Why is having lots of miles on a car bad, and what is the point of miles?
In: Engineering
Miles are a good (albeit imperfect) measure of how much wear-and-tear has been put on a vehicle. If it’s got zero miles, that means it’s brand new, right off the lot, no wear and tear at all. And more miles means more wear-and-tear, more likely that something big and expensive will break and need to be repaired. You understand how wear-and-tear works. If you’ve worn the same shirt for years, it’s gonna get stretched, the colors will fade, maybe there’ll be stains, maybe there’ll be some rips and holes, or frayed seams. It’s not worth as much anymore as if it were brand new. If you bought it for $30, there’s no way anyone would buy it from you for $30 now (unless it’s “vintage” but that’s another question).
If you’re trying to sell a used car, the more miles it has on it, the less its worth, because it means it’s taken a lot of wear-and-tear, and the new owner is likely to have to spend more money to keep it running.
The reason cars have odometers is to keep everyone honest. If you’re trying to sell a used car, of course you’d have an interest to say “ah, it’s barely been driven, it’s basically good as new, I deserve almost full price for it.” And the prospective buyer, what’s he supposed to think? How could he know if you’re telling the truth or full of shit? It’s hard to tell how good of a condition a car is in just by looking at it. Even if he were to take it to a mechanic and an appraiser (which would cost $$$), they still might not find everything wrong with it. And most people buying/selling used cars don’t put in this much effort, they want to do the deal simply without having to involve a bunch of extra people to help negotiate a fair deal. But since every car has an odometer that tells you right there how many miles it has, it gives you some information about how much the car is truly worth, you don’t have to just take the seller’s word for it.
Latest Answers