Quote Originally Posted by Daox View Post
... Just make sure its either a total junker and you go over it well and fix it up (like I did), or its in good shape and don't have to worry about it.
I'll modify my "never", and agree that fixing a junker gets the green light, provided you have the time and patience for that type of thing. I think that finding one "in good shape" can be difficult, due to the 3 significant problems that I mentioned earlier, along with the question of timely oil changes (which of course applies when buying any used vehicle).

I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about. With my daughter's Aveo being a year younger than mine, I tend to use mine to predict when the same things will be needed for hers. So when my valve cover gasket started leaking 2 years ago, I estimated the time to do this job on hers. She lives 900 miles away and so I have to schedule the work I do on her Aveo, carefully planned around our peridoc visits. But it turned out that her 2006 valve cover gasket leaked more and/or sooner than mine, and developed a misfire, due to oil from the leaking valve cover gasket rotting out the plug wires. With no visit immediately on the horizon, I knew it would have to go to a shop asap. But my daughter, being like many other folks not understanding the issues related to a misfire, didn't want to take it in right away, and I had to push her into it. So it's easy to imagine people with little knowledge and/or low funds who just keep driving misfiring Aveos, until it eventually does some much more serious damage.
Yes this could happen with anyone in any vehicle, but again IMO, I think it's more likely to take place in a very low end model like the Aveo. (does anyone owning a BMW have a problem paying for maintenance?)

It would be a huge plus if the seller had documentation showing the maintenance history, which would tend to validate the condidtion of the vehicle.