I need help with used car shopping

Subscribe to Consumer Reports online for 1 month for $7 and scour their used car reliability records. I think most of CR's reviews are crap, but the used car reliability stuff is just empirical data collected by an annual survey of their members. Then figure out which cars in your price range have clean reliability records and focus on looking for those cars. When you think you have found one have a trusted mechanic (ask a friend since you probably don't have one) check out the car for you. They may charge about $100 for their time. It's a worthwhile investment. Also, negotiate the selling price prior to taking it to the mechanic. If it comes back clean the seller will have the advantage at that point. If you are buying from a dealer they will let you borrow the car for a day to get it checked out. If it's a private seller you'll probably have to arrange to meet them. This might all seem like a PITA, but it is far less of a pain than a $2000 transmission rebuild after 2 months.

1. Sometimes there are blatant lies. More often, sellers will shade the truth a bit to make the car sound better than it is. 2. Different places have different rules. Call around and ask what their preference is. Usually, making an appointment is going to be the way to go. 3. I've had two Nissans that lasted well over 300,000 miles. No car, though, will last long without regular maintenance. Hondas are not immune to breaking down if you never change the oil. 4. NO!!!! A mkIV VW is not what you want for your first car. There is no such thing as a "clean" mkIV. It will bleed you dry with repairs. Walk away! 5. As you said, regular oil changes (including filter). Rotate the tires regularly. Change the air filter once or twice a year. New wipers once a year. Keep it clean, inside and out. That's really about it. 6. The owner's manual of whatever car you get will have these maintenance milestones charted-out for you, like belts, plugs, brake pads, fluids. If an older car has never had any of them performed, yes, you are buying a timebomb. 7. Sorry. Can't help you with this one.

Nthing the book above. A big bookstore may still have the Consumer Reports annual special issue (about $10.95, it is not the monthly magazine) usually in the magazine section, titled something like "Best Used Cars for 2012". It has articles about what models to look for and where, what to check out, and how to pay. Private sellers and indie used car lots will lie to you. Indie lots buy cars from auction that new car dealers get rid of. New dealers keep anything good, including trade-ins and repos from new, and send the trash to the auctions. Indie used dealers patch those up enough to drive off the lot and out of their sight. Avoid. Private sellers may or may not outright lie, and/or they may not have maintained the car well. There can be good ones. New car dealers with used car lots and service all on the same premises, and Carmax, are pretty OK for used car quality - but you'll pay a little more, and have to get through the dealer experience, which could be a different topic. On the other hand, they give a 30 or 90 day warranty, have service on the premises, and can handle titling/registration + plates/insurance pretty easily. Take it to a good indie mechanic to have it checked out before buying. A good mechanic will find all kinds of little things that ideally should be fixed, but you can ignore many of them. Check here at that time for comments about what really needs to be fixed up and what can be put off or ignored. To avoid major troubles, avoid ALL used VWs made before, say, 2013. Toyota and Honda are reliable and inexpensive to repair and maintain. Nissan too. Hyundai/Kia after 2008 is good, mechanically, too, but out of your price range. For most models of Toyota and Honda, you can download PDFs of their original owner's manuals. Those will have the recommended service charts for the specific model, by miles and time. Just follow the chart. Check the oil and tire pressure at least every month. First of the month. Always keep those at the proper level. At $3500 you can still find a decent car for the needs you list, and I hope you stay under that and pay cash only. In the $2000-$3000 range, you can find a 1998-2002 Chevrolet Prizm (not Geo Prizm). This is exactly identical to a Toyota Corolla of those years (except the radio!) and made in the same Toyota/GM co-owned factory of those years. It's overlooked or disdained, and lower priced than an identical Toyota Corolla, because of the Chevy name. It might not be sexy but it is decent and reliable, one of the best values in that price range. It can be serviced at any indie or any Chevy or Toyota dealer. Only a suggestion, but you might have avoided a "Chevy" of those years too. Don't forget taxes and registration and insurance costs.

Once you have test driven cars, dealt with price and almost made your decision, You simply must take the car to an independent mechanic (NOT the dealer's mechanic). for an inspection. $100-200 for the privelege, and they will tell you any problems. It is worth it, not to have a car that will break down or be a money pit. Look up mechanics in the dealer's neighborhood, call them before you intend to go down, tell them the score - that you'll likely have a car for them to inspeca that afternoon, and schedule an appointment. You can always cancel! If a dealer refuses an inspection, walk away. I repeat, walk away. I don't care how much cheaper the car is - what special offers - what guarantees - there is some bullshit. I spent 2 half days in 2 differe dealerships with them trying to persuade me not to have the car checked out - when I asked them why, they said "oh we do inspections". Well, then they won't be afraid of others looking. This is especially true of cheaper, older cars like the ones you are thinking of buying.

PS: Save yourself some time at the beginning of the visit to the dealership - ask if they will allow inspection. If they refuse at the beginning, then leave.....

Suggestions or help on how to buy a used car when you know nothing about cars Buy a Honda. Look up the "milestone" maintenance schedule (eg, what to do every 15k, 30k, 60k miles) at the back of the service book and follow that guide, telling your mechanic what maintenance to do at those times. You don't have enough money to maintain a used VW.

1) Sellers will often understate the problems a car has. Or they might not be aware of the problem or how extensive it is. 2) Usually getting a mechanic to check things out runs about $200-300. Best money you'll spend.

I have a 2000 VW Golf, bought new, which has substantially lower miles than that Cabrio you saw on CL. Beginning last year, it started requiring expensive repairs, ranging from $500 to $750 (just last week!). Before that, it had been relatively trouble-free. It just seemed that in the past year it hit the point where everything started to go. So I'd be wary of older VWs. On preview, what deanc said.

Old VWs tend to be much more expensive to maintain than old Hondas.