Choice #1: I advise against this one. The transmission has 167K miles on it. It make no sense to install a refreshed motor on a transmission having this many miles. To do the job right, replace both the motor and transmission (while you have these out of the car). suddenly, the price increases. If this car has been driven in the northern tier of states, it has seen 13 winters of road salt. Melting salt takes a toll on the body and undercarriage. Also, 167K miles puts mcuh wear on the driver's seat.

Choices #2 and #3 are better than the Hyundai Accent (in my opinion). I haven't seen these cars.

jemdandy,

I really appreciate your feedback. This is exactly what I'm looking for. Yes, Boston winters are terrible on a car's undercarriage. I've never had an interest in learning about cars. But now I have to since I'll have to come up with some money! :)

I enjoyed our Hyundai a lot (Santa Fe SUV). But they self-destruct at around 80K. Cheap internal components that fail around the same time necessitating several major repairs. Since we don't drive a lot I got 14 yrs out of it which was more than enough!

The Accent is the cheapest smallest car Hyundai makes. I wouldn't be willing to bet it's due for some major overhauls when you least expect it.

I don't care for Toyotas (the GM of Japan) but they are reliably bullet-proof. Especially the Camry which is their flagship. I agree 100% with jemdandy. If you can afford it go for the 2012, better safety equipment. But you should be OK with the 2008 as well.

Do be aware, however, that Toyota used Takata airbags, which are dangerous as they age (people have died from accidents involving them, which drove Takata recently into bankruptcy). For a 2008 the airbags MUST be replaced soon. The 10 yr mark is when the bags' components go bad. For the 2012 the replacement should be done (if it hasn't already been done) by 2022.

Note the DATE of any replaced airbags. If the replacement was done prior to 2016, the airbag is the EXACT same manufacturing process found to be defective (the airbag explodes upon impact, sending small pieces of metal flying out at high speed). Since the airbags ONLY exhibit this defect as they age past 10 yrs, the NHTSA allowed Takata to replace earlier airbags with newer versions of the original design while the factories changed over to a safer design.

Those cars with original Takata design, early replacements, are themselves scheduled for replacement of safer new airbags in no more than 10 yrs from that first replacement date - preferably sooner, if sufficient supplies of new design airbags come in.

The recall is extremely comprehensive and is thus not scheduled to end until at least 2020; it will likely continue beyond that.

Any used car you buy that has the bad Takata airbags is tracked by its Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) which is listed on the vehicle's pink slip.

Make sure you question the owner of any used car whether it was involved in the Takata recall, and WHEN any replacement airbags were installed (you want to see an actual invoice of the work done by a dealership; not a vague, "Oh, I think I had them replaced a year ago or something.").

Note that for any strange reason if you decide to buy the Hyundai, it is not affected by the Takata recall. Hyundai has its own supplier for airbags. Only 19 auto manufacturers were affected, but most used Takata bags only for certain models, and in specific years.

HTH, and good luck with your new used car!

If the budget is not your problem, I recommend you option #3, good price, under 5 years and low mileage