What is the perfect vehicle for buying a car with bad credit?

Selecting a vehicle to purchase is a big deal. The vehicle you select is not only going to be in your driveway the next morning, it will also be in your driveway years from now. Not only will this decision outlast most of the t-shirts in your drawers, you will also be paying for it each month for the duration of the loan. The selection headache may seem even more daunting if you happen to have bad credit.
Don't fret.
Below you will find a brief guide, complete with explanations, to help guide you through the process of finding your next vehicle if you have bad credit. All of the listed elements are simply meant to be a guide, and other factors such as money down, monthly income, and specific lending institutions can mitigate exceptions to the guide.
Miles: When lending institutions analyze a loan application, a couple of the things they look at is both the value of the vehicle throughout the loan, as well as the probability of the vehicle staying on the road for the term of the loan. High mileage vehicles are seen as risky because as a vehicle increases in miles its decline in value accelerates and the potential for costly repairs needing to be done increases as well. Lending institutions protect themselves against the risk of a high mileage loan by declining the loan or shortening the term of the loan. Remember, when a loan has a shortened term, the monthly payment will be higher.
Look for: Narrow your focus to vehicles with under 60 thousand miles. Exceptions can be made, but this is a good place to start.
Year: The year of a vehicle plays a similar role in the lending process as miles. Older vehicles are generally considered to be riskier than newer vehicles. Many lending institutions charge a higher interest rate on higher mileage units to correct for the added risk of the older vehicle. Once again, banks are looking for vehicles that have a good chance of being in good working order throughout the term of the loan, and there is naturally an added risk of this not being the case in an older vehicle. Not only will banks charge a higher interest rate for older vehicles, they may also decline the loan altogether or shorten the term.
Look for: Narrow your focus to vehicles no older than five years. Similar to high mileage vehicles, there are exceptions but it is not recommended to look older than five years.
 
Loan-to-Value (LTV): This is perhaps the most complex of all the factors to keep in mind while searching for a vehicle. Basically, LTV refers to the amount being financed on a particular vehicle compared to the accepted market value of the vehicle. In bad credit lending, the most common value referred to by banks is the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) "trade" value.
For example: If a bank will allow you, based on your credit, to finance 100 percent of the NADA "trade" value of a vehicle and the NADA trade value of the vehicle you are looking at is $10,000, you would be allowed to finance no more than $10,000.