Idk if they’re a thing over there but Kia Picantos are great, they’re basically go carts (the 2011 onwards models anyway). My only issue is that you can be problem free till it hits 10 years old and then once the first electrical gremlin shows up they all turn up one after the other.

Not a Canadian, but: get something that’s common. The more people that have had the car, the more reliable it usually is and the cheaper are parts and repairs.

My first car was a Hyundai Getz which was about 10 years old when I got it, and she died of rust 4 years later. But it was cheap, reliable and had AC.

i think i’ve hear that a Toyota Camry supposed to be the goat in terms of reliability and repairability.

i always asked what they mainly used it for and if it had any repairs or has been in accidents. though i think you can find accidents on the vin number of the car.

good luck! i hope you find a car :)

Pre-Purchase Inspection!! Seriously doesn’t matter what it is you are way better off spending on an inspection than potentially blowing 5k.

Don’t bother with any car that has had any history of accidents.

I don’t really like brand favouritism, but if you’re able to find a Toyota in your price range, as far as I’m concerned it’s pretty hard to go wrong with them. I’m pretty hard-pressed to think of anyone I’ve ever known who’s had a Toyota who had anything really bad to say about them, even with the few years of Tacomas that had major rust issues around the early 2000s, everyone I know who had one felt that Toyota did a pretty solid job of doing right by them.

My current car is an '07 4runner. I bought it used with around 150k miles on it about 5 years ago, I now at just over 2000k miles. and except for the usual shit like brakes that are expected to wear down every few years, the only major thing I’ve had to deal with was replacing the alternator. It does have a small exhaust leak that throws a code for the catalytic converter every so often (it’s on for maybe a couple weeks every few months or so) that I’m not particularly concerned about. I’m fairly confident that with not much beyond regular upkeep this car could make it to 300k+ pretty easily.

My wife is driving a Prius that’s a few years newer (2012 I think) she’s had it for a few years now, only thing she’s needed is new tires so far.

Growing up my mom had an '89 Corolla, and there’s a damn good chance it’s still on the road. At some point we sold it to my uncle who later sold it to a cousin, and after that we lost track of it, but around that time (circa 2010-ish) it was still going just fine, even after having a pretty large tree fall on it and all of the usual wear and tear you’d expect on a 20+ year old car.

Outside of my family’s favoritism for Toyotas, I also have a hard time thinking of people who have anything bad to say about Honda’s. I’ve also never heard anyone complain about their Subaru, I have less personal experience with Subarus overall, I’ve never driven one, but my overall impression of every one I’ve ever ridden in has been positive, and Subaru owners sing their praises.

Most people I’ve known with Kias and Hyundais have also spoken highly about them…

Overall, my general advice is buy from any of the major Asian car brands unless you need a larger pickup truck (¾ ton or bigger,) then pretty much your only options are pretty much American trucks. For ½ ton or smaller trucks, I’d personally stick to Asian brands still, with the possible exception of the Ford Maverick.

As far as specific models, my personal recommendations are

Subaru in pretty much any market segment they inhabit. Smaller sporty cars are dumb regardless of brand, but if that’s your thing, go Subaru.

Sedans/hatchbacks- Toyota Corolla or Prius, Honda Accord or civic.

Compact suvs/crossovers- Toyota RAV4, Honda CRV, Kia sportage, Hyundai Tucson. Wrangler if you actually intend to go off roading, Suzuki samurai if you’re going off roading and not in the US.

Mid-sized SUV: Toyota 4runner (I’ve dialed in that a midsized SUV is the right sized car for me personally at this point in my life, not going to go into all of the reasoning for that, but having driven a few different brands and models I am personally confident in saying that it is the be-all end-all of mid sized SUVs for me, if Isuzu ever makes a comeback in the passenger vehicle segment and resurrects the trooper I may be open to reevaluating that because I loved my trooper, but they’re all 20+ years old now)

Full-sized SUVs: do not recommend. If you can find one of the old school jeep wagoneers maybe do that for the cool factor, but if you’re contemplating a full sized SUV what you really want is a minivan, or maybe a Ford flex. They’re not “cool,” but trust me, minivans are the shit.

Minivans- they’re all pretty good, never met a minivan I didn’t like.

Small pick-up trucks- Ford Maverick, or if you need/want a “real” truck get a Tacoma or Frontier, or go for old rangers/Mazda B series or a t100 if you’re ok with an old truck, or replace all of those recommendations with a Toyota Hilux if you’re not in the US/Canada

½ ton pickup- Toyota tundra

Bigger than ½ ton- you don’t need this unless you are regularly towing a heavy trailer or live and work on a farm, or do major construction business with your personal vehicle, or something to that effect. If that applies to you, take your pick of any of the big 3 American brands, I like Fords, but honestly I view this as the same as picking your favorite color, it’s what you like personally, don’t let anyone else yuck your yum.

Personally, and I’m not saying this applies to everyone by a longshot, what car you need/want is fairly personal, but if I had carte blanche to go out and buy any newish car I could find to replace my current vehicle I’d be looking at

Toyota 4runner or Tacoma Subaru Crosstrek or Outback
Ford Maverick

But I’m an outdoorsy, DIY-minded person, who goes “off-road” occasionally (I don’t go off roading for its own sake, but my life sometimes tak me driving onto a beach, or down some shitty dirt paths, over fields, etc.) has to commute in the snow, often has to pick up bulky lumber and such, and occasionally how small trailers.

My wife who doesn’t usually have any of those needs would probably be looking at a newer Prius, or maybe a Hyundai Kona if she decided she wanted something bigger.

And in an ideal world, I’d probably have a maverick or 4runner for my various outdoorsy and DIY pursuits, and whatever the smallest cheapest DIY hybrid or electric car I can find is for my daily commuting as long as it has 4 wheels, a/c, and a radio, pretty much anything out there would be just fine for me. But I can only count on having 2 parking spaces.

Honestly at 5k in this economy, you’re probably scraping the bottom of the barrel of anything that can be considered a “good” car, and you’re probably going to just end up with whatever is available near you in your price range with relatively low miles. Go asian if you can’t but don’t expect anything amazing to present itself.

Avoid Volkswagen, Audi, bmw… German cars will run a long time if they’re well taken care of but they’re total money pits (I drive a vw gti and love it but even basic maintenance and repairs are expensive)

Avoid subaru for the same reason.

Honda and Toyota engines run a long time, even with poor maintenance but take care to keep up with maintenance and they will run forever.

Old fords are great, new fords not so much. Dodge makes engines built to die. Most modern trucks have catastrophic engine issues.

Avoid anything that came out after 2017, touch screens, capacitive touch, and other ‘luxary’ electronics are prone to fail and become expensive nuisances. AWD, cvt transmissions, and anything that turns the engine off when you come to a stop will come with expensive maintenance and repairs.

Ask about service history, ask if the timing belt or water pump have ever been changed, get a carfax or auto check report (cars with accidents will be cheaper but come with hidden issues), ask how far their average commute is (the longer the commute the better, short drives don’t let the engines warm up properly).

Look at the condition of the tires, look for even gaps where the body panels meet, turn the wheel all the way and check out the suspension and underneath the car for any serious rust (in Canada, everything is going to have rust, but you don’t want to see any cracks or chunky build up), after it’s warmed up listen for any ticks, chirps, knocks, or grinding noises. Look for water stains in the headliner.

Don’t be afraid to look a little above your price range and negotiate down, people want money, but lots of people just want to get the car off their hands.

Get something as close to or under 100,000 miles as you can but most importantly, get something you feel good in.