I've read online that generally speaking it's a bad idea to buy a redesigned model of car the year it's released, because inevitably there will be kinks that the engineers still have yet to iron out. This makes sense if you're purchasing a new car, but does the same guideline apply if you're buying a used car?

It seems like if there are any major manufacturing defects that they would become apparent before the car hits 75,000 miles (and turns at least 5 years old in the case of my current car search). It seems like in a lot of cases the previous owners/manufacturers would take steps to fix/recall the problems, assuming they're critical or even just annoying enough. Thoughts?