How does mileage affect pricing

[T-42]

I have a 2002 Thunderbird with 26,000 miles that is in beautiful condition. I have had it for 5 years, and find I drive it less and less because I don't want to put miles on it, to maintain or increase its value. Is there a general rule that identifies how many miles reduce value? Is another 10,000 miles going to have a big affect on my cars value? Thanks T-42

[Greg S]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

Are you saving it for the next owner?

[11TH GEN]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

You will probably get different answers from each respondent. Just remember they are individual opinions. IMO a 26K mile 02 is worth more than one with 36K, 46K or more ( assuming conditions, mechanical and cosmetics ) are the same. Once they are over 50K 60K I don't think it matters much at that point, just a used car. You may have folks tell you they would rather have a high mileage car that has been maintained than a low mileage car they know nothing about. I have suspicion that your 02 is most likely in great condition. Typically lower miles equate to higher value.

[Quickdraw]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

Why not go to kbb.com or other appraisal site and enter the same car with different mileage?

[2K2BIRD]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

Your profile says you have been retired for 3 years. Unless you are a very young retiree, saving your car for some kind of "profit" doesn't seem likely. If you are saving the miles to not lose very much when you decide to sell it, you might as well sell it now. Unless you get more enjoyment from looking at it than you do driving it, it's unlikely you'll come out ahead more in a few years than you will now.

Want to enjoy your retirement even more - drive the car more.

[steelblue5505]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

Want to enjoy your retirement even more - drive the car more.

And join in the fun, the adventure and comradery of a TBN event

[StevenM]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

Want to enjoy your retirement even more - drive the car more.

Yep!

[11TH GEN]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

Unless you get more enjoyment from looking at it than you do driving it, it's unlikely you'll come out ahead more in a few years than you will now.

Want to enjoy your retirement even more - drive the car more.

I'm retired......I get about the same enjoyment either looking at the car or driving it.

[007Cruiser]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

Why not go to kbb.com or other appraisal site and enter the same car with different mileage?

A good idea as I'm sure there is a "tipping point" somewhere.

I won't presume to tell you how to enjoy your car/retirement. I'm sure you've got that covered.

[wcoates]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

following Harry's suggestion, at the first iteration I put my 2003 in KBB and called it excellent and a sale to a private buyer. As to Ric"s concern I repeated the exercise using the good category. (over 50% of the cars fit this category according to their statistics ). The results are as follows:

Excellent-------------------------------------------------Good

26000 miles----------$16,940---------------------------$15299
36000 miles----------$16,209---------------------------$14543
66000 miles----------$13,838---------------------------$13320
106k--miles----------$10,694---------------------------$ 8840

So to answer your question. driving 10,000 more miles decreases your value by $731. Sure not a reason IMHO to leave it sitting in the garage. High mileage appears to decrease the value significantly. both seem to answer the original question of what impact of going from 26,000 to 36,000 miles.

[11TH GEN]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

self edit

[Gobird]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

I'm not worried what my car is worth with 112,000 on it but I have had lots of enjoyment from it and saw a whole lot of this country in the past 14 years. Now, that is priceless.

[2K2BIRD]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

I'm retired......I get about the same enjoyment either looking at the car or driving it.

We know, Rick.

From the tone of our original poster, it seemed that she would really like to drive her car more. I was trying to encourage her to do so. From Bill's research, $700+ dollars in "value" seems like a small price to pay for 10K miles (and some years) of fun.

[BirdsAndBugs]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

Last week there was a post in another thread where somebody called these Thunderbirds cool old cars. They're fun to look and fun to drive; but won't really appreciate much (if any) in value.

In my mind, there are only 2 options. Keep the car, drive it periodically, and enjoy it; or if for some reason it no longer fits your needs or lifestyle then sell it. You'll likely get more out of it now than waiting another 1, 3, 5 years, etc.

[Rondor]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

If the cars' value is the predominant factor in owning it I would say buy gold instead.
While mileage is a significant factor age , color, model, all play a part. A well kept original will over time be a good investment even with high miles when you factor in the enjoyment of those miles