Postby DanJetta » Tue Mar 12, 2013 6:10 pm
I was just talking to someone about the best and worst time to buy cars.
Cars usually have a period near the middle of a car's useful life where certain components start to fail and require replacement. For example, shocks/struts, fuel pumps, suspension bushings, exhaust components, sensors, switches, etc. The worst time to buy a used car is right before this mid-life period; the best time is right after.
For VWs this is around 175K miles; for Fords it's around 60K miles; On the Pathfinder this period seems to be between 80K-100K miles -- and I bought mine right before (sucks for me). I'm being nickle-and-dimed to death right now -- $100 here, $300 there. But when I fix these things, I should have another few good years left.
My point is that it may be a good decision to buy a Pathfinder with higher miles rather than in the 80-100K range with the hopes that these "midlife issues" have been fixed.