I've boiled it down to the three M's. Model, money, and mileage. Some don't have to compromise. I however want a model I can't afford outright so I have to compromise on mileage if I want that model. Or, compromise on the model so the money and mileage is acceptable. How do you go about sorting all of this out? And, what is the most mileage you have ever bought?

I would add a 4th M for maintenance.

A higher mileage well maintained car can be just as valuable as a poorly maintained low mile car.

You also have to consider the average reliability of the model you want.

Example:
I would buy a Honda or Toyota with 75k+ miles that been adequately maintained without hesitation.

I wouldn't buy an Audi or Jaguar with 75k+ miles in any condition for any reasonable amount of money.

Toyota is top on my list. I have owned a Honda in the past and have no complaints. My wife has a Suburu now and it seems to be holding together pretty well. I want a Tacoma, but holy crap used you better have at least 20 grand. I like the RAV4 but here again 18K is what they go for used around here. Drove one on my last trip to Minnesota and really liked it. I will add the other M. My brother in law is a car guy who works for a major dealer and has warned me about up keep costs on the Euro cars.

Budget, then make, then model, then mileage.

know what I want and then find one with the least miles.

quote:

Toyota is top on my list. I have owned a Honda in the past and have no complaints.

I have both a Toyota and have been a long-time Acura guy. Both are reliable as long as you keep up with basic maintenance.

I bought the recent Toyota 4Runner from an insurance company auction after an accident.
The entire driver's side was scraped and had to be repainted, but the only thing that had to be replaced was the rear door. It helps to know a body guy.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...810048354#2810048354

I start with a high-quality brand car that is reliable and requires as little maintenance as possible for the first/next 120K miles. Given my ave daily driving distance, that usually equates to 6 years worth of use. I then price the car’s value based on condition, model + options like all other buyers. Generally, I’ve found the best value-based deals are cars that were certified, pre-owned from two or three car manufacturers (again, high quality). I look for previous autos that were leased short-term and took the depreciation hit that I’d rather avoid with new cars as soon as you drive them off the lot. By way of extension, I also avoid first year car models that might be problematic. While this strategy doesn’t get you that shiney, brand new, all bells & whistles car and you can’t build your own w/desired options, the amount of the pre-owned inventory in a decent sized metro community will typically yield choices that closely match or meet one’s target.
The most mileage on a used vehicle I purchased was 47K miles and it was an Acura.

Sorting it all out:
Maybe you could rank or weight the 3 M's 1-10 in order of what is most important to you. For instance, your weighting for mileage might be higher than mine. Then go with the highest number. Adding Maintenance as the 4th M is an excellent idea. Even under warranty, poor reliability is a PITA. YMMV.

You are the only one who can answer these questions. It all depends what is more important to you. You can get a Cadillac Escalade for 20k but it will be 10 years old.

Im debating looking at a 1 yr old rental car with 15k miles to save 10 grand.

Car prices in my area are outrageous. I think it was Bendable that said he sold his F-150 and bought a Carolla. I'm seriously thinking about going this route. My old 93 Ranger is quickly becoming a bucket of bolts. No AC, and now minimal heat every once in awhile.

I buy new and keep it 10 years. I know what I'm getting. I know everything is under warranty the first 3 years and 36k miles and all of the wear items are brand new also (tires/brakes/etc.) so I have almost no out of pocket expenses for the first 3 years. I get it with exactly the options/colors I want. I also know it's entire history, including the maintenance.

I tend to buy 2-3 year old cars, at 35-50% discount compared to new. I go for a specific make/model, and get more car for less money than new.
I do almost all my own work on them, to keep maintenance and repairs affordable.

Start with a philosophy of use. Is it going to be a commuter, a weekend 4 wheeler, a luxury family hauler, a projection of your lifestyle brand, etc.?

Work backwards from there to arrive at the make, model, and year range of a desired vehicle.

Save money until vehicle is comfortably in your budget.

If the philosophy of use allows for pre-owned miles, then shop used against new negotiated prices (not MSRP) for the best deal.

I do not compromise on the intended use (including getting something with more miles than desireable) in order to "afford" a vehicle. If I can't afford the car, then I can't afford the car--not going to get something high mileage just to get into a "nice" vehicle.

Typically, the longer I intend to keep a vehicle, the closer to new I'll try to buy it. The more expensive a vehicle is to maintain, the closer to new I'll try to buy it. The further away (or more remote) I'm going to drive it, the newer I'll try to buy it.

quote:

Originally posted by gpbst3:

Im debating looking at a 1 yr old rental car with 15k miles to save 10 grand.

One downside to this is that the manufacturers warranty is usually voided because of the previous commercial "fleet use". Most manufacturers specifically call this out in their warranty exclusions. Just double check if the warranty is important to you in the purchase. Although your 10 grand savings buys a lot of potential repairs.

Over the last 15 years we have owned 4 Toyota vehicles. We look at cars that in theory should get 200,000+ miles with basic maintenance. This is not always the case but we can only hope.
We have owned 2 Camry's a Rav4 and a Scion FR-S(scion was owned by Toyota).
Our first Toyota was a 2004 Camry. At 150,000 my wife was rear ended at a traffic light and although the damage looked minimal the insurance company totaled it. The rear wheel was pushed up under the car. If she had not been hit we would have easily gotten 250,000 miles out of that car.
The second Camry we bought to replace the first Camry. After a year of owning it we found we needed something to be able to move all of the stuff we use for competitions we shoot on weekends. We got a good trade value because the car was still pretty new.
The RAV4 fits our needs better for our current lifestyle. Everything we have read about this vehicle is that it should have a good lifespan. We can only hope.
My FR-S is a sports car that is new to the US market but has been around for a while in the Asian market. So far with 85,000 miles it has had the fuel pump and A/C replaced under warranty. It has also had the clutch rebuilt but that was something I would consider basic maintenance on this type of car. I am hopping to get 150,000 miles out of this car. Fingers crossed.
We look at cars that generally cost less than $30,000 dollars. I negotiate the price down several thousand dollars below MSRP or get a lot more of a trade value for the car we have. We generally put down a large down payment. We have great credit scores and get an interest rate of 1.99% to 2.99% over 5 years. We will generally pay the car off in less than 3 years even though we have a 5 year loan.
This is what has worked for us. I don't like having car payments and at this time we don't but sometimes you may have no choice. My wife drives a lot of miles every year and needed a new car to get the most out of the cars lifespan.

My theory: Buy cheap. Fix it yourself. Drive it until it dies. Never make a car payment. Retire and watch everyone else drive their new stuff to work.

Aeteocles has it right.

I'll add that I won't go into debt to buy a car for personal use. If there is an incentive, I'll finance and pay the loan off in the first month. For example, on my truck there was a $1,500 rebate for financing. I financed to get the rebate then paid it off the second month.

I'd finance a work vehicle or consider leasing.

quote:

Originally posted by .38supersig:
My theory: Buy cheap. Fix it yourself. Drive it until it dies. Never make a car payment. Retire,"BUY Your new car" and watch everyone else drive their new stuff to work.

Love your post and added in a little fix. All so true and valid.