Best used cars for sale under $7000

Buying cheap second hand cars is a risky business. Buy the right car and you can look forward to many years of affordable, worry-free motoring, but buy the wrong one and your motoring dream could become an expensive nightmare.

In buying a cheap used car you're potentially buying someone else's problems, but there's no easy way of finding out if the car you've got your heart set on owning is going to be your ideal drive, or a lemon set to cause you nothing but heartache.

All you can hope to do is to minimise the risk of buying the wrong car by doing your homework to identify the best used cars in Australia.

There's plenty of information out there on which are the most reliable cheap used cars even years after leaving the factory.

In simple terms, you should buy the newest car you can afford, the one that's in the best condition, that's done the least kilometres, and has an impeccable service history.

Start by researching the cars that fall within your budget, don't limit your search to your favourite makes or models; you should include everything at the beginning.

There's plenty of information out there on which are the most reliable cheap used cars even years after leaving the factory.

Find out which cars are afflicted with problems you should be concerned about, the ones you should avoid, to home in on the most reliable cheap used cars.

You can quickly check on their performance, fuel efficiency, safety, reliability, and current market value.

Having done your homework you can start shopping for good cheap cars, confident in the knowledge that you are equipped with the best information available.

When you're looking for the best 2nd hand cars under $7,000 you're necessarily looking at older cars, ones that have possibly done several hundred thousand kilometres, and have probably had a number of owners, some of whom will have treated it well, others maybe not so.

As the years mount it's also more likely than not that it has been involved in a bingle.

It might appear daunting at first, but with a little homework, and expert advice we can help you avoid the pitfalls of buying cheap used cars.

Having chosen a car to buy you should have it checked by a mechanic or someone you know who has the mechanical knowledge to properly assess it.

The state motoring organisations will check a car for you, and some local mechanics will also assess them. While it will cost you a few bucks, the peace of mind it gives you is well worth it.

In this guide to the best second hand cars in Australia we help you find the most reliable cheap used cars.

It might appear daunting at first, but with a little homework, and expert advice we can help you avoid the pitfalls of buying cheap used cars for under $7000.

While we've set an upper price limit of $7000, examples can often be found for under $5000.