l am a 17 year old seinor in high school buying my first car.l am looking for a used car no older than 1998.My choices are a ford mustang, chevrolet camaro, pontiac firebird, or pontiac gto.l am ooking for car buying advice because l do not know what to look for when searching for a good used car at a reasonable price. thanks in advance!

l guarantee u wont find a used GTO for a price a 17 year old can afford.

Camaros r nice but tend to have problems with emissions systems after about 76000 miles.

Mustnags r nice but eat gas.

Firebirs ar nice but its a GM & the smae goes for the camaro. Emmisions issues at high milage.

Trust a guy that used to drive sports cars: Dont worry about image until u have money & buy a reasonable, fuel efficient, point a to point b vehicle. If u want something sporty, get a Ford Focus Hatchback or a Honda Civic Ci. At 17 years old , unless u r just stinking rich for some reason, u will find thaty having a sports car will chuck away money that couldve been used towards other important
things like.gas. You might have a car the looks impressive, but no one will be impressed when u can drive the darn thing.

Yes, just check out the below like you will find very useful hints into it before buying a 2nd hand car.

apparently you dont care about your MPG's.

Get it inspectioned to a trusted mechanic. Used cars needs an experience eye , ear, and even smell. Some people are lucky buy finding first hand car from the owner and you can tell from some owners either old or caring etc. But in case of the model you are looking for, YOU MUST TAKE IT TO a mechanic. Try jumping to any mechanic and ask for an advice in your local area, they can tell you trusted retailers.
Best of luck,

There is quite a bit to know when buying a first car. Here are a couple of articles that will give you some helpful information:

http://used-car-advisor.com/buy-used-car.htm

http://firstcarguide.com/choose/deciding-on-your-first-car.html

Good luck.

mmm all nice choices!
fave is the stang tho!

low miles would be one thing, u dont want to buy a car that has more than 12,000 miles on it per year (find that out by taking the # of miles on car & divide it by how many years old the car is)

see if they kept up with the upkeep of the car (new tires, belts, inspections, oil changes) ask for receipts on that stuff, dont take their word for it, they want to sell the car so ofcourse theyre just going to tell u what u want to hear

see if the car is still under warranty, thats a BIG plus..most cars have 3 year bumper to bumper warranty & a 5 year power-train warranty

get a CARFAX report on the car

also look into buying a certified pre-owned..most of the time those come with warranties

good luck & have fun with ur new car!!!

Dude do not do it your going to waste all your money on gas the American muscle cars are gas killers and ford mustang sucks out of all the muscle cars you mentioned. Get a decent car like Nissan that goes at at least 25mpg.

Hello Tre :
Price will work itself out in the end . l know it can be first in ur mind, but, look for a DEPENDABLE vehicle.

(1) Do not go car-hunting alone. Bring someone with u that is knowledgible about cars.
It could be a good friend, a mechanic or even ur Dad. Bring them all !

(2) You have to test-drive the car YOURSELF. You do not have to be alone in the car, but . u have to drive it !
Believe me, when u sit in a car that u would love to own . u will know it !

(3) Test out everything ! . brakes, acceleration (sounds like that is what you're looking for anyway), check under the hood, open the trunk, make sure both dim & bright lights work, push & pull every knob on the dash-board & there has to be NO CRACKS in the windshield !

Best of Luck to u !
From experience, as long as u live, u will never forget ur 1st car.

it is all been said already here! just listen and you will save yourself a bundle.
time for some ''fun'' car will come later.

Tre, l bought a used Mustang in Arizona last year and saved a lot. l have not had any problems yet. l only buy used cars. http://findusedcardealer.com