Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Michael Czeiszperger <michael AT czei.org>]

On Sep 30, 2011, at 10:07 AM, Tom Caswell wrote:

It's that time for me.  We want to get a cheap used car for my son but we don't want to get cheated.  Does anyone have a recommendation for a decent used car lot that has inventory under $5000?  A person would work too but that's more luck.  Thanks in advance.

I'll second CarMax.  Its my second favorite place to buy other than directly from an individual.  If you're in the market for used cars, be sure to check out consumer reports--  they compile statistics every year, going back decades, from car owners reporting exactly what problems they had with their cars.  Not perfect, but you'll not find a better database of statistics about reliability.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/used-cars/cr-recommended/best-and-worst-used-cars/overview/best-and-worst-used-cars.htm

My personal favorite for used cars are old Subarus from the 90s.  The non-turbo engines run like tanks and last forever.  My '93 is at 240K miles and has all original parts, and never needed any of the normal things replaced that usually break on a car, i.e. has the original head gasket, the original fuel pump, etc.  

____________________________________________________________________________

Michael Czeiszperger

Chapel Hill, NC 

"He who is tired of Weird Al is tired of life." - H. Simpson

____________________________________________________________________________