Gambling is something a lot of people enjoy, but there are times where it’s not so fun. Times like buying a car. For most college students, buying a car is one of the most difficult gamble they may make at college.

So your car’s dead. The tranny shot itself to pieces, and now you’re walking a whole lot more. Somehow, you manage to get about $2000 or $3000, and are looking for a new set of wheels.

Where do you look?

What do you look for?

Questions are everywhere, and if you don’t know a lot about cars, you’re more than likely to get your pants pulled in buying a car.

Begin by finding out as much as you can. Learn about how cars work, what problems look and sound like. The easiest way to do that is just listen to what your friends’ cars sound like. Usually when something is wrong with a car, you can hear it. It won’t apply to every car, and there’s no need to go take a class on car mechanics; just at least understand how they work. And that’s about all you can do when you go to test drive a new car to buy.

But before you can jump into that hot Mazda RX-7, you should also find someone who knows cars better than you do. Bottom line, it never hurts to bring a friend, especially one who knows they’re way around a car.

Alright, so you’ve got a pile of money, and some knowledge about cars. Next, you’ve got to go and find a car. You can spend a lot of time looking and not find a single car you like. Or afford. So if you’ve got time, look at the classifieds. There’s plenty of cars advertised in the newspapers, but if you’re impatient and needing a new car soon, be sure to look online.

There are a few good places on the Internet to find good deals, and none have membership fees. Autotrader.com is one of the best, with a huge selection of local cars. Cars.com is also a great place, not only for the large database of cars for sale, but also for the Kelley Blue Book (KBB). The KBB is useful for when you find the car you want, but are unsure or curious about the price listed. Just go to Cars.com, click on the KBB link, and you will find the suggested retail price for the car your going to buy. The KBB has listings for almost every car, and goes back ten years.

Mileage is important when choosing your car. But make sure to look at the description. If the lister doesn’t show the mileage, there might be something wrong; if it isn’t listed as “runs great” or something to that effect, something might be wrong. Most of all, use common sense and realize most of the sellers are trying to make money off of selling the car, so expect them to try and cheat you.

When you find the car you want, call them to set up a time to go test drive it. If they won’t let you drive it, don’t even think about buying the car.

Before you leave to drive it, get the VIN number, or the Vehicle Identification Number, and go to autocheck.com, or Carfax.com that, for a small fee, will look up the vehicle history for you. Even though it costs money, it’s worth it, because you can find out a lot of things the seller won’t tell you.

If a car has been salvaged, wrecked, or anything out of the ordinary (other than being leased, or have a lien placed on it) then don’t even think about getting it. Anytime a car is damaged, like in a wreck, the frame is bent and weakened, so even if it was repaired or salvaged, it will never be as safe as it was before.

So the car you want checks out, everything looks great and you’re getting the price you asked (always start at least ten percent below what they ask), just ask one more thing from the seller: whether or not you can have it brought to a mechanic in the area as a condition of purchase.

You’re going to buy it, but you just want to make sure there’s nothing wrong. Before you ask, make sure you both have agreed on the price, and the seller knows you’re going to buy it. Then just bring the car to a mechanic, have them check it out (see if they’ll do a compression check), and pay for it yourself. The $25-$100 inspection will be worth it, especially if there’s something wrong with the car.