Welcome to Gaia! ::

I was tempted to vote "bicycle" simply because that's my primary method of transportation.

If you can afford it, I'd have to say go for the new car rather than a used one. (Please make it an environmentally friendly one (as environmentally friendly as cars can get... sweatdrop ))

Nessa makes some good points. I don't know your financial situation, so that is a massive determinant. Do you like you current car? I think if you have the means (i.e. the money), the old car may not be fixed, and you WANT a new car... it seems like a reasonably sound idea.

Personally I find new cars can be a safer bet, but if you go used then go with a all around better car. Some cars notoriously have better lifelines than others. My friend in high school his car was ten years old (it was a Ford) that sucker was on its last leg. My ex's car, 11 years old, same deal (it was a GMC). My car, ten years YOUNG, it's going strong and making me proud (it's a Honda).

My advice is to find out any models you're gravitating towards if you have anyone with the same car. Finding out the experiences of others can be a good indicator if the car will last. Even within a car brand there are the better cars and the not so good ones (not always dictated by price).

Good luck whatever you do!!

well, it's a 98 ford contour. 90k miles, no rust on the body. i've been a mechanic for quite awhile so i know what the problem is. it's the ecm (the car's main computer for those that don't know cars) the part is approximately $1500. now, the car's worth roughly $3500, in great condition. i paid $200 for the car, and put about $700 into it. so it'd still be less to fix it then buy a new one. but i hate working on newer cars. i had a 85 caprice that was the best car i've ever owned. and i'd buy another one in a heartbeat. it was big, and easy to work on because it didn't have all the electronic crap. and since it was so easy to work on, i always kept up on the maintenance so it never used a ton of fuel, nor did it smoke.

This is tough. I don't drive but I seem to be pretty decent at finding cars for others. I agree with Nessa, get an estimate first. Otherwise I usually would recommend trying a private seller rather than a dealership. It seems dealers really try to rip you off, and you tend to not get the best cars cheaply, they usually go to auction. A good thing to do if you're going to go that way is find out when you local police auctions are (usually once a week or month) and then goto the delership the day before. You can get some good deals then because they would rather sell it to you then have to auction it.

Ideally, it would be nice to find a used car that's owned by an older person who used it for getting around town. Then it's likely an older car, therefore the price is lower, but the mileage is low. Also single owner retired people tend to take better care of their cars, so it's probably in good shape. Dealerships do things wwhen they get cars in to make them look better, like clean the engine and that's bad.

Try looking at http://www.carsoup.com for a car.I have found many a car there and it's nice because you can search very specific things, be it make, mode, price down to things like only wheelchair equiped vans. Plus it's free for the buyer.