1Begin by Getting a Feel for What the Market Has to Offer

For starters, your look for a cheap reliable car can commence by you simply noting what car models are available at the sort of price you have in mind - $5000 and below. Perhaps the quickest way of going about this is by using one of the several websites that list used cars. One of these is www.cars.com and it is designed to help you make used car searches within local areas and within specified price ranges. This particular website has plenty of models for you to consider and their years of manufacture going way back to 1990 and so on. It will obviously take you some time to check out what is available for each model but an hour or so will suffice for you to get a rough idea of what your money can buy you.

2Once you Have an Idea of What is Available…

At this point you should become more objective and try to figure out exactly what vehicle will cater to your needs in a most efficient manner. This means that you should basically be thinking about how the vehicle is going to be used. The capacity is something to ponder – you certainly don’t need to buy a van for seven when you only have a family of four. Issues of capacity are also applied to the car’s hauling and towing abilities; cars with more of these qualities will obviously be more expensive to purchase and definitely more costly to operate. It is therefore prudent that while looking for a cheap reliable car under $5000 you should really go for a model that is complementary to your requirement. Indeed buying a spacious van for a delivery business can’t be considered illogical, even if you have a small family.

3With Availability and Objectivity Fulfilled it is Time for Selectivity to Take Over

Your quest for a cheap used car has by now helped you identify what is available and you have also been able to make a list of possible purchases, courtesy of being objective. The next thing ought to be a narrowing down of the list with an aim of eliminating any of the possible purchases that are known to be problematic. To do this you will need to identify a suitable elimination criterion; a good idea would be something like trying to establish which of the vehicles on your list are known to need frequent repair. This is the opportune time to make use of Consumer Reports, which are available as both online and physical resources. However, some online reports will tend to be slightly too new to include car models from some of the years relevant to your search. In such instances you can use physical reports, say from your local library, and though these may be slightly outdated you should be able to get a rough idea of a desired car’s reliability for a given year of manufacture.

4Vary Your Sources of Information

While the information on many a Consumer Report will be something that you can work with as you look to buy a cheap used car, there are a variety of reasons why expanding the scope of your information on various selection criteria is prudent. It is quite true that finding a used but reliable car is more likely nowadays granted that many car brands are being noted for increasing quality. However, it is also a fact that many modern cars tend to be more complicated thanks to the different advanced applications being incorporated by different manufacturers. These sophisticated inclusions may prove to be the Achilles heel of your purchase in the event of their breakdown. It may be quite difficult to locate a car repair specialist who can tackle such mishaps and when you do the repair bill could be really high.

With this in mind you will want to make consultations with all and sundry that you think may have a useful opinion. Such people include local car dealers, family and friends, local car garage mechanics, etc. You should also make use of ads in the newspapers and so on.

5Now it is Time to Take Out the Money

Having identified a car model that has passed all your elimination criteria satisfactorily you will be in a good position to go out and look for that cheap reliable car under $5000. You may do this physically by visiting local car dealers and even seized-car auctions or alternatively you can decide to use the internet to find specific models and makes that are in your vicinity. A helpful website for doing this is www.Autotrader.com. Going through the Craigslist listings is also a good idea. It is advisable to start your search way in advance prior to making a purchase because in this way you will have the opportunity to pit the best offers against each other ensuring that you remain with the very best.

6Just Before You Hand Over the Money for the Car Keys...

Don’t trusty of the car seller too much – exercise caution and have the vehicle inspected at a local repair or mechanic shop. The roughly $100 you’ll pay for this to be done shouldn’t be seen as a waste even though you end up not buying the car...yes, more so when you don’t buy the car...but you will have saved yourself from spending more down the road. You may also find it helpful to track the car’s history including any accidents that it might have been involved in. For this you can invest $19.95 to run one of the car’s VIN numbers through www.Carfax.com.

7Pros and Cons of Buying American Cars over Foreign Cars

Perhaps the best way to go about determining the most reliable brand of car is is by checking out the results of surveys carried out for this very purpose. The 2009 Auto Brand Perception Survey, for example, details such results according to the prominent factors that car buyers had as their consideration criteria. For this survey the topmost criteria were value followed by quality at 49% and 21%, respectively. In terms of the preferred car models the ranking order for quality was as follows: Toyota, Honda, Mercedes Benz, Lexus and Cadillac. More information about this particular survey and even more links to various relevant resources can be found here.

For a helpful used car guide you can use the information available at http://www.carsales.com.au/reviews.