How does mileage affect pricing

[Welker]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

Bought mine new and it has all the original papers, window sticker, etc, and all service records. It now has 116k on it and I have replaced lots of things and have even had the hood repainted due to spider cracking. Just yesterday I went to the super market and had four separate people comment on how beautiful the car is. All four of them were over 60 and I think that is the market for these cars.....so I wouldn't worry about the long term mileage situation since the market is, and forgive the pun, dying out.

[jssantoro]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

Everyone has different reasons and uses for their cars. Mine is my daily driver, has been kept outside all its life and has 140K on it. I like it cause it stone reliable, very comfortable and maintenance is real easy. That plus everything new is butt ugly. If and when this one is put out to pasture I would consider another one, especially since there are a ton of low/mid mileage one out there. My wife can have her European POS's that break constantly, my 14 yrs old Bird is just fine , dandy and paid for many times over.

[11TH GEN]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

I guess I have a hard time understanding buying and owning anything that I don't use on a regular basis. I find no fun in just owning something with the exception of art work which have the soul purpose of being owned and enjoyed by just looking at it. Further, even you total the car tomorrow with no insurance, your loss would not be enough to change your retirement situation. Drive and enjoy the car or sell it so someone that will.

Dan: I wouldn't wrestle with trying to understand someone else's car habits or comparing what you call fun to what another person may find fun. I have no idea what your definition of regular use is. My regular use is is about three times a week that maybe total twenty five miles a week. Do you think I should sell the car to someone that might somehow enjoy it more than me by running up the mileage? For you $100K mile club members I think it's great that you travel, see places, meet people and create lasting memories, beautiful. Just don't think that somehow those of us that put under 1K miles a year on our car don't enjoy them equally as much. This OP's thread has really been jacked. To answer her question again. Almost always, the more miles on a car the less it's actual cash value, not taking priceless memories into consideration.

[Greg S]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

I doubt if any of our retro birds will "maintain or increase their value" in any our lifetimes.

[Howlandd]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

I guess I have a hard time understanding buying and owning anything that I don't use on a regular basis. I find no fun in just owning something with the exception of art work which have the sole purpose of being owned and enjoyed by just looking at it. Further, even if you total the car tomorrow with no insurance, your loss would not be enough to change your retirement situation. Drive and enjoy the car or sell it so someone that will.

[wcoates]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

Remember, excellent describes about 3% of all vehicles. Meaning needs absolutley nothing and no reconditioning at all with clean carfax. No bolster wear or cracks, new tires and no mechanical issues. Also there are buyers that put a mileage cut off in their search. When I bought mine I wouldn't even consider looking at a car with over 28K miles at any price.

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 KBB 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

driving 10,000 more miles decreases your value by $731 for the excellent category vs $756 for the good category. Still 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 has on value.

[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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[11TH GEN]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

self edit

[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.

[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.

[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.

[StevenM]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

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

Yep!