before buying any car you should test drive it...check out the throttle responce,brakes,handling,and suspention.if its a 5-speed then go through every gear and listen for any clunking or squealing while in the gear or while shifting.you can check the brakes by looking at the discs and tapping lightly and firmly to listen for squealing or unbalanced brakes.check your throttle responce by giving the car half gas and if it takes a second to kick in then you'll have transmission problems down the road.this tip works both in manual and automatic transmissions.now to check the suspention you'll have to hit a few bumps.if you hit a bump listen for clunking because it should be smooth not too stiff.also while turning hit small bumps to see if anything is wrong with the control arms or bushings.some of these cars do not come with a rear stabilizer bar and the rear end is extremly light so be carefull while testing this.also when your temperature guage registers make sure its at normal temps and not running hot.it should be half way.now with normal temps running pull over pop the hood and smell for any type of distinct smells.if you smell a sweet fluid then its your coolant and it could be a leak.if you smell a harsh burning smell then it could possibly be your transmission fluid.

every car guy/girl knows this but im just throwing it out there for those of you with warrantys so you dont get ripped off and those of you who don't know that much......