Our shop(used to sell gas) sold many used cars without any problems. As long as you get it checked out by somebody you know I don't see any problems buying it.

if i was in the market for a cheap DD i would get a s10 again in a heart beat never had any real problems with mine and everything is cheap for them

I daily drive a Civic, like you said, who cares, it's a daily driver. Much, much nicer car then my last DD (Ford Escort). 5 speed manual, reliable and good on gas (especially mine LOL).

get a car fox!!!! But seriously have it checked by a second person/other local garage! then youll know. if they see signs of leaks starting tranny slipping issues/bad clutch(Auto-5 Speed?) and other normal check points. the typical inspection doesnt really go that far. so it just passing inspection just means no engine light and tight front suspension.

Always get it checked out by someone else. Made that mistake 2 times buying from small dealers never again. All small dealers cars I purchase go to a mechanic.

When I sold my truck I sold it to a small dealer. My buddy dented the bumper pretty good with his flatbed the night before i sold it. Out of my embarrassment for bringing the guy a crashed truck i straight uP told him that I would take 500 off. His response, "that won't be necessary, well just hammer it back...". The trucks still for sale at a 5 grand mark up....

You really never know wih some of these fuckers is what I'm getting at.

I would have no problem buying from a gas station. Hyundai makes a great car. And cheap used to boot. Honda holds their value to well for a 5+ year old car. The Hyundai is nearly as reliable and much cheaper used..... even parts are less. I have a dealers lic (I do not sell cars) I just go to the auction every now and then and it is not rare to see a low milage (under 50k miles) Accent or Kia REO (basicely same car) for $1500-$2000. If you would like I can get you the wholesale pricing a car sells for at auction (to help you negotiate).

i'm in the market for a 4dr 4x4 small truck, s10/colorado, canyon/sanoma, or Frontier.
I've been searching around and found a few at some of these (gas station dealers). but they do seem to have a good amount of the DD compacts. dealing with the thing I have now is going to set me back too far to repair I'd rather spend that $ on something better that runs and needs only the basics.

What kind of mileage you getting ?

Mine got mid 30s, my saturn got about the same as well.

I'm guessing Formulas civic gets almost 40

My camry averages 29.. low 40s would be nice haha.