Help me find a first car ( $3000 dollars budget )

[ttm15]

So i'm turning 17 in a few months, i should get my driver license when i turn 17, pretty excited and i can't wait .

I'm currently looking for my first car, a car that will last me through college and a few more years after college ( so around 6-7 years ). I'm not looking for speedy, sport car or some cool car that drink gas like water. I'm looking for something used and reliable, easy to fix ( cheap and plenty parts ). Something with good mileage, cheap insurance because i will pay for those out of my pocket. Also i live in Minnesota, so Front wheel Drive or All wheel drive is a must since we get a lot of snow in our crazy winter.

My budget is around $3000. i can probably stretch that to around $4000 but i prefer to keep it at around $3000 so i don't have to borrow some more money and keep that $1000 for maintenance and gas. Pilot flight school high cost, 4 years colleges and low starting salary doesn't help, so the chance of me getting another car after this one is fairly low, it will probably take at least 6 years for me to get another car.


I have been looking at the Honda Accord ( 00 to 02 models ) and it seem to be around my budget, but after some researching i found out that this particular generation are notorious for bad transmission, Slipping gear - i have no idea what that mean though.

Is the 03 Ford Focus a good car ? How about Civic ? I also like the way the 01-06 Stratus look, but i heard it is a really bad car and not durable, is that true ?

And how many miles is simply too much for a car ? at this price point and age of the car i'm looking for, most of them already been drove at least 100000 miles, some are already at the 150000 miles mark.

I'm also planning to install Car Kracker (http://www.gadgetgangster.com/news/54/556) to my future car So a car that work with Car Kracker is a big plus.

p.s: Sorry for my bad English, i wasn't born here. I know i asked for a lot with my low budget. I don't live with my Parents, my relatives can only help me so much with money.

Cheers and thanks for reading.