Car brain

I'm looking for an inexpensive car to buy. I've been shopping around, and reading reviews of cars. I know about what I want (under $1500, good fuel economy and reliability), but now I have to find one. There are a lot of places to look. Too many options. My brain starts going in circles.

I read an article in Discover magazine about a study showing that people made better decisions about complex purchases when they didn't think about them too much. I'm not sure where the line is between being intuitive and being lazy. Can I stop thinking now?