"It was torn off by a hooker," the owner of the used car told me. I didn't ask why a hooker would want to tear off his mirror—and really didn't want to know either.

Thus went my search for a used car.

To be honest, I had high hopes when I started. With plenty of careful and thorough research in my head, I was pretty sure I'd make a solid choice.

I chose twelve used cars to inspect. My search tool of choice was good ole' Craigslist.

Twelve cars is a lot. I shotgunned through them, doing three in one week, three in another week, then finally six all in one day. Countless hours and days were spent in this entire process.

The first three were meant for education. I didn't want to settle on one of them because I was new at used car shopping and wanted to get used to this marketplace.

After the initial three, I dived into the rest with vigor. It was quite a swim.

One car was fairly banged up. The fenders were squashed because the owner had trouble parking in San Francisco. Rust penetrated the body and paint was peeling all over. Maintenance hadn't been common and the engine was suspect.

Another car didn't start unless you shifted it into neutral (it was an automatic transmission). Several engine parts were loose and the driver's side rear-view mirror was held on by duct tape, because—yup, it was torn off by a hooker.

There was one that looked impeccable. The body had only minor wear and tear, and the engine ran well. There was only one glaring problem with it—a missing VIN. The owner did provided me with a VIN on what seemed to be an authentic pink slip, though Carfax.com found it to be nonexistent.

The most memorable one was the car with the broken automatic seat belt. It wouldn't hook into the automatic slider mounted on the door. To compensate, the owner told me to open the window, pull the seat belt out, and close the window on the seat belt hook so the strap would visibly cross my chest. "It'll help stop you from being pulled over by the police," he told me. It isn't going to stop much else though, especially in an accident.

One owner saw me making my rounds around her car and exclaimed, "Wow, you've done this before, haven't you?" I wanted to tell her, "You have no idea," but I just smiled and nodded.

When I finally settled on a car, it was perfect for the price range I was in. All of my inspections checked out and the car had a good maintenance history. The thorough research and hard work fortunately paid off.

Twelve cars is a heck of a lot. But at least I earned some good practical experience, and even a ramble!

. . .

Have you ever gone shopping for a used car?