What mileage should a 10 year old car from the USA have?
One of the most important factors that make us decide to buy a used car or give it up is the mileage. For cars imported from European countries, it is easier to determine what mileage of the vehicle should be considered real. So what mileage should a 10 year old car have? With cars from the USA it is a little more difficult, but we are about to dispel your doubts.
Many customers are wondering with what mileage to buy a car from the USA. The number of kilometers traveled is often higher than that of European cars. This is due to the fact that in the United States greater distances are covered, and this is helped by a perfectly developed network of highways and expressways. What is the average mileage of a car from the USA? How to check the mileage of the car?
What is mileage in a car?
The mileage of a car is nothing more than the number of kilometers or miles that the car has traveled since it left the factory. It allows you to more or less guess what the technical condition of the car may be, although this is not a rule. In the United States, the mileage is given in miles, so you have to multiply it by 1.609, because roughly that number of kilometers measures 1 mile. In newer cars, odometer or mile meter readings are recorded not only in the meter module itself, but also, for example, in the automatic transmission controller. This makes turning the odometer difficult or impossible.
How to check the mileage of a car from the USA?
When buying older models of cars, which often do not have very advanced electronics, we are more likely to end up with a copy with a counter rolled back. You can check the vehicle history in services such as CARFAX or Autocheck. It is worth knowing that at the federal level, technical inspections of cars are not mandatory and each state introduces its own rules in this matter. Only 14 states require car owners to perform inspections every year or every 2 years. There are also states where only partial tests apply and concern, for example, only checking the car for exhaust emissions.
Mandatory technical examinations are carried out in the following states: Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia. For cars from these states, you can count on the fact that every year or two their mileage is written down by a diagnostician and entered into the database.
Reversing the odometer in the US is punishable at the state and federal levels. At the federal level, the Truth In Mileage Act applies. Violation carries a fine of up to $10,000 and up to three years in prison. State-level penalties are similar. In California, for example, the penalty for reversing the meter is up to 1 year in prison and up to a $5,000 fine. In some states, reversing the meter of a used car is considered a criminal offense. According to various data, the percentage of cars with a reversed meter is between 10 and 15 percent in the United States.
If you are wondering if the mileage of the car is real, auction sites offer the opportunity to check the technical condition of the vehicle before proceeding to the auction. This is an additional paid service. A specialist from a third-party company will then assess the condition of the car and will be able to tell whether the odometer can show a real indication or can it be better to let go of the purchase.
What car mileage is good?
It is difficult to unequivocally determine what kind of vehicle mileage is good. We have two schools here. The first believes that an unused car breaks down, so they are more willing to try to buy a car that travels long distances. An older car, which was very rarely used, so it can boast a small mileage, may need to replace, for example, rubber elements and gaskets, because these do not have the opportunity to fit well and work properly.
On the other hand, more intensive wear of the vehicle can also lead to the fact that the car will require repairs and replacement of some parts and components. A lot depends on what kind of service history the car has. After all, you can buy a car with high mileage, which will be in perfect condition, because the owner appeared at the service according to the instructions from the service book.
Another criterion for assessing whether a given car mileage is good or not is how the car is used. It is known that, for example, cars used for hard work, such as semi-trucks, will have higher mileage than cars used for commuting to college or shopping. The average annual mileage of a car, depending on its type, is about 11.5 to 12 thousand miles for passenger cars and 12 to 13 thousand miles for SUVs and pickups. The average annual mileage of a motorcycle in the United States is 2.5 to 3 thousand miles. It can often be the case that a car with high mileage filmed on the highway will have components in better condition than a car that has low mileage, but drove mainly in a crowded city.
Americans behind the wheel - average annual car mileage in the US
To better understand what mileage is a lot and what will be too little, it is worth paying attention to the data on the average annual mileage of American drivers. These vary from state to state. As he gives Reuters, in 2024, Americans traveled 3.27 trillion miles in cars. Every American travels an average of 13.5 thousand miles.
The average life of a car in the USA
In turn, the service Auto Recycling World reports that in 2024, the life span of the average American car was just over 16 years and 156 thousand miles. Residents of Idaho, Orgeon, North Dakota, West Virginia and Utah have used their cars the longest. The average age of a car before scrapping varies between 18 and 18.61 years, and the average mileage of such a car ranges from 154,802 miles in Idaho to 172,300 km in North Dakota.
How many miles do Americans travel each year?
If mileage is the most important thing for you when buying a car on the secondary market, then we have checked which states drive the most and in which the least. The data comes from official reports of the Department of Transportation. We selected 5 states with the highest average annual mileage and 5 states with the lowest average annual mileage.
States with the highest average mileage in 2024:
- Wyoming - 24,069 miles
- Mississippi - 19,966 miles
- New Mexico - 19,157 miles
- Missouri - 18,521 miles
- Georgia - 18,334 thousand
States with the lowest average mileage in 2024:
- Rhode Island - 9,961 miles
- Washington - 10,949 miles
- Hawaii - 11 103 thousand
- Alaska - 11,111 miles
- New Jersey - 11,379 miles
What mileage should a 10 year old car from the USA have?
Looking at the data from all states, it is safe to assume that in most cases the average annual mileage is from 12 to 16 thousand km. According to experts from Consumer ReportsIf the mileage of the car is less than 5,000 miles per year or more than 20,000 miles per year, the warning light should come on. This does not mean that it will be a bad purchase, but it is worth asking yourself and the seller a question, what is the reason for such a state of the meter. In the case of cars sold at auctions, contacting the previous owner of the car is unlikely, so just order an additional technical inspection.
Car models that achieve the highest mileage
If you are wondering which cars from the USA worth buying, it is specialists from iSeeCars have compiled a ranking of cars that have the best chance of driving 250 thousand miles. For more than a dozen years, data from 402 million cars were analyzed. It is worth mentioning that the chances of winning such a course are on average 8.6 percent. Of course, remember that in order to maintain a long service life, the car must be serviced regularly.
Vehicles with the highest scores appeared in the ranking. It follows that when buying a car of several years old, it is best to bet on Japanese brands. The lead here is Toyota, which is loved by Americans. The list is dominated by SUVs and pick-up cars. This is due to the fact that they have unforced engines of large capacities.
The list is rearranged as follows:
- Toyota Tundra - 36.6%
- Toyota Sequoia - 36.4%
- Toyota 4Runner - 26.8 percent
- Toyota Tacoma - 26.7 percent
- Toyota Highlander Hybrid - 25.9 percent
- Honda Ridgeline - 25.8 percent
- Chevrolet Suburban - 22 percent
- Toyota Avalon - 22 percent
- Lexus GX - 20.7%
- Chevrolet Silverado 1500 - 18.8 percent
- GMC Yukon XL - 17,9 per cent
- Chevrolet Tahoe - 17.7 percent
- Honda Pilot - 17.5%
- Honda Accord - 16.6 percent
- GMC Sierra 1500 - 16.1 percent
- Ford F-150 - 15.8 percent
- Toyota Highlander - 15.7 percent
- Nissan Titan - 14.8 percent.
- GMC Yukon - 14,6 per cent
- Honda CR-V - 13.9 percent
- Toyota Camry - 13.5%
- Ford Expedition - 13.1 percent
- Honda Accord Hybrid - 13.1 percent
- Nissan Pathfinder - 13%
- Toyota Prius - 12.6 percent
- Nissan Armada - 12.6 percent
- Mazda CX-9 - 12.4 percent
- Acura MDX - 11.9 percent
- Honda Odyssey - 11.5%
- Ram 1500 - 11.5 percent.
Summary
Based on the information presented, you already know what mileage a 10-year-old car from the USA should have and how this can be easily calculated. When buying, it is worth checking the history of the vehicle, the condition of the vehicle, and you can also see what are the average mileage for a particular model. However, remember that the condition of the car is influenced not only by the number of miles driven, but also whether the vehicle was serviced regularly and whether the driver took care of the correct driving technique.
If you want to buy a used car from the USA safely, it is worth using the help of a professional broker, which is the company Bryki from America. Although Importing a car from the USA does not seem complicated, then specialists will help you buy a car with which you will be satisfied. They will carefully examine the history of the vehicle based on the available data, as well as organize an inspection with the participation of an external company, which will come to the auction house square and inspect the car, paying attention, among other things, to its mileage and the compliance of the meter indication with the actual state.
