Originally Posted By Wig I allways had 2nd hand cars. Never bought from a dealer, allways directly from the previous owner in person. I have never been wrong with that... Had Renault first, now Volkswagen. Allways choose for fuel economy. (Actual gas price here in Belgium: unleaded 95 = 1.35 Euro / liter...) With my first Renault 14, I ended up with 310.000km 'mileage'. So, no complains...
Originally Posted By DlandJB Totally agree to study Consumer Reports. If you haven't bought before, you should consider bringing a friend who has solid car buying experience, so you minimize the chances of a sales person taking advantage of your lack of experience. For me, I had such a bad experience the first time I bought a car that I kept putting off buying the second one years later - I was still haunted by the first experience. Fortunately, in the meantime Carmax came into being. As of now I have had two extremely positive experiences buying used cars from Carmax and would highly recommend them. You can essentially pick out your car online. They will have it (or a couple of them) ready for you to test drive - and in the case of the first one, we had all the financing taken care of ahead of time, so the whole time in the showroom until driving the new car off the lot was only about 90 minutes. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Originally Posted By avromark In regards to consumers reports, every media has their own bias. Trust your instincts. Even with some of the best, there are some lemons out there. All new cars now are better then they were even 5 or 10 years ago. Don't rule out Hyundai, quality is way up there now (Higher then Toyota Lower then Lexus), they're "winning" lots of auto comparos in the mags (Ie a certain cross over from Hyundai is pretty darn close to a Lexus RX330 (which is built at the plant my uncle works at here TMMI- Cambridge plant here). There are some Lpers that swear by them. In regards to Japanese, I'd go Honda, then Mazda. My Toyota burned me, but many people here got good ones. If you buy Japanese go new, not 1 or 2 years old. Especially with say a two door Civic which was probably owned by some young punk who drove the feces out of it. The money you save isn't worth it. If you buy domestic go near new. A 2006 with little miles will save you a ton. Also even if it isn't as "reliable" the money you saved can pay for some of the repairs it may need. If your keeping your car for a long time and can't afford much up front this may be the way to go. I would however try to purchase from a new car dealers used lot, you may pay slightly more but have a few more guarantees (at least here, if you buy from a dealer they're responsible for any liens so you won't find "Betty" on the tow truck and repo'd. Don't buy a car sight unseen. Also if your buying a cheaper/older car, look out for "perfect paint", look out for "perfect pedals" these may be signs that repairs have been done ie, a Salvage car. Also if a deal sounds to good to be true, it probably is. But don't underbuy as well, if you have 3 kids and plan on keeping your car forever, a Sentra/Cobalt may be wrong for you, you may want to consider something that your children will grow into. Also if you know you'll be carrying lots of passengers/items in your car, do lots of highway driving don't get the small engine. In many cases the "mid" choice may be best.
