Oddbean

My uncle has owned a body shop for over 60 years. Same as his relatives. Best advice he gave me as a teen regarding purchasing a used car … “pay attention to the inside. Almost always if someone is taking care of the inside & keeping it clean they have stayed up on maintaining the car. It’s not perfect but it usually is.” He later told me that’s how he bought “totaled” cars at auction. Called to verify but he’s always working 🤣

oohh, solid shout i am looking at a 1992 mitsubishi galant that's got like 143k miles on it, being sold for like $3,000 it's a manual, thinking it could be a good first car, enough hands-on to be experienced etc

It could totally work. Admittedly, I’ve bought totaled “salvage titles” vehicles from my uncle in the past & never had any issues. So if you have a good mechanic they are priceless. Another tip: it’s a bit morbid but it’s true that many older people have nicer cars & sometimes they are rarely driven. So upon death there are people who make their living purchasing those cars & “flipping” them. Kind of sad how predatory some people are. Death and divorce & most people aren’t thinking straight. Not a fan of that.