What are the most important things to consider when looking for a used car?
 

Price, mileage, horsepower, gas mileage, and color are the things I look at in that order of importance. Should I also consider the type of engine (4 or 6 cylinder engine) and liters too? What about cargo room?

It all depends on what you want out of your car. If you like fixing cars very often, buy a high mileage (170,000+) American car.

Seriously though, if you like keeping most of your hard earned money, I might suggest a low mileage Honda or Toyota.

My first two cars were domestic, and I spent more than $4000 in repairs in a year. My third car is a Toyota. I have spent no money on repairs for this car.

When it comes down to it, Japanese cars just last longer, and hold their value better. That is all.

I don't know. Do you need lots of cargo room? These are questions only you can answer.

When you're looking at a used car, mileage, maintenance history, and a title search are your three most basic questions. Drop the cash for a carfax account- it'll save your ass. It did me, bigtime - I caught 4 salvage titles that the owners (and dealerships) were trying to hide thanks to carfax.

The type of engine is usually not a big concern. I don't care if it has 8, 6, 4, or even 1 cylinder as long as it's powerful enough for my needs. After all, a v6 Buick is gonna be slower than a turbocharged Sentra SE-R 4-banger ;)

But gas prices are projected to go to $2.50 a gallon on average by Memorial Day, so you might want to take that into consideration when the 5 litre V-8 is tempting you ;)

I disagree with Elwood about domestics needing lots of repairs. I've had my Oldsmobile for over 5 years, and haven't dropped more than $2500 in to it, and that's counting tires and brakes, but not oil changes, gas, and the like. Do some research on anything that tickles your fancy. Ask questions to owners of the cars that you are interested in. More than one owner, by the way.

It totally depends, when you consider a used car both imports and domestics can be reliable or be totally unreliable. Pretty much the biggest factors I consider are no.1 How well was it maintained? And if it does have any problems, how easy can I fix it? I have bought some cars for cheap due to them having simple problems as the reason why they where sold. Another thing to consider is it known to be a reliable car? Some cars are known for problems like late 90's GM 3.4L for piston slap and bad intake gaskets, and my nissan is known for having crappy timing chain guides that wear out too soon. Pretty much nitpick any used car, and if it does have any problems get an estimate for how much it would cost to fix and have them lower the price down by whatever amount of $$$ that you would have to invest to repair the said vehicle. Things like color I don't really care about...and size of the engine....I've known 4 bangers that will kick the shit outta of v6's and vice versa and engine size as in liters...not that big of a deal, hell my nissan which is a 2.4L 4 banger will push about 15 more hp than my 4.1L cadillac engine.....

check under the radiator cap for bubbles, check under the oil cap for amilky residues. Have the owner start the car up and hold your hand, or a white peice of paper behind the exhaust to see if it pukes tar or any kinda crap. Check for smoke on startup and driving. Make sure little things like heater controls work etc. Also, if u have enough time before you go to look at a car, try to google and see if u can find a list of any recalls/warranty issues with that car, then make sure the neccesary repairs were done on the car, or nock the price waay down.

I narrowed my choices to three cars I found. Assuming all of them have equal history reports, which of these do you recommend:

1995 Mazda Miata M-Edition (90,000 miles)
1997 Chevrolet Camaro RS 2Dr Coupe (82,000 miles)
2000 Pontiac Grand-Am SE2 (39,000 miles)

What engine does the Camaro and Grand Am have?

That Camaro probably has a V6.
I THINK that the Grand Am had the 3.8 V6 in that trim...

My bad just looked it up and it has the 3.4 liter V6 kicking out 170 horsepower.

The Miata believe it or not probably is going to be the fastest. The Grand Am probably would be the better deal in reliability and sportiness. The Camaro...not a V8 don't waste your time on it. The F-body is a PITA to live with on a daily basis. It's peformance offset a lot of that but no LS1 or even LT-1...pass on it.

Out of those cars, I would take the Miata. They're not very practical though. Despite being really slow, they're a lot of fun. The reason for that is that they make you feel like you're going a lot faster than you really are. That can get annoying if you go on a lot of long trips.

camaro will have the highest insurance. Miatas are fun and sport and turboable lol. The grand am aint nuthin special. Some of the older ones 95 ish, had tranny problems alot

Out of those 3, I'd go with the Grand Am. I've had my 1999 Grand Am SE1 for a little over a year, and it just rolled over 95,000 miles with no major problems.

Yeah the camaro will just pose problems due to being high insurance and if its a v8 it won't be good on gas mileage at all. some of the 99+ grand ams with the 3.4L have issues with the intake gaskets failing, but if its properly fixed by a gm mechanic that knows what he is doing you won't have issues again with it.

Some stats about the three:

ENGINE COLOR MSRP HI/CITY HP DOORS DRIVE

Miata:4 Cylinder Burgandy $24,000 28/22 128 2 RWD

Camaro:6 Cylinder Silver $18,000 29/19 200 2 RWD

Grand-Am:6 Cylinder Black $20,000 32/20 175 2 FWD

honestly, dont get a camaro if its a 6.....its just not meant to be that way. I laugh at those, same with 4cyl mustangs. Not that there is actually anything wrong with those cars, its just that there really not meant for small motors. There supposed to be muscle cars. The grand am seems like a good deal. I would say go tiwht the miata, but the price seems a bit high.

I look to see if there is rust and that all your gaps line up!

Are you in the United States, or are you in some country where cars cost a whole helluva lot more. I priced out that miata, assuming the M-edition, assuming perfect shape in Minneapolis (older cars with no rust fetch a premium there because of all the salt on the roads) with options that car didn't even come with (DVD system, etc), and got $7125. Unless the thing is INSANELY modified (we're talking a fully reliable streetable car that can outrun ferarris here) or you live in a different country, whoever priced that car is smoking crack.

I think the prices he listed were for when these cars were new, fresh off the lot. Obviously, the value has depreciated since.

I'd go with the Grand Am. I've had my 1999 Grand Am SE1 for a little over a year, and it just rolled over 95,000 miles with no major problems.

I would say go with the grand am also, though i would look elsewhere first.

If it's a primary vehicle, definitely go with the Grand Am. I love Camaro's, but they're sort of prima donnas (ie, need a lot of TLC) and the Miata just isn't terribly practical. The Grand Am is reasonably sporty and makes the best daily driver out of the three.