Advice - spec verus mileage

[david25]

Hello everyone, I posted a few weeks ago about "Is this a genuine UK GTI?" as I was looking for a MK5 GTI;

Because of lack of good candidates, I started to looked at more expensive ED30 cars; in a radius of 100 miles I have found two (plus one from eltel);

Car 1

Private seller 2007 manual 5 door, full history, 30,000 miles, no extras apart from arm rest and will need a cambelt despite the full history (has got the Ed30 mats in good condition)

Car 2

VW approved 2008 with the one year warranty, DSG, 5 door, 70,000 miles, plus;

• factory xenons
• arm rest
• rear parking sensors (I am told factory fit)
• Cruise
• Multifunction steering wheel
• Paddles (plus the mandatory Highline display
• Sunroof, rare but don't really want it
• Luxury pack
• Dealer will add cambelt and DSG oil only because reminded him of the new cambelt "regulations"
• Official red trim mats missing, not big for me

Also, waiting to hear about a possible VW soundpack (what is this?) and winter pack, although all Ed30's I seen have heated seats.

Soooooo, any comments or recommendations about which to choose, they are the same price!

Thanks.

[xjay1337]

Mileage is at the bottom of my list of f**ks when buying cars.

Spec and condition is far more important

[akbarirfan]

Spec and condition - having said that, you can always go down the retrofit route if you have to have a low mileage car for your own peace of mind.

[Degudodger]

In my opinion Car 2 is the winner.

Mileage is just a number just make sure it has been serviced as per the schedule and most importantly the DSG service at 40k miles.

[garrardrj]

How much you paying ?

I would always have the low mileage  . Low mileage attracts more buyers , high mileage whatever the service history puts off buyers . I always buy a car with the thought of selling it in mind , so how mnay miles you will put on it is also important and how long you will keep it . 30k on an 8 year old car is or could be an issue , how it has been used is important too and you won't really know that.

The 30k one might be my old one as i sold it last year at 23k , send me a pm about it . Obviously it needed another belt this year , so possibly the reason for the sale ...

[PT82]

Mileage is also what gets you more for the car if you trade it in. A garage won't care about spec.
I like a lower mileage car personally. Couldn't care less about a warm ass and folding mirrors. Plus the cars are of the age that retrofitting is quite cheap.

[david25]

Spec and condition - having said that, you can always go down the retrofit route if you have to have a low mileage car for your own peace of mind.

Yes, but certain things like proper xenons are a right pain.

[david25]

In my opinion Car 2 is the winner.

Mileage is just a number just make sure it has been serviced as per the schedule and most importantly the DSG service at 40k miles.

Yes, car 2 did have its oil changed at 37,000 and its been on annual servicing since the start.

[david25]

How much you paying ?

I would always have the low mileage  . Low mileage attracts more buyers , high mileage whatever the service history puts off buyers . I always buy a car with the thought of selling it in mind , so how mnay miles you will put on it is also important and how long you will keep it . 30k on an 8 year old car is or could be an issue , how it has been used is important too and you won't really know that.

The 30k one might be my old one as i sold it last year at 23k , send me a pm about it . Obviously it needed another belt this year , so possibly the reason for the sale ...

£11,500 they both have pros and cons, the dealer one will have warranty and all the important bits done before collection, the private one is simply low mileage (which the records check out)

[Matthewsimone]

£11,500 
Personally id also go for the better overall condition car
70k of love is better than 30k of neglect and general don't care 

For people who buy a car with the thoughts in your mind about selling it on etc before even bought the car id say you have your priorities all wrong

Buy the right car for you and enjoy it for yourself
Get your money's worth out of it and what will be will be come resale time 

[garrardrj]

How much you paying ?

I would always have the low mileage  . Low mileage attracts more buyers , high mileage whatever the service history puts off buyers . I always buy a car with the thought of selling it in mind , so how mnay miles you will put on it is also important and how long you will keep it . 30k on an 8 year old car is or could be an issue , how it has been used is important too and you won't really know that.

The 30k one might be my old one as i sold it last year at 23k , send me a pm about it . Obviously it needed another belt this year , so possibly the reason for the sale ...

£11,500 they both have pros and cons, the dealer one will have warranty and all the important bits done before collection, the private one is simply low mileage (which the records check out)

Well to give you some idea i sold my 23000 mile standard apart from RNS , Cruise and Armrest for £10k last April 2014 , it needed 2 tyres service and mot which made it about £10500 . £11500 is too much imho but then did i sell mine too cheap ?

[david25]

£11,500 
Personally id also go for the better overall condition car
70k of love is better than 30k of neglect and general don't care 

For people who buy a car with the thoughts in your mind about selling it on etc before even bought the car id say you have your priorities all wrong

Buy the right car for you and enjoy it for yourself
Get your money's worth out of it and what will be will be come resale time 

Understood, I plan to look at both cars by the weekend.

[RetroRaz]

another vote for car 2. good luck when viewing them.

[david25]

How much you paying ?

I would always have the low mileage  . Low mileage attracts more buyers , high mileage whatever the service history puts off buyers . I always buy a car with the thought of selling it in mind , so how mnay miles you will put on it is also important and how long you will keep it . 30k on an 8 year old car is or could be an issue , how it has been used is important too and you won't really know that.

The 30k one might be my old one as i sold it last year at 23k , send me a pm about it . Obviously it needed another belt this year , so possibly the reason for the sale ...

£11,500 they both have pros and cons, the dealer one will have warranty and all the important bits done before collection, the private one is simply low mileage (which the records check out)

Well to give you some idea i sold my 23000 mile standard apart from RNS , Cruise and Armrest for £10k last April 2014 , it needed 2 tyres service and mot which made it about £10500 . £11500 is too much imho but then did i sell mine too cheap ?

I think so, unless the market has risen this year. On PH, you can find cars priced as high as £13,500, with only 23000 miles I would expect you could get more now.

[lukemk5gti]

It's threads like this where you see such a huge split on opinion between mileage and spec.

Every time I've looked for a car I've filtered out anything with more than 90K miles so even if they were an amazing car I never would have even seen it!

Wonder if a poll would show a better idea of the split!

P.S. I prefer the second car and 70K isn't too bad. Although it'll be 100K when selling.

Still cheaper to lose 30% of the value of this car than it is to buy all the bits and retrofit into the lower mileage one.