I am about to get Driver License within a week or so and Planning to buy a car ASAP but I dont have any idea about the car, Could you guys share the ideas regarding this.

I am looking for something  between 3000-5000 in a decent condition, good mileage and dont need to repair again and again, I heard foreign specially Japaneese Cars and good compare to American cars.

Also anybody know where to find a good deal on vechiles?? I dont have much money but its most neccsary for me to buy it so dont have any option

if you are in houston just let me know .i am selling mine ..

I am in Irving, Tx

You are right Japanese car are much better and efficient than American. To make sure your car was manufactured in japan, look on driver side door..it should be saying -model, year of the car and made in japan instead of Canada or US.  I don't know what kind of car you are buying..auto or manual..but on either case make sure you test drive the car on highway and around city limit areas..look for the car rpm especially on auto and grinding sound on manual..rule of thumb is high rpm without acceleration in speed on automatic and grinding sound when changing gears on manual are not good sign. After test drive, on a parking lot you could look underneath the car for any oil leakage especially on passenger side. Under the hood of the car you could look for transmission oil, belts around the rotors, and another thing that i always look for is exhaust system underneath the car to make sure no tear and wear on muffler cuz bad exhaust system could take extra $300-$500 out of your pocket. If you really want to make sure everything is good on your car than you could take it to your local mechanic and its money worth of spending.

I would get Carfax report for vehicle history. Don't rush for decision. New driver may feel that running car is good but that is always not true. Look for single owner and older drivers' car. With $3K to $5k, you should be able to find decent condition Janapese auto.

Good luck!

 

Thanks, NG and Crazy..,

You know I have tried carfax but it ask for money, is it mandatory or have some other idea to check it out?

Houstonguys,

I am in houston, looking to buy a used car. Please email me at dheeruh@gmail.com with details/and your phone number and I will call you after 5 today

GC, particularly as a new driver you should not only consider the price of the vehicle but also the cost of insuring and maintaining it. I strongly suggest you to visit www.edmunds.com and do some research with particular attention to TCO (total cost of ownership) and common problems with the vehicle. Call some insurance companies and provide them with the years, and models of the vehicles you are interested on. They should be able to give you an approximate quote (actual cost depends on the particular vehicle), so you have a rough idea of insurance costs for each model.

When you are shopping for vehicles, you may want to take someone with you who knows about cars. Make sure you test drive in both city roads and highways. Ask for a carfax report from the seller. If they refuse it, suspect that something is wrong with the vehicle. In general, you may be better off with a rather basic vehicle such as a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic that have a proven record of reliability and fuel efficiency. Good luck!!

I don't think people who sells car on that price range offer a free carfax. But don't depend on carfax either since carfax won't tell you whether the car have a rebuilt tranny or part like that. I think what you could do is test drive the car first and check all stuffs you like to check and if car satisfy your requirement then offer a seller that you will buy this car if..if he/she provide you free carfax report and carfax report should says what seller's been telling you about the car that the car don't have any accident or certain number of owners or certain mileage or tell them your not going to buy if carfax report doesn't match what you have been looking for.

One gentleman told me a story about buying a car from Dealer. He was ready to close the deal through the dealer’s provided car-fax; every thing were fine until got his own independent car fax report. The stated mileage was far less than in report. In Texas even old car looks great ( No ice and salt ), do not go with the looks ( it happens to first time buyer as it was said look for inner beauty, so does with the car too). Better get a look from mechanic, will charge 30-50 bucks. This may give you peace of mind too. Good luck go with Honda, Toyota and last choice will be Nissan.