Years vs Miles

[Kelemvor]

Howdy,

I'm looking to buy a user car that will be my daily driver to work and back. I've so far narrowed it down to two cars and am wondering if you'd place more emphasis on the age of the car or the miles it has.

The two cars are:
2004 Pontiac Bonneville - 97,000 miles (9700/yr)
2006 Pontiac G6 - 127,000 miles (16,000/yr)

Both are the same price

The Pontiac is newer by a couple years which is great, but the Bonneville has 30k less miles. I don't want to get a car that's really old but I guess it's the miles that are more important since people have ancient cars that still drive just fine because they don't have many miles.

Just thought I'd get a 2nd (and 3rd and 4th) opinion from anyone else.

Thanks.

 

[mvbighead]

To an extent, I would take a newer car with more miles. Highway miles are easier on vehicles, so if you were to buy a car that's 10 years old with roughly 10k miles per year, the odds are that it travels shorter distances and that often means more city driving than highway driving. City driving more stop and go, and that usually means additional wear.

 

[Zivic]

Howdy,

I'm looking to buy a user car that will be my daily driver to work and back. I've so far narrowed it down to two cars and am wondering if you'd place more emphasis on the age of the car or the miles it has.

The two cars are:
2004 Pontiac Bonneville - 97,000 miles (9700/yr)
2006 Pontiac G6 - 127,000 miles (16,000/yr)

Both are the same price

The Pontiac is newer by a couple years which is great, but the Bonneville has 30k less miles. I don't want to get a car that's really old but I guess it's the miles that are more important since people have ancient cars that still drive just fine because they don't have many miles.

Just thought I'd get a 2nd (and 3rd and 4th) opinion from anyone else.

Thanks.

i would probably opt for the bonneville.

that said, both cars are POS as far as I am concerned and I wouldn't consider either unless they were the last two cars available for sale and I absolutely had to have a car today.

 

[MiataNC]

Total number of miles doesn't tell you how the miles were put on the car. A vehicle used for pizza/flowers/etc delivery is going to have a lot of hard city miles on it. A vehicle used on a long commute is going to have a lot of gentle highway miles on it.

Look for overall wear and tear and signs of body damage/repair work. The car with less overall wear (seats, carpet, driver controls, etc.) is more likely to have spent its time on the highway.

 

[Midwayman]

i would probably opt for the bonneville.

that said, both cars are POS as far as I am concerned and I wouldn't consider either unless they were the last two cars available for sale and I absolutely had to have a car today.

This. If you put a gun to my head I'd pick the bonneville bases just on the info in the OP. Neither would be on my list. However for any car that old and that many miles its a lot more about specific condition. You need to see them in person.

 

[Kelemvor]

Well, we've ruled out the Bonneville because it's just really old feeling, is a huge car, and drives like a boat. Also considering a 2005 and 2007 Cobalts along with the G6. I had a Grand Am for 13 years and loved it so I have no problem getting another Pontiac and the Cobalts are very similar since they're all GM... *sigh* Car shopping sucks.

 

[DaTT]

*sigh* Car shopping sucks.

I absolutely LOVE car shopping.

 

[Mermaidman]

Also considering a 2005 and 2007 Cobalts along with the G6.

Cobalt SS! :awe:

 

[Zivic]

Well, we've ruled out the Bonneville because it's just really old feeling, is a huge car, and drives like a boat. Also considering a 2005 and 2007 Cobalts along with the G6. I had a Grand Am for 13 years and loved it so I have no problem getting another Pontiac and the Cobalts are very similar since they're all GM... *sigh* Car shopping sucks.

The manager at my gym has a G6 and it is a HUGE turd. nothing but a rattle box, tons of issues. She had me drive it around to figure out a steering issue.... no way would I actively go seek one out to buy.

and now you throw cobalts in. They call them colbats because they couldn't continue selling them under the cavalier name and expect anyone to buy them. same crappy car, different name. I cannot stress enough how big of POS the cars you are looking at are.

get a honda/toyota/ford. anything other than a GM crap-mobile. car shopping sucks, when you are looking at suck'y cars. look at good cars and it will probably be more enjoyable

 

[mnewsham]

The manager at my gym has a G6 and it is a HUGE turd. nothing but a rattle box, tons of issues. She had me drive it around to figure out a steering issue.... no way would I actively go seek one out to buy.

and now you throw cobalts in. They call them colbats because they couldn't continue selling them under the cavalier name and expect anyone to buy them. same crappy car, different name. I cannot stress enough how big of POS the cars you are looking at are.

get a honda/toyota/ford. anything other than a GM crap-mobile. car shopping sucks, when you are looking at suck'y cars. look at good cars and it will probably be more enjoyable

So much this.

used civic or camry?

 

[Alienwho]

Friends don't let friends buy pontiacs (unless it's holden made).

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Condition is everything with these cars. The boneewevel has a know good motor as long as the cooling system has been maintained. The GM 3.8 is very robust. Most of the drivetrain components are similar to the buick regal, chevy malibu and impala which are also fairly mechanically sound cars.

I'll agree with others that fit and finish are not great but it shouldn't leave you stranded.

That being said, the money you can save buying one should be put in the repair bank. I wouldn't pay much for a 2004 bonneville.

 

[Knavish]

... I cannot stress enough how big of POS the cars you are looking at are.

get a honda/toyota/ford. anything other than a GM crap-mobile. car shopping sucks, when you are looking at suck'y cars. look at good cars and it will probably be more enjoyable

You need to remember that price is the biggest factor here. If someone can afford to buy a 2 year old civic with 15K miles, they will probably not be shopping for older ~$4000 Pontiacs. I've seen several Pontiac Bonnevilles / Buick Lesabres (3800 V6) run well in to the high 200K or low 300K miles range with nothing replaced but wear items + the alternator. This being said, you might want to check out a Ford Focus! They won't handle like a barge and they should avoid the Toyota / Honda used car premium.

 

[xaeniac]

G6 is a pos. my bud has one, run away!

 

[phucheneh]

G6 is a pos. my bud has one, run away!

A 4cyl G6 is a much better buy than a Bonneville/Grand Prix/Lesabre/Century/Regal/Impala/Malibu/whatever other name GM may have been selling their one generic V6 shitwagon under at that time.

 

[tortillasoup]

what kind of commute do you have? The cars you've listed get shit fuel economy. For like $3K more, you can get a Prius which will slightly more than halve your fuel costs. Fuel costs are going to be the biggest factor in cost of ownership.

 

[Zivic]

You need to remember that price is the biggest factor here. If someone can afford to buy a 2 year old civic with 15K miles, they will probably not be shopping for older ~$4000 Pontiacs. I've seen several Pontiac Bonnevilles / Buick Lesabres (3800 V6) run well in to the high 200K or low 300K miles range with nothing replaced but wear items + the alternator. This being said, you might want to check out a Ford Focus! They won't handle like a barge and they should avoid the Toyota / Honda used car premium.

if he has 4 grand, buy a $4k toyota or ford (or whatever isn't a GM). There are other $4k dollar cars on the market than cobalts and G6's.

I have seen the 3800's run a long time as well, doesn't mean I would ever want to own one or drive one for 200k+ miles.

I have driven GM's, most recently I had a sierra 1500 that I drove for a bit over the summer (was given to me in trade for some storage). Everyone I have owned/driven reconfirms that GM builds CRAP. My brother does bodywork and he comments how big of POS they are. less than year old trucks come in with substantial rust. I'm sorry, no way would I go buy one with my own money.

I agree on the recommendation of the ford focus.

All that said, if he is on a limited budget and looking at 10+ year old cars, condition/maintenance records/owners are more important than the make.... but I would scratch GM off the list before I got to the point of comparing condition and such.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Look at the Pontiac Vibe (if you really want a Pontiac). It's a Toyota Matrix with Pontiac badges, so it should be much cheaper.

 

[Rvenger]

Pontiac Vibe is a tank. We bought our 2004 Vibe back in 2009 with 117k on it. It has 176k and only the air conditioning failed which is the only GM part used in that car.

 

[tortillasoup]

Pontiac vibe is a Toyota Matrix.

 

[railer]

GM's quality was not bad at all by the mid 2000's. My family has had quite a few mid 2000 Grand Prix's, some with many miles, and have had no issues.

 

[Rvenger]

Pontiac vibe is a Toyota Matrix.

Yes, exactly. Except for the HVAC, which is very odd.

 

[DrPizza]

For the two vehicles listed in the OP, I'd think that maintenance would be the most important factor. If one had the oil changed religiously and synthetic were used, while the other got regular oil about every 10k miles, that would make a world of difference.

Outside of that, as others have suggested, I'd look at what type of miles those were. I recently saw an ad for a vehicle. The vehicle averaged nearly 20k miles per year. The owner (I knew who it was), in the ad, attempted to pass this off as "we took 2 trips to Florida." Huh? That's a couple thousand miles out of the 160000 miles. It was used as a pizza delivery car for a couple of years.