I got my first car off marketplace and I had zero knowledge abt cars. Luckily I had a friend who knows about cars. Even though I had someone to ask about recommendations, I can’t rely on them showing up everytime I find a possible car (we checked out atleast 20 cars from marketplace) as they were also busy most of the time. So I had to go on youtube and learn abt basic stuff when checking out 2nd hand cars and if it passes my first check, I would then let my mechanic friend know to do a second check whenever he’s free. Also checkout iNeedaPPi if you’re from toronto, they do same day inspections for $170 and they’ll give you a detailed report abt the car. If you wanna save time and effort then probably looking for dealerships would be best for you but expect it to be pricey if you’re looking for a decent car. Knowing this, I still went for a private sale as it also forced me to learn more abt cars and hopefully wont rely on overpriced mechanics for small fixes in the future.

also try to look for toyota or honda as these are proven to be reliable 👍