A lot of good points on here. Regardless of what you buy you will at some point need a mechanic. If you already have one, ask them for their opinion because they will be the one working on your car.
If you are going to have it maintained/repaired by a stealership, then purchase your car at one you trust.
Always, always, have your potential used car purchase checked out by a mechanic you trust. Any dealer worth their shit will allow you to take the car for a few hours (leaving your license/current car as collateral). Getting your future car on a lift and looked at by someone who knows WTF they are doing is huge. Personal story, my current car was listed for 11,995. I took it to my uncles shop, put it on the lift and found it was in an accident (front passenger bumper bracket was bent). I was able to haggle price down to 9995 because of this. No big deal, it's just a bumper bracket but dealer knew, did not tell me about it, and it wasn't on the carfax report.
Moral of story, get your car checked by a 3rd party.
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