One of the first things a used car buyer looks at when shopping for a vehicle is the mileage on the car. People are always told to get the car with the lowest miles possible, but the barometer for "low mileage" becomes a sliding scale.

Considerations

No standard for "low mileage" exists for cars, reports Used Car Tips. Low mileage depends on the age of the car. You might consider 40,000 miles high mileage on a car less than one year old, but extremely low mileage for a car 10 years old.

Identification

The average person drives about 10,000 miles per year, according to MDWholesale.com. Generally, anything with less than an average of 10,000 miles per year has "low mileage."

Benefits

Finding a gently used car can you save you thousands of dollars on the depreciation a new car experiences during the first few years. David Mallie of MDWholesale reports that a new car loses up to 30 percent in value immediately after purchase.

Tips

Do not buy a vehicle just because it has low mileage, reports David Mallie. Cars can have other problems, such as performance issues or a spotty history (like flood damage). Running a vehicle history report can tell you more about any potential problems.

Warning

Some unscrupulous sellers falsify odometer readings to artificially lower the mileage on a car, reports USA Today. You can prevent this by checking odometer readings against a vehicle history report.

Source:

UsedCarTips.org: New, Used Car Buying Tips

MDWholesale.com: How To Really Save Big Money On Buying A Used Car

USA Today: Take a Skeptical Eye to Low-mileage Used Cars; Chris Woodyard; 2008