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Okay, one thing that helps is that if you're looking at a car that's '96 or newer it's OBDII, which means it's super simple to hook it up to a diagnostic computer that can tell you if it has EVER thrown a code. That rules out a lot of stuff. When my daughter bought her '99 Subaru Forester I checked it out first and took it to my mechanic who confirmed it had never thrown a code of any kind. She bought it, and it's still running strong lo these ten years and many miles later. I just bought a '99 Subaru Legacy that has high miles but also has a super clean code history too--I just made it throw its first code ever, a misfire on one cylinder that was due to mismatched spark plugs. That's corrected and it's running smooth like buttah. Is this a guarantee of perfect future performance? Heck no, but a misused vehicle is pretty likely to have thrown codes and had them ignored so one that's clean and always has been is a much better bet than an older car that you can't check at all. I spent 2K on the Subie and fully expect to drive it for a good long time.
Another big advantage of OBDII vehicles is that pretty much any decent car parts store can and will check codes for free, on the not unreasonable assumption that you'll then buy any needed parts from them. This sure cuts down on spending for mechanic time.
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