Let’s start by stating the obvious: All other things being equal, used cars are less expensive than factory-fresh, new ones. For this reason, anyone looking to spend less for a vehicle is wise to consider pre-owned. Getting the most for your money, however, requires a little more thought than just heading for the used-car lot. Here are some things to keep in mind as you shop.
What’s the Depreciation Like?
Depreciation is the reduction in an object’s value due to age and wear. You may have heard that a new car starts depreciating the moment you drive it off the dealer’s lot. In reality, depreciation is more closely bound to whether the car has had an official owner, not that small increase in mileage, so it’s signing the final papers that really does it. Regardless, depreciation is not great for someone buying new, but it’s generally a real source of value for folks who don’t mind buying a pre-owned vehicle.
We say generally because there are always exceptions. Limited-run models may be nearly impossible to purchase from a dealer, especially right when they first become available. This is most common with high-performance variants like a Corvette ZR1 or Ford Bronco Raptor, as each store may only be allotted a certain small number of vehicles to sell. If that’s the case, the dealer and anyone who has bought one new may jack up the price to profit off initial demand. Such unused used vehicles may hold their value if stored in a bubble and left undriven, but the depreciation clock starts running once the owner begins putting real mileage on the odometer.
But that isn’t how most people buy cars. Depreciation on a vehicle is a function of how many miles are on it, how hard the effects of those miles were, and the model year relative to what’s currently on the market. As a vehicle ages and accumulates more mileage, its value goes down, making it less expensive for the next person to purchase.
How Much Has the Model Changed?
Car models go through generations, during which much of the vehicle stays the same—hard points like where the doors and roof are, the wheelbase measurement, the suspension mounting points. There may be styling tweaks and changes to available equipment year to year, and a mid-cycle refresh often combines those with minor or major mechanical updates. But if the car you’re after hasn’t been fully redesigned for a few years—and you can get by without the latest driver-assist features or a larger infotainment screen—chances are you can find a lightly used example with the same basic specs as the new ones on a dealer’s lot. That’s a great way to save money and still end up with something modern.
At the same time, if you have your heart set on a newly available variant or the redesigned model that just came out last year, it may limit how far back in time you want to look for used examples. It might just mean that you have to wait a year or two for that new car to become a used car—assuming you have the patience and your current vehicle will get you through until then.
What’s the Mileage?
A vehicle’s mileage can tell you a lot about what kind of mechanical and aesthetic life it has left to give. A car that has been driven more may have more wear on its components and could require replacement parts or maintenance sooner. How much mileage you’re okay with depends a lot on how you plan to use the vehicle and for how long.
One good way to determine what you’re comfortable with is to look at your own annual mileage. If you drive your car just 5000 miles a year, you may not be happy with a five-year-old model with 100K on the odometer. The reverse is also true, meaning you may be more tolerant of high mileage and the light scratches and dings that come with it if you’re used to getting all the life out of your personal vehicle.
While you don’t want a vehicle that has seemingly been driven constantly since it left the factory, there’s another side to the mileage coin. If a car hasn’t been driven regularly, especially if it has sat for years, it might not be the deal you first think it is. This is most common with occasional-use or specialty vehicles. If that Miata you’re eyeing has only been driven by a little old lady on Sundays for the past 20 years, it may look immaculate but need some mechanical work or new parts.
It’s a similar story with highly collectible and rare cars; if you want to buy that time capsule and use it as its maker actually intended, just know that there will be a mechanical price to pay to get it ready for the road again. You will at the very least want to change the oil and most other fluids, but rubber parts like hoses, tires, and suspension bushings will have aged just sitting and need replacement. This doesn’t mean you have to avoid an underused used car, but take that use into account when determining its worth.
What Condition Is the Car In?
Mileage often suggests what shape a vehicle is in, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. A car that has been driven on a long highway commute may be in better mechanical condition than one with lower mileage that was used constantly for short trips—the kind that don’t allow everything to get up to operating temps before the vehicle is unceremoniously shut off.
Physical wear—both to the body and interior parts like the seats and steering wheel—can tell you a lot about how a vehicle was used. Using that high-mileage commuter car as an example again, it may have had a butt in its driver’s seat for longer, but that person got in and out of it fewer times overall, sparing the seat bolsters and padding from wear. A minivan owned by empty nesters is going to look different inside from one used by a busy family of six, no matter what the odometer seems to tell you.
Maintenance records or their absence will tell a prospective buyer a lot about how the owner treated the vehicle. Is it up to date on things like oil and other fluid changes? Have the wipers and tires been replaced at appropriate intervals? This can come down to more of a personality test of the seller than a physical inspection.
How Was It Used?
The word “used” can have many meanings. One obvious one is that the car is not new and that it has been registered by an owner. Maybe it has delivery mileage on it, or maybe it has been driven halfway to the sun. It’s how the vehicle was used that provides more insight. The grocery getter or aforementioned family hauler might show more scars than our commuter example. Maybe that’s fine with you, maybe it’s not.
Other used cars to watch out for are the abused ones. Poor treatment isn’t always obvious just by looking, but you can often get hints from the condition of the interior compared to the car’s mileage. Another clue is whether a vehicle was part of a rental or corporate fleet. Simply put, people don’t take as much care of cars that don’t belong to them. Fleet vehicles are more likely to have been damaged and repaired less diligently, and they aren’t always maintained to the manufacturer’s recommendations—downtime is money.
The easiest way to tell what kind of life a used car has led is to buy it from its original owner. Outside that, a vehicle history report can tell you what kind of entity or entities owned it in the past, and if you see anything other than a private party you may want to skip to the next potential on your list.
Where Did It Come From?
No shade to anyone from a particular state, but depending on the type of vehicle you’re after, you may want to look for cars that came from elsewhere. Many of our staff are proud Michiganders but are less than enthusiastic about buying used vehicles from in and around the mitten state. We know what happens to cars in those long, gray winters.
