Is it dumb to buy a car with 175k miles on it. It's a 2002 Toyota Camry?

I'm a high school student trying buy my own car. Vesely I do not have a lot of money so my budget is around $5000 or maybe 5500 at the Max. This is a 2002 Toyota Camry XLE with 175,000 miles on it. All I need is a simple reliable car that can get me around for about three years which is why am looking at Toyotas or Hondas. I know I Toyota Camry can probably last me for three years on 170 5000 miles but I'm still not sure and do not want to waste my money I also don't want people thinking I'm dumb or buy a car with that many miles on it my gut tells me I shouldn't buy it but what do you guys think

That should be okay, but have a mechanic check it over before paying money for it. I bought a Honda with 163K miles on it for my daughter when she entered college and she put another 94K miles on it before she traded it in.

I don't think that camry is worth $5000. I would say $2000 max with that many miles. If you could get a good deal for like $2000 it might be worth it. Also maybe consider a corolla there smaller and more economical. If you won't be haulin people in the back then you don't really need a camry.

The condition of the car is going to matter to me a lot more at that point than the miles. The car you are considering can be a great buy if it has been well taken care of. I would try to find out as much as possible about the history of the car. Number of owners and maybe an accident history. And don't be afraid to try to think of someone that you may know and trust, has a good understanding of cars, and is maybe 30y/o or more and ask them to go with you to look the car.

As far as the amount of money goes that's going to depend a lot on where you live. Check around and see if you can find comparable cars somewhere near you and see what they are going for.

175k miles is pretty average, I would only worry about any car with the automatic trans and they are time bombs that may last a long time or not.

This doesn't go for just Toyota, its all automatics.