QOTD: An Imbalance of Power Between Low Miles and Price?
Last week, a Lexus ES300 caught my eye. Glimmering two-tone Multiple Taupe Metallic paint called out to me, and frameless windows over thin pillars promised stylish and understated luxury. The 300 lettering on the back guaranteed V6 power and pleasant NVH characteristics.
And the low miles guaranteed a final sale price that was ultimately insane. Is there a method to the madness?
With just 21,000 miles on the odometer, this particular ES300 is indeed uncommon. Though not museum quality because of the scuffs at the front, it’s likely one of the cleaner ones you’d find anywhere in the country. Even the Lexus-branded coolers are present in the trunk. Curiosity piqued, I hit the little heart in the corner, and checked back in on Monday for the auction results.$10,250, before tax. A tidy sum indeed! This five-digit price got me thinking, and ultimately generated today’s QOTD: What’s the ideal balance of age, mileage, and price on a used car like this? It’s not especially uncommon, and there’s really nothing spectacular about this ES300 aside from the mileage. It’s likely to require reconditioning, as cars don’t take well to sitting on the sidelines — and that’s exactly what this one has been doing most of its life.
Is there an ideal balance somewhere between miles, model year, and price for vehicles which are not classics and are not rare, but merely unusual? Would this ES be more desirable with higher miles (and more regular usage), and therefore a somewhat lower price? How does one value such a vehicle, when standard consumer methods like KBB and NADA are of no help?Maybe I’m wrong; missing the point on this millennium-era marshmallow, and it’s definitely worth $10,000. Let me know in the comments.[Images: seller]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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Value is one thing- what you are willing to pay is another. Over the last year I have moved more over to the dark side. Have an old car but use it very little- 3000km yr. I do car2go ($0.41 a min all in) for a Mercedes, or rent for the day, use someone else's or get an uber. This doesn't work for everyone, but if you are in a city, live uptown, work downtown- this is the way to go. $500-750++ a month saved or thousands upfront for a used car- that may need serious $$ injection to work- at the very least, tires, brakes, oil, trans, wipers, plugs and or injectors, and probably a new windshield and a car inspection to pass insurance if you buy used. Im done with that. OR Lease- cars now are so much safer, comfortable, faster. Adaptive cruise is great in stop and go traffic or on the highway. This lex is nice but get smacked by a new SUV....you are in ICU for sure. Then what did you save? maybe a passenger dies because the airbag didn't work- you idiots do know that you have to replace them every 10 yrs and the seatbelts too....
It's all about condition. I've seen low mileage cars asking a premium that looked so beat up I suspected odometer shenanigans, meanwhile I have two higher mileage cars that look and drive about half their age. If the condition seems to match the mileage, as in Corey's ES300 example, then I think low mileage might be worth it. It's no guarantee of minimum repairs, but the mechanical bits can be made like new again easy enough. It's much harder to restore the paint, body work, and interior.