Buying A Car

If you are going to stay at a particular place for quite some time say more than three months, then its better to buy a car rather than rent one. Buying a car involves quite some work. Its better to be cautious while buying a car, 'cause owning a car brings you freedom and you own a vehicle but you need to maintain the car and take care of any problems.
The main concern while buying a car is its maintenance cost should not be high, otherwise you will loose a lot. So here is what experience tells us.
Buying a car in America is very easy, there are lots of used cars for sale and there is never a shortage. It is just the question of deciding the budget and type of car to be bought.
Most people prefer Japanese cars over American makes simply because of the easy re-salability. The most popular Japanese car makes are Honda and Toyota.
Look up the yellow pages in the local tel. directory to get the list of car mechanics or just ask colleagues to recommend one. If that doesn't work out, ask the local AAA (American Automobile Association) office to recommend someone to you. For a fee of about $25-30 the mechanic will check up the car and tell you the problems or possible problems if any.
Some people do it for free. It is good to tell the auto mechanic to check up the following things with additional care in addition to their regular: -
1) Brake cylinder, drum and worn out pads
2) Transmission. (This is the costliest part in an automatic car)
3) If it is a 4 speed never buy it. 5 speed is ok.
4) Check for rust in bottom, radiators, muffler and tailpipe.
5) Check for vibrations when you brake from 40mph, without downshifting. If there are vibrations, either break pads or steering pinion is in bad shape. Get 4 people to sit in the car and you can make out if the suspensions are OK, when you make a sharp turn.
6) Most important, check for oil leaks, and whether the car gives you power speed/pick-up when you try to accelerate. You can feel if it's OK.
7) Last, check for emission whether the smoke is black (thick), which means oil, is also burned with fuel => the car is beyond its life. The piston rings might be leaving a gap in the cylinders because of wear. In that case, don't buy the car, because you will have to change the cylinder, piston and rings which will come to double the cost.
8) Ask the owner to give the records of the maintenance he has done, like new tires etc. Also, make sure you don't go beyond 3rd hand purchase. There must be something seriously wrong with the car if people have changed owners drastically.
9) Air filter, valve etc. OK?

Mileage is also a consideration while purchasing a used car. Lesser the better. The ideal average is 10000 miles per year. So a car manufactured in 2002 may have a driven mileage of about 70000 miles in 2009 and not more than 80000. These are approx. figures.