Along with condition and maintenance history, one of the important factors that indicate the quality of a used car is its overall mileage. So what qualifies as “good mileage” for a used car? Well, that's very dependent on what you’re looking for, but there are a few ways in which to break it down–and as you'll find out, low mileage isn't necessarily always a good thing.
What is a Good Mileage for a Used Car?
- What's the Average Mileage of a Used Car?
- Is it Better to Buy a Low-Mileage Vehicle?
- Should You Be Afraid of a High-Mileage Used Car?
- The Importance of Maintenance
- Depreciation and the Odometer Reading
What’s the Average Mileage of a Used Car?
Average annual mileage is a good place to start. Americans drive a lot. Prior to the pandemic, the average American drove 14,300 miles per year, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Those numbers dropped precipitously in 2020. According to MetroMile, Americans drove around 20 percent more in the first quarter of 2021 than they did in 2020. Average mileage still hasn’t rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, but we’re still driving in the 11,500 mile range every year, even if many of us are working remotely at least part of the time now.
Figuring out whether the car you’re looking at has average mileage, below average mileage or above average mileage is just a math problem from there. If you’re considering a car that’s five years old with 100,000 miles, it has above average mileage, based on the fact that most Americans would have driven that vehicle about 71,500 miles during the same five-year period. Similarly, if you were looking at a five year old car with 34,000 miles, that would be significantly below the average mileage most Americans would have driven during the same period.
Is it Better to Buy a Low-Mileage Vehicle?
All things being equal, a lower mileage vehicle is better than a higher mileage vehicle, but all things are rarely equal.
For instance, let’s consider two identical 2019 Honda Civics, one for sale privately with 34,000 miles and one certified pre-owned (CPO) Civic with 58,000 miles:
- The CPO Civic with 58,000 miles has an impeccable service record and a clean vehicle history report with no accidents or salvage titles reported, features a set of tires with 2021 date codes, and appears to be clean and presentable on the inside.
- The Civic with 34,000 miles has no service records and a reported accident on the vehicle history report, exhibited a shimmy on the test drive, and smells like your 16-year-old son’s hockey bag inside.
Given the choice between the two cars, we’d take the 58,000-mile Civic all day long. Mileage tells you little about how a vehicle was treated during the period of ownership. Condition and service history tell that story.
What’s also important to consider is where those miles have taken place. Let’s assume the higher mileage Civic's previous owner commutes 30 miles to and from work, jumps on and off the highway at exits close to her home and office, and spends the bulk of her time running the car at 65 miles per hour. And let’s assume that the owner of the lower mileage car spends all of his time in city traffic.
Because it's mainly doing highway miles, the higher mileage car would theoretically have less wear on the brakes, the clutch, the transmission, and all the other consumables, while the lower mileage car would likely be in worse shape since the owner is working the brakes and the clutch at every single stoplight.
The point here is that while fewer miles can be a good initial indicator, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn't be investigating all the other aspects of a quality used vehicle before you purchase.
Should You Be Afraid of a High-Mileage Used Car?
The 100,000 mile mark has been a barrier for a lot of used car shoppers for generations. You can see the price of a used car fall precipitously once it hits that milestone.
For vehicles in the modern era, though, 100,000 miles is just a number. It does generally signify that the car is out of its original powertrain warranty, but most used cars are going to be close to that anyway. Many cars in the 1950s and 1960s were used up by 100,000 miles, but that’s nowhere near the truth today. According to the Wall Street Journal in June of 2021, the AVERAGE vehicle driving around the United States was 12.1 years old. Multiply that by 12,500 miles per year (less than the average pre-pandemic mileage driven annually) and the average vehicle on U.S. highways is running around with 151,250 miles.
Vehicles in the modern era will routinely hit 250,000 miles on their original head gaskets and transmissions, with no major service other than routine maintenance. The days of cars being worn out by 100,000 are long past.
The Importance of Maintenance
Whether a car has low mileage, high mileage, or average mileage, the biggest determining factor in whether you can depend on that car for years of reliable transportation is a documented history of regular maintenance.
The best feeling when shopping for a used car is having an owner hand you a stack of receipts for work performed on the car during their ownership history. It tells a lot about both the car and about how the owner cared for it.
Many manufacturers are covering maintenance costs for three years. For example, BMW, MINI, Hyundai, Genesis, Jeep, Kia and Volvo all cover maintenance costs for three years or between 30,000 and 36,000 miles. Jaguar covers maintenance for five years or 60,000 miles. If you’re looking at one of those vehicles and it has spotty, inconsistent maintenance history, it’s a pretty clear indication that the owner is just lazy, and they might be selling a car that you don’t want to buy.
Maintenance is much less involved these days than it ever has been, but it can also be more costly. Oil change recommendations are stretching from the historic 3,000 miles to well beyond 5,000 miles in current vehicles, because they operate so efficiently, but simultaneously, manufacturers are recommending more expensive synthetic fluid changes rather than the conventional dino oil. Maintenance records from a careful owner will show fluid changes on the correct schedule, with the correct fluids.
Depreciation and the Odometer Reading
Case Study: BMW 320iX AWD
The 320iX AWD is still a bread-and-butter model for BMW. All-wheel drive makes these cars run in all kinds of weather conditions. We looked at CarGurus value data for a 2018 BMW 320i xDrive with 20,000 miles, and the value hit $29,166. With 45,000 miles, the value drops to $26,263. At 60,000 miles, you’re looking at $24,450.
Case Study: Toyota Highlander XLE AWD
The Highlander XLE AWD is all over the place in New England. Year after year, it proves to be one of the most popular crossovers available. Models from 2018 with 20,000 miles would typically sell for $36,994. With 45,000 miles, the price comes down to $35,104. At 60,000 miles, the value drops to $33,971.
It's interesting to compare the mileage penalty for the Highlander with that of the BMW. The BMW takes a 16 percent hit in value between 20,000 and 60,000 miles. The Highlander’s value only drops by 8 percent.
Case Study: Ford F-150 Platinum SuperCrew 4WD
The top-shelf Platinum trim of the F-150 lineup is going to sell for high dollars no matter what the mileage is. The average value for a 2018 F-150 Platinum SuperCrew 4WD with 20,000 miles hits $53,616 in today’s market. You save a bit with 45,000 miles, dropping the price to $50,012. With 60,000 miles, the price falls to $47,850. The price drop between 20,000 miles and 60,000 miles is about 11 percent for the F-150.
Case Study: Nissan Leaf SV
Electric vehicles tend to get significantly cheaper when they have a higher number of miles racked up. Despite the fuel savings and the lower overall cost of ownership, there’s still a bit of a stigma attached to owning an EV as the miles climb. A 2018 Nissan Leaf SV with 20,000 miles is typically valued at $21,506, according to CarGurus valuation data. At 45,000 miles, the value comes down to $19,815. With 65,000 miles, it comes down to $18,462. The drop in value between 20,000 and 60,000 miles is about 14 percent, still not as dramatic as the BMW's, but a lot worse than the Highlander's.