Wow, thank you for all of this great advice! I didn’t expect such an enthusiastic response. Here’s what I’m getting out of this so far:
- Maintenance and make/model should both be considered, but make/model is rather less important. At this price range it would probably be a better idea to get a car under my budget and have cushion for maintenance costs which will be inevitable no matter what I buy.
- Go with a simple vehicle - less to break.
- Get someone (a mechanic) to check over the car before I buy it.
- Crown Vics might work. (I’m definitely looking for more function than form here so no complaints about that)
Now I have more questions.
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How can I roughly guess the maintenance/upkeep of a car? I guess just eyeballing it will give me some indication, though that leaves a lot. Is mileage roughly equitable? I noticed jsutter and bscar both indicated vehicles with significantly less than 100,000 miles on them, and many of the sedans I have looked at so far have a lot more. Should I focus on finding low mileage?
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I’ve never really been into cars and don’t so much have a trusted mechanic to go to. How can I find someone to check over a potential buy for me? Perhaps just go with the owner to a car place and have it looked over?
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How does a car being state certified/inspected work? Is this as good as it being looked over buy a mechanic?
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Where should I look for cars? I’ve been trying cars.com and autotrader.com, which have given me some ideas but not a whole lot. Are there any other places I should be checking out?