I’ve seen a lot of low-mile cars in my day, but one in particular always sticks in my head—a 2006 Ford GT at a Mecum auction in 2018. It was black, with no stripes (which is, of course, the best color), and boasted a low odometer reading. No big deal, many examples of Ford’s 2005–06 flagship don’t get driven much, and 2000 miles on the clock aren’t something to get worked up over. But this one didn’t have 2000 miles. It didn’t have 200. It didn’t even have 20. The odometer showed 2.3 miles. That was the first time I’d ever seen anyone care about a fraction of a mile. Ever since, I’ve wondered about the people who buy a car like this and either barely drive it, or don’t drive it at all.
The “why” behind such decisions is perhaps an exercise in psychology, but Hagerty’s market data can at least provide some insight into the “who” and the “what.” We looked at the mileage of newer cars (2016-plus) at auction over the past couple of years for several popular makes, from super-low (less than 100 miles) to reasonable (more than 25,000).
Since the graph above represents auction cars, it doesn’t represent everything out there on the road, like your plumber’s F-150 or your boss’s Cayenne. It is, however, representative of modern collector cars and how people treat them.
Some of the differences here make sense. Ferraris are generally more expensive and more “special occasion” cars than Porsches, for example, so it’s no surprise that there are more P-cars with over 25,000 miles on them. For Chevrolet, much of the data comes from Corvettes; for so many less-than-10-year-old Vettes to have between 1000 miles and 10,000 miles sounds about right. In fact, the range of 1000–9999 miles is the most common spread for all but one of the makes measured here.
What does come as a bit of a shock at first is the huge number of Dodges showing up at auction with two digits on the odometer. Despite all the so-called “instant collectibles” in the exotic car world these days, it’s 11 times as likely for a Dodge with fewer than 100 miles to show up at auction than it is for a Ferrari or a Porsche. Blame the Challenger Hellcat and Demon for that.
The 707-hp Hellcat made a big splash when it debuted 10 years ago (has it been that long?), and for Mopar fans it was like the second coming of the 426 Street Hemi. Since 426 Hemi classic Mopars are collectible, surely these Hellcat-powered cars would eventually be collectible, too, so why not buy one, keep it preserved, and sell it for a profit? It turns out quite a few people had that same idea, so low-mile Hellcats are a regular sight both in the halls of Mecum sales and on the pages of Bring a Trailer.
Given their relatively high production numbers and the number of pickled examples on the market, values for these modern muscle cars haven’t exactly taken off yet. Prices saw something of a bump in the early 2020s, but the current median #2 (excellent) value for Hellcats/Demons is $55,500, and the #1 (concours) is $65,600. So, in conclusion, just drive your cars.
With only 2 miles on the clock, I’d have bought it at a premium price, but 2.3? Phsssht – dang thing’s worn out, just crush it! ??????
This is part of the collector world that I don’t get. I mean I do understand it – there is a fairly large contingent of collectors who trade cars like stock without much consideration for enjoyment of the car itself… I just don’t ‘get’ it. A market force that would drive folks to take the most potent, interesting, and capable cars and eternally mothball them with 2 miles on the odo is something that will never click with me. You do you and all, but not for me
Many people want the next Shelby or Ferrari GTO.
90% of them sit on these cars and wait and wait thinking they will get rich and never enjoy the car.
Cars like the 1978 Corvette pace car and the 1988 Fiero GT got put away and sold years later at just about what they paid.
Most cars had too many made or not enough demand to drive value.
Cars like the GTO and Cobra were just used up race cars with no demand till later so it is hard to predict.
Buy what you like and enjoy it. Don’t save it for someone else.
My Corvette is 23 years old and 30k miles. It was driven only 1600 miles between 2016 and 2023 when I got it. The previous owners saved it for me.
And because there are so many low mileage C5 models I had plenty of cheap ones to choose from.
Now the Porsche people drive a lot. My 911 has 181k but being from California and good care it sti drives like new.