Which car?

[nic3c]

There are 2 cars for sale, both exactly the same for the same price. One is an 02 reg and has 20,000 miles on the clock and one is an 04 reg and has 40,000 miles on the clock. Which should i buy?

[jammer91]

going on the information you have given me i would suggest to 02 reg, purely because it has done less miles over a larger period of time but it is hard to say with this much information.

[Gef]

If they are EXACTLY the same and EXACTLY the same price I would be suspicious. Have they both got a full service history? Any signs of accident damage?

[rdv]

depends what car this is but the same price sounds about right, are they the same colour

[nic3c]

Yes, exactly the same, although i phoned both sellers and the one with the 02 car sounded dodgy so...

[BenDToy]

Personally I would always go for the newer one. The most important factor in a cars price is its age, not the mileage. If you are an average or below average mileage driver.you will do better when you come to sell it. And a car doing 4k per annum is suspicious or likely to be a problem. In a modern car 20k and 40k are nothing.

[nic3c]

Thanks BenDToy, i was leaning towards the newer one.

[jollygreen]

I would go for the newer vehicle, especially if it's still got a factory warranty. Make sure it's in decent condition, check the service history etc. It'll be worth more when you sell.

[=rizla=]

If a cars only done 4k/year then i'd guess a lot of this will be popping to the shops, ie cold engine, lots of gear changes etc etc, so the engine may well be in a worse condition than the one thats doen 8k/year and had more runs at 'operating' temperature, not always the case obviously. Personally if they're the same car 1'd go for the newer one everytime, remembering the newer one could well have had more improvements on it from the manufacturer ( i read once ever year manufacturer's change lots of parts on the same model of car)

Also as you say the '02 on's sellers sounded dodgy then i'd definitly go for the 04 model.