The owner of the Corolla arrived. I had been watching the parking lot through the window, and I knew it was him as soon as I saw him turn into the lot.

I didn’t like the color too much. I am not very fond of teal. It wasn’t the most important factor to me, though. Other than the color, the car was beautiful, and it was, after all, a dependable Toyota Corolla.

He and his son got out of the car and walked into the Dunkin Donuts. I stood up and approached them. We shook hands, and I followed them outside.

I had to cancel those other appointments to see other cars. I figured it was worth it, though.

The following day I went to South Station to take the commuter rail from Boston, MA to North Attleboro, MA. There was a small twist in the story as I had been waiting at the wrong track. Fortunately, I realized it before my train had left, and I ran to the Attleboro train just as it was about to leave.

I was carrying my backpack, with nothing but a couple of books, my keys, my wallet, and my checkbook just in case. I didn’t plan on buying the car immediately, but I thought I should bring my checkbook in case I needed to make a deposit to hold the car.

When I arrived at the North Attleboro station, I looked all over for a teal or green Toyota Corolla. I couldn’t find it. I called the owner, and he apologized and explained that he was running late but would be there soon.

He had an emergency and would take another half an hour, so he suggested meeting somewhere in town. I walked into North Attleboro alone and found a Dunkin Donuts, from which I called the owner. He knew the place and said he would meet me there with the car.

I kept dreaming of the $2000 Corolla that I had discovered on Craigslist, even though I had convinced myself that it was too good to be true and therefore probably a scam.

Finally, I gave in and responded to the ad. I scheduled an appointment with the owner for the following day. I was to meet him in North Attleboro, where he lived. Since I didn’t have a car, I planned to take the commuter rail and meet the owner at the station.

I had scheduled other appointments the same day. One was with the owner of a 1988 Nissan Maxima. It was less than $1000, but was it really worth it? I realized that it was too old a car.

Another appointment was with the owner of a 1993 Mitsubishi. He was selling his car for $2895. If I could get the Toyota Corolla for $2000, I would have $895 in pocket money for other things.

I was browsing the Craigslist car rental ads multiple times a day when I found the best deal imaginable: a 1994 Toyota Corolla for $2000.

The owner said that he had to get rid of it by October 30, 2004. That sounded suspicious to me. I have read before that if someone is pressuring you to buy something because they have to get rid of it by a certain date, it should set off red flags and you should be extra-careful.

The car was in Attleboro. I lived in Boston at the time. I wondered if it was worth the hour-long commuter rail trip all the way out to Attleboro to see the car.

Probably not, I figured. It’s probably a lemon and a scam.

I decided to forget about the Craigslist posting and continue searching the listings for other cars.

Where do all the good, inexpensive used cars go?

Craigslist, of course. But you have to be careful and watch out for yourself. There’s a lot of worthless junk out there. There are a lot of cars listed that may seem good at first, but that are completely burdened by hidden problems. You could say that they are lemons without a return policy or protection by the law.

If you’re buying a used car on Craigslist, look for honesty in the sellers. What are their families like? Where do they work? Yes, this may border on being intrusive, but if you are paying them $1000 or more, you need to know this information.

If you do your research, you will find that Craigslist has better deals on used cars than any used car dealer does. I saved a ton of money that way, and I got an awesome little Corolla out of it too.

After some searching that turned out to be random for the most part, I felt lost.

Then there was a lucky turn of events. Someone was giving away an entire bag of old Consumer Reports magazines. I claimed them, not expecting much, and then found that the bag included two issues devoted to cars.

What a jackpot I had found! I looked through the rankings and then decided that I should really buy only a Toyota or a Nissan. Those two seemed to be the most reliable used car brands.

I was graduating from college, and I realized that I would need a car.

So I started to search for one. I checked the classified ads, both in print and online. I searched every used car website possible. All that mattered was that the car cost $3000 or less, and that it was a reliable car.

I didn’t know much about cars. All I really knew was that my parents loved Toyota Corollas, and that Japanese cars were supposedly quite reliable. So these were my basic criteria as I looked for a car.

I responded to a few used car ads and made appointments to see the cars. But I still felt uneasy about the whole situation.