First Car?

The best thing I can tell you is don't be in a hurry to buy a car and make sure when you do bring someone along that really knows the car you are looking at. A few good tips are as follows; 1. check all the fluids for level and condition of fluid. Ie., pull the transmission dip stick and with a white cloth wipe down the dipstick if you see substantial amount of black residue the transmission has a lot or wear. Ideally you should only see a red color. 2. Pull oil dipstick and look at level and oil quality. Generally check normal maintenance items ie. hoses belts battery. Check tire wear for alignment. Basically heed any red flags you see. As far as the body goes don't be afraid to look under the car look for excessive rust or damage look at break lines and fuel lines. Look for leaks and how bad they are. Drive the car and pay close attention to noises rattles and generally how the car "Feels" Take it up to speed and look for steering wheel shimmy. Hit brakes and check for evenness in how the brakes pull. It boils down to seeing how the person took care of the things you can see. That gives you a good idea how they took care of things you can't

As far as this 03 Impala if everything looks good I would try to get him down some....say $400-$500. Reason being the mileage. Its like any other sale if he's asking $3000 he knows that he will get somewhat less than that.

Most people would avoid this car simply for the color, but sometimes offering 1/2 price, with cash in your hand makes people see green. Good advice by Aztec!