My daily driver gave up the ghost recently and I didn't want to go into debt buying a new car, so I decided to try to find an older Japanese car with low miles instead.
It took awhile (in my price range, they tend to have 200k-300k miles on them, and anything half decent is sold within hours of listing it) but I just found a 2000 Chevy Prizm with just 99k miles on it and a good body.
Needing a car (and scared to have yet another deal get snatched out from under me) I bought it after a quick test drive. I negotiated the dealership down a bit, and had them throw in a number of repairs and updates (new struts, alignment, new front and rear brakes, new head liner, fix a broken door handle, and a detail cleaning). I'm waiting now for them to finish all that work. The total price: $4000.
So did I get a good deal? It seems like a lot for an older car, but I've read a lot of good things about Prims/Corollas, and I want something that I can keep going with just regular maintenance. It would be nice to see what you guys think about this car? Thanks.