However, in your case, you'd have to not only add money out of your pocket to get what you want, but you'll add some uncertainty since you probably don't know how the seller took care of the vehicle. That makes it a harder sell.
Truth. And prices going through a certified used dealer double or even triple compared to Craigslist. I'm lucky to have a partner who's very car savvy, so I feel fairly confident that he can assess the condition of something I'm testing, but I've had more than one bad experience dealing with private sellers.
How many miles per year do you drive? Calculate the cost per mile in gas, then figure out how much you'd save if you doubled the mileage. How long would it take you to recoup your costs?
I think I did this right... seems that increasing my mileage to something around 25mpg will only save me about $600/year. Say a new, reliable vehicle will cost me around $8-10k (factor in selling the Santa Fe and I'm still looking at $5-8k) and that's nearly a decade it will take me to recoup. Numbers are powerful!!
I'm not crazy about my Santa Fe, but it's good enough. It's got a funky shudder (something about the transmission, happens randomly in third gear) that we've got our eye on and an occasional vibration in the exhaust, but it's required no non-standard maintenance. Not super comfy and I don't need the hauling capacity most of the time. My boyfriend drives a new-ish Tacoma (MMM would be furious) that can haul and pack everything we need. But it's done me well since I've owned it and it is FANTASTIC in the snow. I navigated some super highways in a white-out blizzard while mondo SUVs were spinning out.