“How many miles should a new car have?” is a popular question asked by people who intend to purchase brand-new vehicles. This question usually pops up when they check their odometer to see a few hundred miles instead of a 0000 reading.
However, this shouldn’t be surprising since the car was moved from the port to the point of sale, but how many miles are permissible? We’ll look at the number of miles that should be on a brand-new car and how to tell if the car has been used.
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How Many Miles Should a New Car Have?
The number of miles a new car should have shouldn’t be more than 100 miles, depending on several factors. Cars that have been on the lot for a while and have undergone test driving at the hands of several potential buyers should have about 100 miles.
However, new cars that have only spent a few hours to days shouldn’t have more than 10 miles registered on the odometer. However, many people wonder, “how many miles should a new car have in a year?”. Well, we recommend 200 miles in a year for new cars.
If a new car has more than 200 miles on it, then be wary when purchasing it due to certain factors that we’ll explain below.
For those who are not conversant with miles and want to know how many km is acceptable on a new car, the answer is 20 kilometers. Always remember to consult your dealership to find out the mileage on the car and have them explain it if you find it more than you expect.
What Are the Factors that Affect the Mileage of New Cars?
The factors that affect the mileage of new cars are transporting from the factory, test drives, storage and handling, pre-delivery inspection and dealership trades. Other factors include dealership practices and vehicles used for demonstration. These factors will increase the mileage on the odometer even though the car is labeled new.
Transportation from the Factory
As we discussed earlier, cars are usually driven from the factory to the dealerships, though some companies prefer to have them transported on a truck or train. Cars that are driven from the factory to dealerships will definitely have some miles on them. The exact mileage will depend on the distance between the factory and the dealership.
Note that you might see some mileage on cars that are transported via truck or train to their sales point. This mileage might be the result of driving the cars onto and off the trucking platform at the dealerships.
However, the reading on the odometer would be minimal, considering the short distances between the factory and the truck and from the truck to the dealership. Sometimes, the vehicles are driven short distances at transit hubs, which can add some mileage.
Test Drives
Some dealerships use one car among new arrivals for demonstrations, which can add mileage to that particular car. They show off the car’s driving features, qualities and controls to potential buyers.
They often allow the buyers to take the car for a spin after the demonstration to have a first-hand feel of the vehicle before they commit. However, dealerships usually limit the distances or test drive time so buyers don’t escalate the mileage on the cars.
Storage and Handling
The way a dealership handles or stores a vehicle can have an impact on its mileage. The dealership may move the car around for various reasons, such as taking inventory or making space for new arrivals.
Sometimes, cars are driven to washing bays to get them cleaned up and primed for customer delivery. As the new car is moved around in the lot, it racks up numbers on its odometer.
Some dealerships also have special places where they display their cars to catch the attention of potential customers. These cars are usually driven to these places, adding more numbers to the mileage. However, note that most dealerships take steps to reduce the movement of new cars as much as possible; thus, you’re likely to see less mileage.
Pre-Delivery Mileage
Pre-delivery inspection ensures that the car fulfills all the promises made by the marketing department. It involves checking the battery, engine, electrical systems, and features and test driving the vehicle to ensure it meets safety standards.
Driving the vehicle during the pre-delivery inspection stage accrues more mileage. However, just as in the case of storage and handling, most dealerships have a time limit on test driving to ensure the vehicle maintains the “new” status.
Demonstration Vehicles
Usually, dealerships select one car out of the new arrivals as a demo car to display all the features and qualities of that car. As part of the demonstration, these cars are driven by potential buyers to have a feel of what they are about to buy.
The more the car is driven around, the higher the reading on the odometer goes. Sometimes, the demonstration car is the last to be sold and may attract a lower price than the others due to its mileage.
Trade Between Dealerships
In some cases, some dealerships swap vehicles to fulfill customer requests. This happens when customers request for a specific car brand from one dealer, but the dealership has run out of stock.
Usually, they call up other dealerships that have these in-demand cars but are struggling to sell them due to low demand in their locality. The two dealerships then look at each other’s inventory, note cars that are in demand in their respective localities and swap them.
Now, we won’t go into the complexities of the swap deal. However, note that the swapping of the cars may involve driving them from one dealer to the other, which will increase the mileage.
Some dealers try to avoid this by having the cars transported on trucks. However, driving the cars onto and off the trucks will increase the mileage on the odometer, though minimally.
What Are the Effects of High Mileage on a “New” Car?
The effects of a higher mileage on a new car are reduced value, warranty expiration, mechanical wear and suspicion of usage. These concerns can make the selling of the vehicle difficult as most potential buyers prefer new vehicles with lower mileage. Thus, dealerships take steps to keep the mileage low.
Decreased Value
New vehicles with high mileage tend to have reduced resale value, which can affect the dealerships. Many potential buyers are weary of being scammed into buying a used car paraded as a new one. Thus, they check the odometer for the car’s mileage to avoid the scam since no one can tamper with it.
When they discover the reading on the gauge is high, they develop cold feet and begin to bargain for a lesser resale value.
Mechanical Wear
The potential buyers might also worry that high-mileage vehicles would have caused some components of the car to undergo wear and tear. Cars are just like any other machine that experiences wear and tear as they are used over time.
Components like the engine, transmission, braking system, wheel and tires are the major victims of this phenomenon. As these components experience wear and tear, it increases their chances of developing mechanical problems in the future.
Potential buyers would be weary of cars that stand a higher risk of mechanical problems, and you should be, too. You don’t want to have a car labeled “new,” but visit the mechanic at the least sign of a fault.
Not only does it put a financial strain on your budget, especially if the failing component isn’t insured, but you may feel cheated. That is the reason why you need to check the odometer of a vehicle before purchasing to ensure you’re really getting a new car.
Warranty Expiration
Another effect that high mileage has on new cars is warranty expiration. Some new vehicles have warranties that expire after a certain mileage has been reached. Thus, the more the car is driven around, the closer it gets to its warranty expiration limit as it racks up more mileage.
This can even affect the car’s resale value, as discussed earlier because customers would be weary of investing in a vehicle closer to its warranty expiration.
Conclusion
In this blog post, we’ve found out how many miles is too many for a new car and answered the question, “Why does my car have miles on it?”. Here is a summary of all that we’ve read:
- The number of miles a new car should have shouldn’t be more than 100 miles, depending on several factors.
- Cars that have been on the lot for a while and have undergone test driving at the hands of several potential buyers should have an average mileage of about 100 miles.
- However, new cars that have only spent a few hours to days shouldn’t have more than 10 miles registered on the odometer.
- Cars that have spent up to a year on the lot should not have mileage that exceeds 200 miles.
- The factors that affect the good mileage of new cars are transporting from the factory, test drives, storage and handling, pre-delivery inspection and dealership trades.
Always find out from the mileage of a car you intend to buy from a dealership to ensure you don’t fall victim to high mileage cars.
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