Buying a Used Car

I'll need a car to commute to my new job and I have my sights set on buying a "new used car", a car that is less than 5 years old and has low mileage. Here are the reasons behind my decision...

Why not lease a new car? I don't want to be bound to a 3+ year contract. If, god forbid, I lose my job or have to move again, I can sell a car that I own. But, with a lease, I'll have to find someone to take over the lease (thereby forfeiting my down payment), or I'll have to buy out the remainder of the contract. That would suck pretty hard. So, given the unpredictability of today's job market, I'm going with the option that permits the most mobility, which is buying a car outright.

Why not buy a brand new car? This is a tempting option, with the manufacturer's warranty and enticing deals that many car companies offer right now. But, I have a budget of $15,000, which means that I could probably only afford a really budget car, like a Toyota Yaris or something. No offense to those who drive Yaris', but I'd like something a little more fabulous. For $15,000, I could buy a 3-4 year old BMW or Audi. Plus, the minute a brand new car is driven off the lot, it'll lose 20% of it's value! Seems like a no-brainer.

So, now that I've decided to buy a used car, how do I mitigate the risk of being stuck with a clunker?

Here are a few short pointers that I found a few days ago when I was browsing through my copy of Suze Orman's Young Fabulous & Broke:

1) Spend $100 or so for an independent mechanic to inspect the car.
2) Ask the seller for the car's service and maintenance records. If they are reluctant to give it to you, consider this a red flag.
3) Run the car's vehicle identification number (VIN) through a national database (like CARFAX) to check for any record of accidents. For about $20, the service will search public and private records to come up with a report on the car's background. The report will contain information on whether the car has been in a wreck, whether it was sold at a salvage auction or returned to a dealer as a "lemon", and so on.
4) If the car comes with a warranty, read it carefully so you understand what is and what isn't covered.

I'll keep you all updated on how my search for a car goes!

-Bacon