I've learned to never buy from a dealer. Finding someone selling a car that is 3-5 years old, decent mileage, and a decent price is by no means as difficult as

I've learned to never buy from a dealer. Finding someone selling a car that is 3-5 years old, decent mileage, and a decent price is by no means as difficult as people believe. Bought my first car, cash, for 5000 in 2006 (it was a 2000 Mazda Protege); ran it until 2012 so that's 800-900 per year). Then I sold it for 2100, with it having 160,000 miles on it. I then bought a 1999, cutlass with 32,000 miles but a non-working radio for 2200. (radio got me a discount) Both vehicles retain value extremely well, the cutlass for instance is still valued at 3300. I'm expecting to flip my cutlass in no less than 6 but probably not more than 10 years for around 2000 dollars again. Maybe 2200, maybe 1800. You just have to know the value of your car, what you want, and how/when to sell. Tip: Sell in Feb/March/April when many high-schools will be sending a fresh batch of road-rage demons on the roads in the coming months. Parents and poor people make the best bait. You can often 'see' where they will haggle too. I posted an ad at 2200, knowing I'd get an offer of 2000, and then negotiated the sale back up to 2100. Predictable.