When choosing from two cars with the same year, make and model; the one with a lower mileage usually gets a higher valuation. However, cars with low kms on the odometer does not automatically mean a better deal. A typical driver usually puts on more than 20,000 kms per year. An average ten-year-old car therefore should have around 120,000 kilometers on the odometer. But looking at mileage alone can totally be misleading. For example if a car is driven by constant commuters such as sales representatives, you can expect their pre-owned vehicles to be well-maintained and kept in good repair. Rental cars are also some of the cheapest used cars available in the market. Even though most rental car odometers don’t register a low km, they are typically well-maintained and are generally newer model years; so when they are traded-in they are virtually left unchanged. Some rentals are even bought, maintained and traded-in on the same dealerships.
On the other hand, cars with less than 160,000 kms but have been with four different owners raises some red flags because repair and maintenance records can be difficult to acquire. Furthermore, there are also car owners that don’t drive often and could probably put in only 50,000 kms across a ten-year period. These cars also seem like their bodies are left unchanged, meticulously cleaned, and maintained, perhaps with Crown Detailing in Winnipeg even but since it is not used often it could mean dried-out seals and weakened battery. But that can be addressed and repaired easily. So how many kilomters are too many depends on a lot of factors. But when in doubt, always go for the 20,000-kms per year average and then do an in-depth model research about the car you are planning to purchase.
