I hate buying cars off the street, you never know what you are going to get. The car might last a while and then all of a sudden it dies, or it might die as soon as you take it home. You run that risk no matter if you buy it from a lot or off the street, but at least on a lot you have a limited warranty most of the times. If you take it off the street all you can count on is the local lemon law. What that is is if you buy a lemon car then you have the right to have your money returned to you.