muslimmetalhead wrote:
I know next to nothing about automobiles, but I'll probably need one in the near future.
I know I can cut down on adding miles to them (old vehicles), and eventually will swap out engine or transmissions or whatever.
unless the car has been horribly abused you shouldn't need to worry about needing a new engine or transmission. (those are multi-thousands of $ to replace) things that will need repaired/replaced on most used cars are things like brakes, shocks, tires, AC refresh. you will definitely want to do a tune-up, replace oil and coolant. you will want to have $1500 or so beyond the purchase price available, just as contingency for those things that MAY need to be done - if you don't need to spend it, then you got a good deal indeed.