Used Car Question

[Anonymous]

How old is too old (talking mileage here)?

I am looking to buy my adult daughter a used Subaru Legacy. It has to be very reliable. She will often be driving alone, and won't have money to replace it for quite a while.

So, please give me some sense of the ballpark of mileage we should be looking at. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

check and see how long the typical subaru lasts. i think they are pretty good cars, so i would expect then to run for a long time with no/minor troubles.

i just bought a car with over 100K on it. i don't drive a lot, so i would expect it to last me at least 7 years with the amount i drive. i know the prior owner, so i know it has been taken care of. no worries here.

[Anonymous]

A Japanese car that is well taken care of can go to 200,000. I would look for one that is between 50,000 and 100,000.

[Anonymous]

It’s not the mileage, it’s how those miles were driven and how well the car was taken care of

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s not the mileage, it’s how those miles were driven and how well the car was taken care of

How would the car dealership know, and why would they tell the truth??

I am seeing one (at a reputable local dealer) with only 11,000 miles (2021 model). Suspicious??

thanks!

[Anonymous]

Bought my kid a 2007 CRV with 110k miles. It was one owner with all of the service reports. Took it to the mechanic and they said it could easily go another 100k (my kid will drive it at home for a year and then it will be passed down to his sibling to use for a year or two...so not a lot of miles.)

I figured out who owned it (stuff left in the glove box) and from my internet sleuthing, it looked like it was an older person who bought it in Bethesda in 2007, worked in Potomac till 2015 (retired,) and sold it back in Bethesda - so few miles.

But it took a LOT of looking and searching to find it.

[Anonymous]

Thanks all! How much weight would you put on the used vehicle being "certified" by an official dealership (meaning one that only certifies that make of car)? Would you still have your mechanic check it during that one week trial period? Considering one that is from 2021 with less than 15K miles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not the mileage, it’s how those miles were driven and how well the car was taken care of

How would the car dealership know, and why would they tell the truth??

I am seeing one (at a reputable local dealer) with only 11,000 miles (2021 model). Suspicious??

thanks!

You don’t and that’s the rush you are taking when you buy used car. I’d ask them if that was a leased car returned at the end of 2-year lease term.

[Anonymous]

Ask for the vehicle history/car fax. Was it a lease or why did they get rid of it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ask for the vehicle history/car fax. Was it a lease or why did they get rid of it?

They did not know why it was returned (said that low mileage turn ins are not uncommon) because it was not turned in to their dealership.
Most likely they said it was turned into a dealership which (unlike them) is not authorized to certify cars from that manufacturer. They have since certified it (as being in good shape).

They showed me the Carfax report, which reflects no accidents. It also showed several service visits (for things like tire rotation). I thought that might show decent care of the vehicle (i.e., several maintenance-type service visits in 3 years).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not the mileage, it’s how those miles were driven and how well the car was taken care of

How would the car dealership know, and why would they tell the truth??

I am seeing one (at a reputable local dealer) with only 11,000 miles (2021 model). Suspicious??

thanks!

It would ordinarily seem suspicious to me but these days we own a 2018 with under 20,000 miles.

[Anonymous]

If car was returned no way you should consider getting it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If car was returned no way you should consider getting it

Not returned, perhaps I used the wrong word.

Turned in ? The point is the dealer now has this used vehicle for sale, so presumably, someone turned it in to a dealer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If car was returned no way you should consider getting it

Not returned, perhaps I used the wrong word.

Turned in ? The point is the dealer now has this used vehicle for sale, so presumably, someone turned it in to a dealer.

NP. The "certified" is meaningless to me unless it comes with some sort of warranty.

The fact that it was traded in is not a problem in and of itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If car was returned no way you should consider getting it

Not returned, perhaps I used the wrong word.

Turned in ? The point is the dealer now has this used vehicle for sale, so presumably, someone turned it in to a dealer.

you need to know why it was turned in.