OT- Used Car ideas

I know a guy who had his car hood dented by a certain large Michigan football player. He'll sell it to you cheap but the sentimental value on the vehicle would be priceless. 

If you're in Mi, find something from NC (or anywhere it doesn't snow).  Fly down, drive it back to MI.  Sell it in a few years.  Profit.

If you have the time and patience, craigslist will probably get you your best deal. I bought mine off there a couple years ago and it's crazy once you have your price range figured what you can find. I had a slightly higher budget than you, but don't be afraid to look at cars $1000 above your price range. THat's the asking but you can easily work them down. I dropped mine by over 1K just by seeing it in person and noting some minor defects and KBB values. Make sure you check the title though because many cars are heavily discounted and if you're getting a loan, a lot of places won't give you one if the car doesn't have a clean title.

Edit: Here's a Lincoln that could fit what you're looking for.  Link It's going for $5500 and has a little higher mileage, but you can probably work them down a little and it's defnitely better than the Chevy you have now.

If you don't have to keep to a Honda and are interested post your email address and I'll send you more info directly.

If you can get past the lack of resale value then go with a Saab. I bought a 2006 9-3 wagon last year and it's all I could ever ask for in a daily. Leather/heated seats/turbo/amazing gas mileage/fits the whole family/luxury. A seriously good all around car.

Not so great on gas mileage, but you can find a 2000-2003 Ford Crown Vic with 30-50,000 miles on it, and you can get that car for $5k of some old lady. It will last you at least 200,000 more miles if you take care of it. Mine gets right around 22 miles per gallon highway.

My wife and I have opposing philosophies, I recommend you go with option 2 since it is fun and affordable:

1) She likes nice cars. Buying a used car gives her lots of perks (bigger engine, nice finish package, etc) for less money. She now drives a really slick car.

2) I like crappy old cars, and I like to buy and sell them regularly. My favorites include 1988 Subaru GL, 1992 Honda DelSol (classic Del Sol green), and 1994 Nissan shortbed pickup (this last one had a sweet lift). I never spent more than $2,000 on a vehicle, and after investing probably $500 in each for maintainance I sold them for at least the same price I originally paid. Of course, caveat emptor, but even if one is a complete lemon, you won't be out much cash. 

Note: philosophy 2 really depends on where you live. It works great in Michigan, but is harder in California with taxes and expensive maintainance etc.

I have a used 2010 Mercedes GLK 350 for sale if anyone is interested. Cheapest price in America for it

For most of my life Ive driven "beaters" (for lack of a better term). What I mean is a car I buy outright that might need a wrench turned here or an alternator swapped there, keep them for a couple years and repeat.  Recently, I sold the only vehicle I ever had a payment on, a 2003 F-150, that had been paid off for close to 5 yrs (bought it used. Never buy new!)

Anyhow, Im scanning Craigslist and Auto trader and the local fishwrap classifieds and here is a piece of advice you may or may not want to incorporate into your own search.  I found I had more luck dealing with a dealer than a private seller. 

On the face this seems odd, as dealers would upsell their mothers if they're given the chance, but let me explain my reasoning. I had 2 main reasons for this (and if things hadnt worked, I wouldve tried another dealer, or gone back to the drawing board). This isnt meant to be gosepl set in stone, more "suggestive".  First thing- most dealers just turn and sell the vehicles they take in on trade (especially if theyre over 100k on the odometer) to a wholesaler or auction and make a couple hundred a unit and dont deal with whatever problems they might have. However, there are some dealers out there (you can find them) that will keep a select few of their traded in vehicles and sell them off of their lot. Generally these are the "better" trades that either have a higher resale, or are in pretty good shape.  For the most part, if a dealer thinks the car might be a lemon that could end up in negative press they'll jettison it, but if they think its decent enough (from a low price high mileage car perspective), they will keep it and try to see if they can make a grand or so. Lots of times you'll get a free carfax too.

The second reason you may want to see what a dealer has on the wholesale lot is because instead of having to bum a ride of a friend or realtive to go look at a car 20 minutes away only to find out the reason there was no picture of the right rear quarter panel in the ad was because there was no right rear quarter panel, and having wasted all that time, you can go to one place and see 5-10 cars all at once and increase your odds of finding something decent before youre friends start ducking your calls.

Now, the dealer is going to try and make a few hundy off you, and they may say they cant deal with you too much because their margins are already slim, but you can still make an offer. I find the "Ill give you xxx, out the door, including tax title and plates" the best angle. It helps make their silly dealer fees vanish in a hurry. 

3 weeks ago, I did exactly this after selling my truck, and I ended up with a 2003 Taurus with 117k on the clock. The car is as loaded as Taurus' got in 2003, and I paid $1800 for it, from a dealer, who had the price listed as $2500.

So, do with this info whatever you like.  Merely relaying whats worked for me in the past