Buying a Used Car - Opinions welcome

My sister drives a 2007 Murano and hasn't had any issues with it. She bought it used. She loves it!!

I know you want to be debt free and have cash to oay, but make sure that you aren't trading in reliability for price. Finding a low mileage car in your price range is going to be tricky, but high mileage cars can have loads of problems and if it is constantly in the shop, it might as well be a payment.

That said, we paid cash, only 5500 for a 2002 Sante fe in 2010 that had 125000 or 150000 miles on it. It has had some problems along the way, but is still being driven at over 200000 miles. Last summer we probably spent over 3000 to fix it. Had we known all those problems were going to happen, we might have put that toward a newer card instead.

I'd look at a Chevy Equinox. I drive a 2007 Pontiac Torrent and haven't any problems with it at all. An Equinox is virtually the same vehicle but has a higher MPG rating.

I love my Acura MDX.

I would not recommend a Chrysler Pacifuca chat was my prior car and it was plagued with suspension problems and recalls.

Stay far away from this! Especially a used one. Too many problems.

do you need the vehicle though or is it a second vehicle? If the car needs major repairs can you swing it?

Our 2002 Sante fe was awesome. Like insaid, high miles, ac went out the first month we owned it, but it was November, so we fixed it kater. Cost about 500. Since then (5 years total ) we've put in about 5000. Since we paid 5500 for it, I think it was a good investment. I don't know if the newer Sante fe is as good, but I think you should probably be able to get one for your budget as they aren't expensive cars.

One thing about the credit (and we've done both the cash and the finance option), if you are trying to rebuild your credit, a car loan may help. Put down half of what you were going to pay out of pocket and then once the loan is going, you can either pay more each month or wait a while and pay off a large chunk.

It's not like you are marrying it...so if it turns out to be a lemon, sell it on craigslist and move on. I buy used cars with cash because I don't want a car payment ever again. Sometimes I buy something that's relatively high mileage, but I only drive it for a couple of years and move on.

This is not your forever vehicle because you have other financial goals....that's blasphemy to a lot of people because Americans are car obsessed and believe all the advertising crap about how we are what we drive or that what we drive somehow reflects our worth as a person. Do what you need to do to get your financial house in order and then in the future you can pay cash for your dream car!

I will add that if you want to finance something, you might look at a credit union. They will often finance older models more easily if you find something from a private seller that you want to buy. And you can take it to a dealership to have them inspect it before you buy it unless the seller is a complete douche. We've done this several times...given a personal check for a couple hundred dollars to the seller as a good faith deposit, taken the car to get it inspected, then bought it based on that. Had it failed inspection, we would return the car and tear up the check.