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In general, Toyota and Honda have the best value for older economy cars, and Mazda is not far behind. Hyundai and Kia are also doing quite well, and I think they still have a 100k power train warranty (with some caveats, I’m sure). Just watch out for the Honda or Toyota dealer, or owner, who thinks their POS used car is like selling gold, just because of brand reputation. A good brand can still be a lousy used car.
A couple other key points:
- Did someone do proper maintenance over the years? Many cars in that age bracket have a lot of deferred maintenance (belts, hoses, timing belt, struts, water pump, etc), and someone has told the owner how much it’s now going to cost to correct those problems. The owner doesn’t want to spend $3-4k on all this maintenance, so he/she decides to sell the car. At the right price it could be a good deal for a tinkerer, but a bad choice if you have to pay someone else to do all the work.
- You mentioned living in the boondocks, which is not very specific. The buyer needs to have a mechanic within a reasonable distance that can get parts and fix the car. Something will eventually break, and that’s not the time to find out you can’t get it fixed.
Short repair war story - I had a tire bulge issue on the road with my 2021 BMW. When I called the BMW 800 number the nearest dealer was 600 miles away. It was also Friday and all the nearby tire stores would have to get a new tire from a distributor that was also 500 miles away. Tire stores in the boondocks don’t stock tires in sizes and brands that they will never sell.
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