<prompt> Human: Since I got my license six months ago, Ive been sharing a car with my girlfriend. My dad gave me a call add said hed be happy to help me get a car now that hes gotten some financial stuff squared away. Naturally, Im excited, and I had already been looking on Craigslist for potential buys. Some specific questions I had: I know that its a good idea to call a mechanic to inspect a car before buying. What are some things that I can look out for that should be immediate red flags? Is it worth buying a car that needs repairs? ex: a 97 Honda Accord needed a new head gasket. I looked up the repair cost, and it said 100-200 for parts and labor?. What kind of insurance costs can a 21-year-old expect? Ive heard upwards of 200 a month.Any extra advice is helpful as well. Im currently working for 9hr and Im positive that Id be scraping to pay insurance. Im looking at some new jobs potentially 10-20hr so that I can continue saving some cash on the side while comfortably paying any monthly costs.Edit: Wow, this blew up. Thanks for all the advice, especially concerning buying cars that are in need of serious repairs. Ill be saving this thread and referring to it when I need help looking at cars.  <response>: A head gasket repair is a major job: probably 1000-2000 thousands, not hundreds.You can get an insurance quote easily. Just pick a random car that youre considering to use for the estimate. Get a few quotes, in my experience there is a wide range of rates for identical coverage.Personally I would never consider buying a car that needs serious work without getting a confidant statement from a mechanic. If the car needs something specific and discrete like a new set of tires, or its due for a timing belt replacement, at least you could factor that into the cost... but if its just running rough or wont start, who knows what the problem is. If you are capable and interested in working on the car yourself that is a different story, but I assume you are not. 