The Kelly Blue Book looks at all angles of used cars and used-car pricing. It tells you how much you should pay for almost every car that's ever been made, and is organized in an easy-to-use style by make, model, year of the car and condition.

Be warned that there are a few well known things the Kelly Blue Book isn't much good for. It doesn't give any indication of how dependable a car is, or how problematic it is. You can get some idea of this by gauging how well the car holds its value, but Kelly Blue Book will primarily tell you pricing.

Consumer studies and vehicle and Driver will tell you much of what you need to know about a car's reliability. These two magazines give you tons of useful information about used cars?life expectancy, maintenance costs, and?point by point?which segments of the car (e.g. transmission, engine) are most likely to need to be repaired or replaced, and which may not. I also like epinions.com. You'll locate a wide range of information about almost every car that's ever been made, written by real people. All of these resources are great because of their thoroughness and objectiveness.

Of course, none of these are enough. The Kelly Blue Book will tell you how much to spend, and Consumer Reports, Car and Driver and epinion will give you strengths and weaknesses of the cars you're interested in. But we also recommend getting the car looked at by a mechanic you trust. And trust yourself to spot problems on the test drive, even if you don't know much about autos.