What is an acceptable # of miles for a new car to have?

[gonzo08452]

My first new car ever was a 94 Civic Si. It came with 39 preinstalled miles on it. Didnt really matter since I used up a tank of gas that same day just driving around

[Harv]

I was talking with the sales guy at a VW dealer and he had 2 customers that came to the dealer and waited all day until the truck with their Golf R's came in. They drove the cars home with the full wrapping still on the car. (Minus the windows and wheel wells).

He said they were borderline crazy.

[mike02467]

My Civic SI had 7 miles on it when I first test drove it. Probably like 15 the day I picked it up.

[Tuneman7]

I think it's usually around 15 miles or so.

[ph34rwolfy]

i would expect it to have less than 10 miles. considering that the majority of the engine cylinder's break in occurs during the first 25 miles, I wouldn't accept a new car that someone else has already broken in. while i don't expect every dealer to have demos of every trim, one of each model is more than needed to get a general feel of the car. lets face it, the difference of a car with or without nav does not show during a test drive. either way I recently picked mine up with 3 miles on the clock, was a bit worried when i was told it had to be driven offsite to get cleaned but all was good in the end. if i'd ever accept a dealer trade, i'd ask them to flatbed the car or i'll just pick it up from where it is.

[c0mmon]

<500 unless it was a dealer trade.

Most full PDI's are around 30 miles.

this guy /thread

[Cameron1152]

I would want under a 100 max.... Lets be honest NO one is nice to cars on there test drives and I dont want to buy a car beat on during test drives..

When I bought my old dakota (left over 06 in early 07) it had 6 miles on it.. After a month it had 5,500 on it. If I ever buy a new car again I will again want very little miles.. Less then 10 preferred.

[Snowdog]

Mine had 51 miles, which isn't too bad.

[Smigelski]

I was talking with the sales guy at a VW dealer and he had 2 customers that came to the dealer and waited all day until the truck with their Golf R's came in. They drove the cars home with the full wrapping still on the car. (Minus the windows and wheel wells).

He said they were borderline crazy.

I see his point, and I see the buyers' point. When I bought my TDI and they drilled holes for the rear license plate they drilled them cockeyed and the plate is now a bit unlevel. No one else notices, but I sure do.

It's one of those things where you don't want a guy paid $7/hour to screw up a car you worked hard to buy. That also includes getting swirls in the paint while washing it.

[Stereodude]

I was talking with the sales guy at a VW dealer and he had 2 customers that came to the dealer and waited all day until the truck with their Golf R's came in. They drove the cars home with the full wrapping still on the car. (Minus the windows and wheel wells).

He said they were borderline crazy.

While I question the sanity of taking the car home wrapped since you won't be able to tell if there's damage under the wrap. And, if you find damage after getting the car home and unwrapping it the dealer's not going to do anything about it. However, not having the dealership wash and "detail" it was undoubtedly a good call.

[Heffernan]

I've bought 2 new cars in my lifetime. One had 12 miles and the other had 7 miles.

[dmorrow]

All depends on what I am paying for it. It could have 1000 miles if the deal was good enough.

[::xander::]

It wasn't uncommon to sell a NEW car with some miles on them.

first off, I have NEVER seen a car come off the truck with 0 miles. it's usually 3-7. Then we put gas in them.

1-2 test drives at 5-7 miles each and a car with 10-30 miles is not uncommon.

over 100 is rare for a non-dealertrade car. for a dealer trade car, 500 is also not too uncommon, but my dealership would try to stay away from having cars like this and when we did, we would discount.

if a NEW car has over 1000 miles, then it was used as a demo for someone, it should be discounted as such.

[mtbscoTT]

And I feel sorry for people who fret about this.

This. If I order a car I would expect it to have pretty minimal mileage, and enough to raise my eyebrows would require some explanation (for the record my MINI had 8 miles and my Audi had 11 when they arrived at the dealerships.)
On the other hand, if I'm buying a lot car, or one that's been dealer traded, my expectations will be lowered. I personally don't believe you can destroy a car's life expectancy in its first few miles aside from doing an extended Italian tuneup.

[oRANGEJULIUS]

New car #1: 5 miles on odo, car was backed off truck, plastic removed and keys handed to us.

New car#2: 25 miles on odo, car sat on lot for unknown time prior to us getting it.

My only concern with mileage on a new car is over zealous test drivers, and rally cross wanabe lot attendants. If I am buying a new car, I don’t want one that has been taken off the sweet jump behind the shop, or tested for maximum acceleration 5 miles into its life… im sure less often than not, but it still happens.

[clutchrider]

I bought my last two cars as CPO. One had 6k and the other had 20k. My first brand new car this past Thanksgiving was delivered to me with 17 miles on it. Nobody drove it but the port guys and probably the dealer for PDI. I was fine with it.

[brickfrenzy]

My V had 2 miles on the clock when I took delivery. But it was a factory order, and I picked it up 4 hours after it was unloaded off the truck.

[Grey Mouser]

I generally don't fret about it, though I'd prefer to be the first one to gas the cushions up.

Fart mileage is important too.

[RacingManiac]

My GTI had ~2xx miles upon delivery, the car was driven from a Columbus dealership to where I bought it in MI after I ordered it. They did take the destination charge off....how it was driven there I had no clue though...

Much more annoying being an Ohio car is that the front plate bracket was installed....and me being cheap I still just have the holes plugged with plate rivets...

[Internal Combustion]

I've revised to:

25 miles for a manual/performance car
100 for an automatic anything

I just don't know what kind of wear and tear the manual test driver has put on the engine, transmission and differential.
The automatic will be fine. I believe in hard break ins.

[Hostile]

Our Outback had 73 miles on the odometer when we took delivery. It was also transferred from an Annapolis dealer which is a ~60 mile trip.

[GoRacers]

Lets be honest NO one is nice to cars on there test drives and I dont want to buy a car beat on during test drives..

Exactly. It kind of depends on what car I bought. If I had ordered a new vehicle with the options I wanted (probably the optional performance package), you better believe I'm watching it come off the truck and get PDI'd and detailed. I'd also be watching to make sure no license plate brackets, dealer stickers, or badges are installed as well.

When I worked at a BMW dealer, I always felt bad for whoever ordered the first M Coupe, M3, M5, etc that came through our dealer. EVERYBODY got to drive it.

I was talking with the sales guy at a VW dealer and he had 2 customers that came to the dealer and waited all day until the truck with their Golf R's came in. They drove the cars home with the full wrapping still on the car. (Minus the windows and wheel wells).

He said they were borderline crazy.

I'd do the same.

[Ben.Reilly]

My new Civic Si had 35.

My new Rabbit had 40.

My new Cobalt had 5.

All seemed reasonable to me.

[pentaxshooter]

I was talking with the sales guy at a VW dealer and he had 2 customers that came to the dealer and waited all day until the truck with their Golf R's came in. They drove the cars home with the full wrapping still on the car. (Minus the windows and wheel wells).

He said they were borderline crazy.

Guy I know swapped in his Euro Led Tails he bought for the R before he even took it home from the dealership I don't think he had them wash/detail it either. Which is smart.

[Air-over-water]

If I am buying new I expect it to have less than 30 miles.

[yurikaze]

My Evo VIII had only 4 miles on it, bought off the lot. No one offering test drives on Evos back then really kept down the mileage.

My dad's MS3 on the other hand had around 700 miles. The dealer did a trade to get it, and the closest dealer that had a blue MS3 was in the next state.

[MAC]

Lets be honest NO one is nice to cars on there test drives and I dont want to buy a car beat on during test drives..

Vortex world - Everybody beats on cars during test drives. All employees of dealerships go out hooning in new cars until the brakes are on fire.

Reality - 90% of people on a test drive are nervous because of the salesman sitting next to them and drive timidly. Many times I had to encourage people to get above 40.
Most dealership employees are jaded about cars, especially techs that do endless PDIs. And they want to keep their jobs, so they don't do stupid ****.

[Hurt]

0. If it has been test driven, and I ordered this specific car, well then the dealer can sell it to whoever test drove it. I wouldn't buy a car NEW unless I wanted a NEW car.

[TM87]

My CC had 152mi, but it had to picked up from another dealership(i wanted Candy White on two tone w 6spd) cuz i wanted it next day.
My wifes has under 25mi.
Both cars where a great deal, so i didnt care much. It would depend on the price for me. I wouldnt mind "higher miles" if there is a discount involved.

[abingdon]

Just took delivery of a new Q7, which we ordered and had off the dealer lot within hours of coming off the truck. It had about 45 miles on it. I asked about that, because the other new cars I've bought have usually had less than 20. He said Audis are driven after rolling off the assembly line, then again when they arrive at port (and/or he might have said when they arrive at the dealer). All part of PDI. He said they never see them with less than about 35-40 miles.

[MAC]

0.

Then you're going to have to get a job at the factory. End of the line quality control are the only people that get to drive a car with 0 miles. You think they have teams of strongmen that lift them on and off boats and trains ?

[Air-over-water]

0. If it has been test driven, and I ordered this specific car, well then the dealer can sell it to whoever test drove it. I wouldn't buy a car NEW unless I wanted a NEW car.

I guess you will never buy a new car then.
None of them will have 0 miles unless you buy and drive it off the assembly line.

[mtbscoTT]

Just took delivery of a new Q7, which we ordered and had off the dealer lot within hours of coming off the truck. It had about 45 miles on it. I asked about that, because the other new cars I've bought have usually had less than 20. He said Audis are driven after rolling off the assembly line, then again when they arrive at port (and/or he might have said when they arrive at the dealer). All part of PDI. He said they never see them with less than about 35-40 miles.

I don't think your 45 miles is out of line too much.....but I viewed my TT-RS wrapped in plastic the day it arrived at the dealer with 11 miles on the ODO. Picked it up the next day with 19 on it which included PDI and the saleslady driving it to the gas station and back.
I test drove an R8 with only 9 miles on it.

[Gus Polinski]

My two GTI's had higher mileage than I would have liked. But at the time, they were the only ones in the region with the color/features that I wanted, so I bought them. The '97 had 300+ and the '03 had 700. The '97 was actually a dealer trade from about 200 miles away, so that probably accounted for most of the mileage if it was in fact not shipped. I coulda waited and/or looked around some more, but I was ready to buy and it didn't bother me too much. My other new vehicles have had less than 50.

[SCIROCCO SPEED]

when i bought my GTI, i was told by the dealer that a car could only be sold as "new" (in colorado) if it had less than 2,500 miles on it. At the conclusion of my test drive, mine had 91.