What should I be looking for in a car?

I had a 99 Honda Civic before and it had way too many issues. I'm looking for a more newer car that I can do payments on because I need something more reliable.

How many miles max should I go for? Price (I'll be doing monthly payments) and minimum year of vehicle?

Added (1). Also I'm 20. I make 35k a year. I'm also a college student and travel on the road a lot for side gigs (photography) and my credit score is 600 (trying to get it up)

Added (2). 99 Civic was my parents old car from when they bought it when they first came out, so I haven't had any experience in purchasing a vehicle

Go to the library and look at the last few Consumer Reports Car Issues.

Basically, you want to get a car that has high ratings in reliability. Then you make sure the one you are thinking of buying hasn't been in any accidents.

Modern automobiles are generally extremely reliable if properly serviced and maintained. That is the key. High mileage vehicle can still be very dependable if the previous owner kept track of the proper maintenance schedule. So even if a car has well over 100k miles, regardless of year model, it can last for years to come if all services are up to date.

Automaker brands such as Honda, Mazda and Toyota have proven to have the best overall reliability.

If the seller can't provide proof of all service and maintenance receipts the risk would be high.

What should you pay for a given used automobile? You can find the current market value of any used car on the market from the following link.

https://www.edmunds.com/appraisal/

I agree with G that Honda, Mazda, and Toyota are your best bets. However, your 600 credit score is going to be a problem with financing unless you can get a co-signer with better credit.

I bought an '89 Toyota 2 years ago for $900, its a daily driver and I've had no issues with it. It has 204,000 on the odometer at present.

I see an awful lot of people on YA! Talking about have problems with cars and all I can think of is "how bad is there driving?".

Get a mechanic to look at it. Always pay cash for cars.