Why Buy A 13 Year Old Car?

The Short Answer
I'm asked this question frequently. My newest vehicle is a 2002 BMW 530. It was purchased two years ago. My oldest vehicle is a 1997 BMW 328 convertible purchased about six years ago.

The short answer is that there are two reasons:

1. It gives me an opportunity to buy a car I could never have purchased new - a dream car.
2. It's much cheaper to own an older car.

Chart is from "Automotive Life Cycle Economics and Replacement Intervals"

Notice that if you trade in your car every three years you pay $.36 per mile(in 1985 dollars, $.72 in 2010 dollars). If you average 10,000 miles per year that's $7200 per year.
If I buy your 9 year old car and drive it only three more years I will pay $.21 ($.42 in 2010 dollars) per mile or $4200 per year.

The Longer Answer
What matters is not how old it is but how many miles it has and how well it has been cared for. I have been able to buy a car, particularly a BMW, that has about 90,000 miles on it and drive it for another 90,000 miles with low maintenance cost.

I've discovered that most people will sell a car approaching 100,000 miles at a very reasonable price. There is a psychological barrier to owning "high milage" cars.

I believe that this mentality comes from history. Not too long ago cars that had 100,000 miles on them were about to need a major engine overhaul. 150,000 miles on a car was considered amazing even into the 1980s.

At some point car makers started making cars that easily lasted longer than 150,000 miles. Today, even the cheapest cars available will run for 150,000 miles.

The disconnect between the psychological barrier to owning "high milage" cars and the fact that a well cared for car will last a very long time provides an opportunity for me to purchase a car I could never afford new and drive it for half of it's life.