[COchief]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Whoops, mis-pasted. This is what I meant to post.

http://omaha.craigslist.org/cto/3649400467.html

Here is my philosophy and you can agree or not.

Spend 4K on a high mileage X and most likely have something go. I mean these are reliable as hell but you're gambling with anything approaching 200K. Then you end up spending 1000-1500 and have a legit vehicle again for 5-6K.

Or

Spend 5-6 right off the bat, get a 110Kish vehicle and know nothing will be go wrong if you know how to find a car.

Option A $5k 176K mile vehicle (after something goes, you could have nothing, it's always a gamble)

Option B $5k 110K mile vehicle

Also take in effect general wear and tear and things like rust, look at the difference between a vehicle with 40k vs 110k, usually a pretty big difference.