What Is More Important In A Used Car—Mileage Or Age?

One used car is six years old and has traveled 150,000 kilometers. The other has only 90,000 kilometers, but is 12 years old. Which is the safer purchase?

The answer is not as simple as it is often thought. Data from the Croatian Vehicle Center show that both age and mileage strongly influence the occurrence of malfunctions, but in different ways, writes Tportal.hr.

For cars under five years old, the defect rate for the best brands is only around one to three percent. For example, Volvo had 1.36 percent of defective vehicles in 2025, Mazda 1.38 percent, Suzuki 1.92 percent, Toyota 2.28 percent, and BMW 2.44 percent.

When vehicles enter the age category between five and ten years old, the numbers rise noticeably. In that category, Honda had 4.75 percent of defective units, Volvo 5.04, Toyota 5.53, Mazda 5.67, while Volkswagen was at 6.59 percent.

After ten years, the difference becomes huge

For vehicles older than ten years, the picture is completely different. Even top-performing brands have a double-digit percentage of defective vehicles. Mercedes-Benz was at 14.35 percent, BMW at 17.41, Volvo and Audi at around 18.3, and Toyota at 19.01, while for some brands, defects exceeded a quarter of the examined specimens.

Mileage also increases risk, but there is a catch. A car that travels 150,000 kilometers in six years often spends a large part of its life on the highway, where the engine, transmission, clutch, and brakes are exposed to a different mode of operation than a vehicle that crosses short urban distances every day.

On the other hand, a low number of kilometers is not a guarantee of good condition. Weather affects rubber seals, hoses, corrosion, fluids, battery, brakes and numerous other parts that age even when the car is driven a little.

So, if choosing between a younger car with 150,000 kilometers and a much older one with less mileage, a well-maintained younger car can often be a safer purchase. This is not a universal rule, but a conclusion that results from the fact that CVH data very clearly show a strong increase in malfunctions with the age of the vehicle, writes Tportal.hr.

The most important thing is not to buy mileage or year, but a specific car. Service records, chassis inspection, cold start, engine and transmission condition, as well as a history check, can be worth more than five figures per kilometer-hour.

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