I need something reliable but I really only want to spend $7,000 at most. How many miles are too many miles? I've seen cars that seem to have too many miles on em.What are important questions to ask the dealer about the car?Any recommendations on car types? I need something small, but with good trunk space or hatch back space. My friend's VW Golf was perfect because it was small but you could fit tons in the hatchback area.

Ask if the dealer offer any kind of warranty on the car.Ask if the car have been in accident, but most likely the dealer will say, "Not that I know of".Ask if car have being in flood or any kind of water damage, the dealer will say, "Not that I know of".Ask if the car have maintenance keep up.Ask when is the last time that the car had major service, minor service.Ask if there is a car history report.Check the car yourself.Check the inner body, underhood, inside door, and inside trunk to see if the body lines are proper aligned and no new paint in those areas. If it has, most likely the car had body repair and most likely the car was in an accident.Listen to the engine at idle to see if there are weird noises coming from the engine.Test drive the car, see if anything shakes or wobble. While driving, give it a full throttle acceleration couple of times and from different speeds. See how fast the engine revs up to speed. If engine has been maintain properly, engine will easily rev upLastly, step out of the car, open the hood and do a smell test to see if there are oil burning, rubber burning, and belt burning smell coming from the engine.Good Luck

CARFAX.....CARFAX.....CARFAX..... Any used car that you are looking at should have a carfax report available. If it doesn't, make the dealer get one. They want to sell the car, they will provide this.Now, used cars.... There are all sorts of horror stories out there about buying a used car. Understand that any vehicle you purchase is just that "a used car". These vehicles will have been driven and require some sort of maintaince to continue to provide good service. What kind of maintaince or repairs will any used vehicle require is determined by how well it was built ,how well it was maintained and how it was driven. A car with 150,000 miles on it would cause some concern with most people about how much further it could go without a major repair. Example, my brother purchased a 1970 Buick Rivera with 168,000 miles. Okay, this is very old car with siginficant milelage. Except, he purchased the car from the original owner, all the maintaince records are there, the original owner cared for this car very, very, well. Thus, my brother has a big, old boat that will proably go another 100,000 without any thing major going wrong.Now, you are looking for something small, yet roomy, but only wanting to spend $7000.00. Tough price range to find something in. If I might suggest an alternative shopping area.Many residents in retirement communities or homes have automobilies. Quite a few of these residents never drive them. The reasons are varied, but usallay they don't feel up to snuff to handle traffic situations or health issues. Now, the reason they will keep a car in the parking lot, pay insurance on it, and never drive it, is that the car represents their independence and freedom. They eventually will decide that they would like to sell the car, but then comes in the trouble of going through that ordeal. So, put up some flyers explaining that you would like to purchase your first car, explain your situation and that you would be happy to all the leg work in completeing the sell. Try it for a week, see what happens.Anyway, the following makes have a good history at high mileage, so I would consider these: Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Vovlo, and Subaru. Good Luck and Drive Safe.