Second hand cars with more than 60,000 miles on the clock are increasingly being ignored by car buyers, new research has revealed.
According to figures from EurotaxGlass’s, depreciation rates increased sharply for three-year-old cars with mileages of between 60,000 and 100,000 but then began to level off.
EurotaxGlass’s managing editor, Adrian Rushmore, said: "As soon as a car passes the 60,000 mile threshold the penalties increase because perceived desirability falls."
According to Rushmore "an additional stigma" is attached to cars that have racked up over 100,000 miles on the clock, resulting in many owners looking to sell their cars before hitting this "psychological barrier" as they are afraid of instant devaluation.
But Rushmore added that such fears were unfounded, stating the rate of depreciation actually slows after the 100,000 mile threshold has been reached.
EurotaxGlass’s used a three-year-old model with 40,000 miles as its benchmark car and found that its trade value would fall by 4 per cent if the model were to reach 50,000 miles .
From 60,000 to 100,000 miles the car’s residual value would drop by 5 per cent for each 10,000 miles travelled.
However, after 100,000 miles the car’s depreciation levels reduced to 3 per cent (fall in trade value) for each 10,000 extra miles covered.
The analyst also found that cars with below-average mileage did not benefit from an improvement in value equivalent to the loss incurred on higher mileage models .
