Quote:
Originally Posted by wdc330i
This. And, I am not interested in being stranded in an old car on a highway with my two dogs and kid. I have never been interested in that. And, have to admit, it happened in our E70 X5 before it was very elderly or high mileage.
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The getting stranded thing happens to new and old cars alike, but the reasons are usually different. With new cars, it's much more likely to be from something sudden that you have no warning on. For old cars, it usually comes from something that you knew about (or should have known about) before it gave up and left you stranded.
Old cars have gone through their teething problems and by the time they get "old," there's a pretty good book on them about how long their component parts last. Buying an older, high-mileage car with service records from someone that you believe has kind of taken care of it and hopefully a PPI from a trusted mechanic should be of limited risk...especially if you're willing to spend a couple more dollars to address any system that's close to or past its expected lifespan in the absence of any evidence it's already been addressed.
New cars just go belly up because something wasn't done quite right at assembly, a bad batch of sensors or other parts (and this has been a bigger deal industry-wide for post-COVID shutdown builds than those built before, but seemed to be improving as of October)...
On a long, cross country trip, I might be a little more confident in the new car, but I wouldn't avoid a well maintained old car. Regular use in a metro area with occasional trips into the country where cell service might have some gaps? I'd probably be more concerned about being left stranded in the new car.
