I'm coming at this conversation from left field since I haven't read the whole thing, but there was another car buying advice thread on here a while ago (from SimpleMan, I believe), and a lot of people (including me) suggested getting a Toyota or Honda from the first decade of this century. Corolla, Civic, Camry, or Accord. Those things will run forever, so age is irrelevant, and so is mileage. And most of the value has long since depreciated, so they should be available for a couple grand at the most.
I have a feeling this is not going to be helpful to you
