[thefultonhow]

How many miles on the LeSabre? I'm suspicious of most high-mile domestics. Some of them are bulletproof but others can be a nightmare.

No matter what, if you get an older car, it's going to start nickel and diming you. Even if it has low miles, things deteriorate:

-- Probably 90% of the things that have gone wrong on my Infiniti went wrong after 120k miles. Things have been wearing out gradually -- clutch, engine seals, AC, etc. I was amazed at how much needed to be replaced as I was swapping out the engine; besides the engine, I replaced the radiator, right-front axle, front pads and rotors, clutch, and probably some other stuff that I'm forgetting. I think the starter is on the way out now too. What was going to be a $500 job ended up costing me $1200+ -- and that was for parts alone.
-- My Subaru Legacy, on the other hand, only has 65k-70k, but it's 16 years old and since January has had a full tuneup, purge control solenoid replaced, right-front axle replaced, and speed sensor replaced. As of now it needs the left front axle, battery, and a new clutch.
-- My dad's 2001 Forester just hit 120k miles and we recently had to put a fair amount of money into it.

If you're on a budget, you're going to have to factor upkeep into that budget. Even if a cheap car has been maintained extremely well and garage-kept (e.g. my Infiniti), there are going to be things wrong with it.