Note* that guide really still applies... I think the main message still applies at least... Buy a mass produced older car from a mostly reliable brand but not a rust bucket that has most depreciation gone that has a simple small engine because it gets good gas mileage, is easy to work on, and has easy to obtain cheap parts.
Yeah, the guide isn't ideal because it's more along the lines of 'buy this' rather than 'use this guide to get the best used car for your money'. Especially as the advice can vary between markets (climate, which cars are popular in which country, etc).
Easiest rules to follow are:
1) Stick to something from a common brand. Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, Honda, Mazda, GM, Ford, etc. Any brand in the top-ten list of highest selling brands in your market is usually a good option. Also consider badge-shared vehicles (such as the Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix in North America).
2) Avoid fashion cars. By that I mean most prestige brands, most SUVs, and even pickup trucks unless you have a legitimate use for them.
3) Buy something big enough to meet your needs, but avoid buying something much bigger than you need. Needless to say, if it's only one or two people in the car all the time, you probably don't need a big sedan or an SUV. However, if you've got four kids, then a minivan is a pretty good option.
4) When buying a car, keep in mind the depreciation curve. According to the following guides,
new cars lose about 60% of their value in the first five years of ownership. Of course this varies by model.
However, a car will often be economically useful for 15 years or longer. Hence, buying a five year old car would mean you're buying a car for 40-50% of the new price with 66% of it's useful life left. Naturally if you're skilled at DIY maintenance, you can get a lot longer than 15 years of serviceable life from a car, and if you live in some areas with heavily salted roads, the car may not last for 15 years before it completely rusts out (and you may be served well by buying a car from out of state if it's in better condition than local cars).
Often a five year old car will be the current model (body shape) or only one generation behind. For anything that age, most major issues should be known (maybe Google the major issues for a particular car before buying).
5) Keep in mind the amount of miles you drive. If a car is economically useful for 200,000 miles, and you do 5,000 miles a year, and looking for a five year old car, then theoretically you could buy a five year old car with up to 150,000 miles and drive it for the next decade. If you do 25,000 miles a year, you'd want to buy something with as low miles as possible.
