I’ve only ever bought used, but typically with under 25,000 miles on it. I’ve not yet driven one past 100,000 miles, not for lack of trying, but something always happens that destroys them before I get there.
I had a '64 Mercedes I bought from the original owner. Only had 5 digits. Got to talking to them some time later and found out it had 700k on it. :eek:
That was a great car!
Sold it a while ago and made a profit. 
I used to buy used because it was all I could afford. Now I buy used because it’s a much better deal. A lot of cars with 100K miles on them now will last another 100K miles but can be purchased for a quarter of the price of new, or even much less. I expect some substantial repairs in the first couple of years of buying a used car, it’s often the reason they are sold or traded in, but that is easily countered by the 10-20% markup that dealers take from a new car.
I buy used cars, but mileage has little to do with it. I’ve bought an 8year old car with 200,000 miles and a 35 year old car with 70,000 miles. Much more important to me is the overall condition. It’s not usually difficult to determine if a vehicle has been well cared for. I also have some mechanical knowledge and a bunch of tools, so I do a lot of my own work. I have not had a car payment in over 18 years and I like it that way!
I voted “I have never owned a car with more than 100k miles,” but that’s just a function of how much (or how little) I drive, not a preference for new vs. used.
My first two cars (bought when I was in grad school, then just after I got out of school) were bought used, had under 100K when I bought them, and still were under 100K when I sold them. I only owned each of those cars for 2-3 years.
The three cars that I’ve owned since then were all purchased new. I traded in the first two when they were still shy of 100K (though they were 10 and 9 years old, respectively). The car I own now – a 2012 Mustang – is 6 1/2 years old, and is at 96K (mostly due to having a long commute to work for the first three years that I owned it, which racked up a lot of miles). I have no plans to sell it, so I’ll finally own a car with over 100K miles by the end of this year.
Here’s another poster who does this. Of the 3 new cars I’ve had previously, only 1 of them didn’t make it to 100K before I sold it. My Kia Spectra made it to 160K before I traded it in for a Prius and it didn’t have anything obviously wrong besides getting worse mileage and having to refill more often than the Prius. The Prius is already pushing 80K and has not needed a major repair yet.
My late husband insisted on purchasing only brand-new vehicles. Then we’d drive them for a decade or two, well past 100k. I never owned a car until we started living together, and have only been involved in the purchase of three vehicles - two of which I still have and am still driving.
One advantage is that I know everything that has happened to and been done to my current vehicles. As it is still cheaper for me to continue to fix them rather than replace them with even a used vehicle of comparable reliability I expect I’ll hang onto them for awhile longer. It would not surprise me if I hit 250k or more before I junk them. Yes, yes, depreciation… but you know what? Given my household’s propensity to purchase a car and drive it until it’s all used up I’m not sure it matters that much. I don’t give a fig about trade in value because I have no intention of trading it it. What I care about is safety and reliability.
I answered that “I have seldom owned a car with more than 100k miles.” I figured that out with a little timeline of the rough mileage range of cars I’ve owned. I was surprised by the answer. My jalopies have occupied way more of my time and attention and it felt like they dominated my car ownership. I was wrong. The newer cars were just easier to shop for, took less time to maintain, and served a lot longer without complaint so I didn’t think as much about them. The earliest cars were also the highest mileage but probably created the strongest memories.
I am now the caretaker of a 53-year-old hand-me down high-mileage car that my uncle bought new before my father bought it from him and, much later, gave to me. Since I’ll have that car at least until my father and uncle die, I expect that within five years, I will come to have owned at least one car with 100,000 miles for more time than I have not. I’m not sure that’s in keeping with the spirit of the OP since my daily driver will likely continue to be some new or newish car with less than 100,000 miles.
I’m at the stage in my life where I will probably buy only new cars for regular transportation. Shopping for used cars is a bigger time suck and I keep cars long enough that the difference in depreciation over the life of the car is a cost I’m willing to eat. My current originally-new car has only depreciated about $50 each month that I’ve owned it. I couldn’t expect to do that much better with used cars. My fun cars will probably continue to be used ones but even there, I tend towards cars in good shape with lower miles.
I’ve only bought one new car - the first car I purchased, a beautiful 1986 Mustang GT convertible.
All my other cars and trucks have been used, with between 50 and 170K miles on them.
I hear people talk about these deals all the time, but I’m 66 years old and have NEVER uncovered a deal like that.* I’m sure they exist, but I’ve never run across them. I buy a new car, drive it until it’s an old car, then buy another new car. I’m pretty sure, at my age, the next car I buy will be the last one I ever buy.
- My daughter actually came close. She found a 5-year old car with less than 30K miles that she got for half the price of when it was new. However, the car was a Scion iQ, a profoundly unpopular model, particularly here in the Midwest. The service manager at the local Toyota dealership told me they had sold fewer than five of them during the years it was offered.
My 2015 Hyundai Sonata was bought for $12k at 18k miles when the sticker price was $23k and change. Before that I had a 2005 Mazda 6 I bought for $11k with 22k miles which had a sticker price of $22k. (Not that anyone cares but I erroneously called it a Mazda 3 upthread because my son owns a 3 and it was on my brain).
I have no idea if I just fell into a rare ~50% discount each time or what but it’s worked out for me so far. I’m not super worried that someone ruined the flipperwidgets in the first twenty thousand miles of the car’s life and there’s ample warranty left to catch it if they did. But usually neglect takes longer than that to be an issue.
I do assume that (like with your daughter) the model can play a big part and obviously you’re not going to find a used Camry with 19k miles for half the price of a new car. But neither the Mazda 6 nor the Sonata were unpopular cars either that lots were desperate to get rid of.
I tend to buy them with about 40,000 miles and drive them 10+ years until 150,000 miles or so. Initial cost, insurance, and taxes are cheaper buying them a few years old.
There are 2 exceptions, I bought my Mazdaspeed3 new and drove it 10 years to 140,000 miles, and I bought my F-150 with 120,000 already on it and it’s only up to 135,000 or so more than 10 years later.
I purchase new and then attempt to keep it forever. Presently driving a 2004 Forrester. I think I may be up to 78,000. I no longer drive very often.
My previous vehicle was a 1994 Dodge Ram 4WD. Regrettably truck vs ice totaled it with 125,000 miles.
Something I just discovered buying a well-used minivan: buy the luxury trim models well-used.
Leather seats, larger wheels, all the bells and whistles, that stuff doesn’t really wear out, and the price difference between the lower trim and the luxury trim at 100k miles is almost nothing.
This 12-year-old minivan is nicer than our 3-year-old Honda Fit that we bought new. Probably won’t run as long, but it doesn’t have to to be worth the price.
On the rare occasions when I buy a used vehicle, I pay more attention to the owner’s house than anything. If everything’s in good shape and well-maintained, the car probably is too. Also, the tires. If they’re a mismatched set of cheap Hankooks (or whatever’s cheapest now) then it’s a pass. If it’s 4 good matched Michelins or Goodyears, he’s probably spending the money to care for it in other ways too.
I don’t quite fit the poll either.
I typically buy cars somewhere in the 50k to 100k range, then drive them until somewhere around 200k to 300k.
I have only purchased one car new, and that was the only car I ever had a car payment with. I paid it off early. Every other car I have purchased flat out with cash.
I currently have 7 cars and 3 motorcycles. 2 of the cars (technically a car and a truck) are driven by my son but are in my name. My other son has 2 cars and 4 motorcycles, so he apparently has the same problem I do. 
When I was young and poor I always bought used cars. And in the 80’s all I could afford were *crappy *used cars. Since I was able to afford my first new car I’ve never bought another used car. I drive 75 miles round trip to work and I want a car I can rely on. I’m also a single person household so when mechanical problems used to arise it was always a pain to find somebody who could pick me up at the mechanics and take me to work, then drop me off again when the car was done. When garages started giving out loaners it was easier, but the loaners were awful. I get a new car about every three years now because of that. When I retire I’m sure I’ll buy one last new one and keep it forever.