2005 Toyota Echo---should I?

[tmontague]

The other thing to keep in mind when looking at an old car with low mileage is how it was likely driven. Most of its miles were very likely short trips around the city. This leads to condensation in the oil, extra carbon build up and the engine not getting up to operating temps.

This also is dependent on the type of climate the car was driven in, but many sellers use the low mileage as leverage but in all honesty it's not all that important when looking at a 12 year old car. Cars don't like sitting for long periods of time.

IMO, the ideal seller would be a single owner who cared for the car (oil sprayed it) and did a lot of highway driving with frequent WOT pulls. Not always the easiest to find though, but an ideal none the less. This is why I never buy my cars from used car dealerships. I always buy right from the current owner, you can tell a whole lot more from the owner after a conversation with them (also you can tell if they're full of bs too) It has served me well thus far.