OT: Damsel In distress! Help!!!

Hi guys. Sorry to invade you territory (I promise, I don't come here often) I come to you in desperate need of information. About Cars. I don't have a lot of money and will be buying a car, outright- second hand. Cash- hopefully in the next 2 months. (I am from NY originally so car education was not necessary). I am hoping not to have to spend over $2000. Under would be ideal. But I don't want them to see me coming, so to speak. I don't want to shop naieve. Any pointers any guy can give me would be greatly appreciated.  Pretty cars mean nothing to me. I need safe, reliable, and efficient (in that order). I know... stereotype... guys know cars! But I figure out of the list of hobbies and careers in the mechanical field, you guys tend to be more knowledgable. Any help Greatly appreciated. I am in Phoneix BTW, so if you can advise me locally to a good source, all the better! Pointers helpful too- what to look for under the hood... signs that a car is trouble straight off- all of that will be absorbed. Thanks and forgive the invasion! Olivia

Safe, reliable, efficient? Toyota. I've owned a few. You can nearly burn them to the ground and they'll keep running. I have a 1988 Camray with 280,000 miles on it. I replaced the transmition about a year ago, and it still gets me everywhere I need. I probably could replace the engine and get another decade out of it

There are also a million of them on the road, so they're easy to find a good deal.

As previous poster comments, it is very hard to find a bad Toyota. It is also hard to find one under $2K. If you can, buy it. I would add Honda to the list. You should be able to find a clean mid 1990's Honda Civic for under $2K. As far as Safe Reliable and Efficient, Honda and Toyota are the standards by which all others are judged. Toyota Camry or Tercel. Honda Accord or Civic. These cars are the Keith Richards of the automotive world, no matter how bad you abuse them they just won't die. Good Luck. JP

LOL- The Keith Richards, eh? You guys seem pretty agreed on the toyota's- mid ninetys for used. My next question would be- Since it is a foreign car- isn't maintenence expensive?

the guy just gave you excellent advice. i used to own an exotic car dealership but sold regular cars wholesale. so just what they said. go for a japanesse car with the lowest possible miles, automatic with a/c. that's it. good luck. oh, make sure you get a clean pink slip and the ACTUAL owner signs it off to you right on the spot. good luck....carbonblob

Is there anything physical that should be a red flag that it is definitely not a deal?

As an auto insurance adjuster, I must say the foreign cars - Honda and Toyota are both reliable and will last for a long time if properly taken care of.  The things to look for are: clear and clean title (no salvage rebuild, flood title, etc.), good maintanence records (if possible), and try to find an automatic with low miles.   Be careful as you dont want to buy someone else's problem.......

Do you find that it costs more to insure the foreign cars? Is the theft rate higher?

And when you find one that you like.. then have a mechanic put it up on a lift and look it over for you BEFORE you hand over any ca****'ll be money well spent and shouldn't cost more than one hour labour.

If they do not allow me to do this.. that would be an indication that something is wrong... right?