Tradeoffs moderate vs low mileage cars when looking to purchase?

[micksbuddy]

I've been shopping a/t coupes and am currently considering a couple, one has 75k and apparently not much maintenance other than oil changes, the other has 20k and (currently) unknown maintenance history. The 75k car has some nice parts on it, intake/exhaust/wheels/strut bar and the 20k car is pretty much stock. What would the consensus be regarding maintenance required to get the 75k car up to snuff? Pretty much everything? Aside from fluid changes, which of the following should it get at this mileage: cooling system refresh, vanos overhaul, disa work, suspension refresh? Anything else? Ballpark ideas of $$$ involved?
What kind of work should be done on the 20k car? Would any of these maintenance areas need to be addressed on time rather than on mileage?
There's a $5k difference in price between the two cars, would I end up putting enough $$$ in the 75k car to close the price gap to the 20k car?
Any advice/input would be appreciated!

[Vas]

Both cars would almost require the same things at this point.

Cooling system is the first since it's plastic. Even if a car has low miles, plastic gets old over time.

The higher Mileage car would require suspension and the other items you listed.

Comes down to how much you are willing to spend. 20k is low miles though.

[az3579]

I'd buy the 20k car in a heartbeat, since they would need the same age-related parts. The 20k car will most likely be cleaner in terms of cosmetics, and will have less wear on wear items such as the seats, steering wheel, etc.

If the 75k car had the proper preventative maintenance done, then that would be the better deal.

[KevinC]

At 75k I'd do a full suspension refresh too. I bought my car at 52k miles and the original shocks were TOAST, and were FCABs completely shot too.

[ELCID86]

Both cars would almost require the same things at this point.

Cooling system is the first since it's plastic. Even if a car has low miles, plastic gets old over time.

The higher Mileage car would require suspension and the other items you listed.

Comes down to how much you are willing to spend. 20k is low miles though.

+1. Age gets the rubber and plastic bits...


Thumbs, iPhone, TaT.

[ecrabb]

At 75k I'd do a full suspension refresh too. I bought my car at 52k miles and the original shocks were TOAST, and were FCABs completely shot too.

My '04 vert only has 43k on it and the FCABs are shot. Winter project. I'm not sure about the shocks... They feel fine, but then the rear end is definitely creaky when I get in the car. Probably some bushings and such. Definitely needs some refreshing. 2004 was a long time ago.

I'd go for the low-mileage car, too. You can replace parts and bring mechanicals up to snuff pretty easily and inexpensively, but fixing rock chips, scratches, shot bolsters, and other general wear and tear on higher-mileage cars is difficult, expensive, or both. 20k miles is like a new car. Some people put that many miles or more in a single year.

Cheers,
SC

[BMWCurves]

Everyone above me has had great points to consider.

20k miles is very low mileage and will *probably* be in better cosmetic condition than the car with 75k miles. However, as everyone else said, you'll probably have to do the same maintenance between the two cars, the 20k miles car because of age of the parts and the 75k miles due to both age and mileage. I bought my car in late March with 49k miles and I basically did all the same maintenance I would have done on the same car if it had 90k miles, but I ended up paying a small premium for the low miles. For a ballpark figure, I replaced all the fluids (motor oil, power steering, brake, transmission, differential, coolant), cooling system refresh (including radiator), belts, pulleys, spark plugs, fuel and air filters for about $1,000 in parts (I did the labor myself). I also did a suspension refresh with OEM parts except for Koni Sport shocks (front control arm bushings, rear trailing arm bushings, f/r upper/lower spring pads, f/r bump stops, f/r dust boots, Rogue Engineering rear shock mounts, front strut mounts, etc) for another $1,000. Brakes will be another couple hundred dollars for rotors and pads, but you'll save money if you can do them yourself.

You have to decide if that low mileage is worth the higher asking price.