The recommendations here are cancer...
If you are buying used with a budget of 2k$ or less you should always buy Lexus or Toyota they are the most reliable cars on the road.
My first car was a 93 Lexus LS 400. Electric everything with all luxury features and a monsterous 4.0 V8. For only 1800$ Granted it needed a new computer but everything elae was fine. And with 180k+ miles it was destroying pretty much everything else on the road and looked great. If I didnt get lazy and kept working on it, it could have been a dream car you see on YouTube... Rip.
I currently drive a 01 Acura CL 3.2 V6 Type-S which is pretty fun to drive with VTEC. The Type-S gives me 260hp which is actually more powerful than my V8 Lexus was. Has 90k miles. Although ide still take a Lexus for the reliability.
But overall I wish I stayed with Lexus/Toyota and my next car will for sure be another LS or maybe an SC Lexus.
I can't imagine not owning a Luxury brand car at this point. The quality of everything inside and out of the vehicles is just Outstanding. And you really don't have to spend a fortune to own one. You also nearly never need repairs outside of standard maintenance as the parts are higher quality in most luxury brand vehicles. My Lexus needed NO repairs for years after I fixed The internal computer. The acura has also yet to need any repairs. *Knock on wood*