”.
There's no absolute number of miles that is too many for a used car. But consider 200,000 as an upper limit, a threshold where even modern cars begin to succumb to the years of wear and tear.
Generally, the fewer kms a car has driven, the better. But a used car that has higher kms can be a great buy if it has been maintained properly and driven sensibly. Like people, cars need tune-ups and checkups to stay high performance.
When buying a used car that's 10-years-old or older, your primary concerns are purchase price and reliability. Don't pay more than that 10-year-old car is worth. And, pick a car with a solid reputation for dependability. No car is really too old if you follow those rules.