What should I knew to buy a good car?

Answer 1

your budget, safety rating, what ppl are saying about the car, consumer report, test drive....more test drive.........test drive again. finance or lease.

Answer 2

The reviews and consumer reviews are useless.
The way the car was treated is the biggest variable.
Cars like buicks last extremely long, and have a great deal of older more conservative drivers, so they are usually great buys.
I have driven over 200,000 miles in two used buicks and never had any unplanned maintanence besides getting vandalized once.
My best friend has a 2006 handa accord, which is a legendary car for fans of imports, but with only 15,000 miles the car has had multiple problems due to being beaten.
I would advise against any sporty imports that may have been driven aggressively, or even raced.
Trucks are usually pretty reliable. my last chevy truck lasted 400,000 miles, and my dad's ford is still running at 300,000. They are both late 90's. Both of them get about 20mpg (one was a diesel, and the other has bosch four spark spark plugs)
So the difference between that and a volkswagon is only about 5mpg.
Even if you drive 2000 miles a month, it would only be $45 more in gas, which would be made up for in cheaper insurance (trucks can be as much as 50% cheaper to insure)