A Jewel Or Junk



                                                      By Gary Bryant

           Almost everybody at some point considers the  possibility of
     buying a used car from a private party.  A casual look through any
     newspaper will bear me out.  Yes, I know you only buy new cars from
     the dealer's lot, but sooner or later something or someone  will 
     change your mind.  
       
          It could be a seventeen  year-old daughter on her way to
     college.  It could be  that you actually looked at the bank loan
     agreement  on your brand new Camry and realized how much interest 
     you're paying out.  It could be that a used car is
     really what you want.  
        
          Pre-owned vehicles range in price and quality from  cheap
     junk on the one hand to almost new with an almost  new price on the
     other.  Determining where you fit in  this spectrum depends on
     several factors.  
     
          If you have an unlimited supply of cash, don't  waste your
     time reading this.  Just get what suits your  fancy and have fun. 
     If you have a source of cash, but  you are unwilling to part with
     it cheerfully, you may  want to consider the following points.   
   
          Mileage: One of the first questions you shouldn't  bother to
     ask is how many miles are on the car.  Everybody does.  If the
     vehicle is more then four  years-old, it really doesn't matter. 
     Once you're over  eighty thousand miles, many parts have either
     worn out  and need replacing or have recently been replaced.  There
     is only one solution to this dilemma and that
     is... 
     
          Pay a mechanic for a physical inspection.  It  doesn't matter
     if the car you are buying cost $400 or  $4,000, the less  expensive
     one may cost you as much as  the most expensive, if you end up
     feeding it new auto parts every other day.  A trained mechanic in
     your  corner will let you know what to expect in terms of potential
     costly repairs.   
      
          I  saw an ad for a German import that normally sold secondhand
     at $7500, being adverised for $1000 because of a bad transmission.
     The transmission replacement  would cost me three days in the shop 
     and $1400.  That's  still only $2400 for a $7500 car!  You should 
     be so lucky!