1 Don't buy a new car.   Avoid the first year's depreciation, it is bound to be less than any repairs you will have to make on a decent year old car.

2. Pay cash  see:
http://www.daveramsey/etc/lms/drive_free/player.cfm

I would suggest that whatever you get have very good fuel economy.  >40mpg if possible.

Thanks so much for the advice everyone.  Edmunds and Carfax were both very helpful. Also, I picked up this useful buyers’ guide at the credit union:
https://www.ufcu.org/learning/vehicle/wheels/buyers/index.php

I mainly cycle and walk and most of the time haven't had a car or had very old ones. I drive regularly to see elderly mom out of state not near major airport. At present, I don't mind putting some money toward having a newer reliable vehicle.

I bought a 2008 Nissan Altima 4-cyl with 16,000 miles for $17,910 + tax & title - immaculate. Cash. It was $19, 700, was dropped to $17,910 at the weekend. I bargained without success, then tried to get them to put some Michelin HydroEdge tires on it, which wouldn’t have been much of an outlay for them. They wouldn’t; said they were selling at a loss, having $18,400 in it. All I could do was to get them to give me an extra key, repair the dings and chips, and detail it better. I really liked it while I hadn’t been enthusiastic about anything else I tried in 6 visits to 5 dealerships, it’s extremely clean, a good enough price, and good enough mileage for someone who doesn't drive much.

I first tried a new Honda Accord, found it stodgy. Tried a Civic, found it zippy, but too small for my comfort zone.

I tried a new Toyota Camry 4-cyl, having in mind to order a hybrid. The dealership wouldn’t go down a penny from the MSRP, nor would they offer me a decent price for my 94 Seville as a trade so I walked.

I really intended to get a new car for a change. But when it came down to it, I could only stomach the thought of the depreciation in the case of a hybrid, which I wanted and which I figured wouldn’t depreciate as much, what with the waiting list for new ones. But I also couldn’t stomach the dealership not budging a penny off MSRP.

My nephew got a decent 2005 Nissan Altima 6-cyl at a different dealership for $15,450 + tax & title. That vehicle had been reduced by $1000 the previous weekend and we got them to go down another $500. I think he should have gotten them down more, but he wanted that vehicle and wasn't willing to walk and get back to them in a couple days as I suggested.

It seems like most of their sales now are in small and medium size vehicles and they’re filling the lots with them, pricing them to turn over, skimping on the inputs like detailing, and not bargaining or offering perks.

Nephew paid $5000 down and got a 30-month loan at 4.95% for the balance from the credit union with my co-signature.

I'm hoping to sell my 94 Seville (used to be mom's) for $4000 to some young guy that wants to pimp it out.

That does work.  Some years back I was shopping for a used car.  I saw it over a weekend, and then went home and looked up what blue book would be and all that.

I went back on the Monday night that followed, which happened to be the end of the month.  And it was snowing that night too.  I took another test drive - they had a rookie salesman in the car with me during the test drive, so I start to make small talk.  I ask him "how has your quarter gone - did you make your numbers?".  The kid says "not bad - we need to sell 2 more, and there is another guy in there looking at a different car".  He might as well have put a sign on his back that said "Kick me".

So we get back to the dealership and start haggling.  It took an hour or two to get them down to where I wanted them, but eventually got them to a good price. 

It takes so long because they only offer price cuts a little at a time.  And you have to be prepared to stand up and walk out if you don't get the price you want.  If you fall in love with the car, then they have you where they want you.

Don't know about the car business.  In my industry it goes by the quarter, so I inadvertently phrased it that way.  Now that I think about it, I probably just asked him if they were going to make their numbers or some such.