Reliable commuter car, on the cheap for college student?

Any reliable cars you recommend on the cheap?
I was leaning towards a civic si, accord or WRX but my commute to school is about 45 miles both ways, with work being 30 miles away and I don't want to put all the miles on a nice car.

I'd love to get an old civic and turbo it lol, or a mustang gt for cheap but question reliability.

I live in Ohio, so snow is a factor. I was thinking along the lines of something Toyota/Honda/Subaru/Nissan possibly hatchback, sporty or capable of responding well to mods, good gas mileage, but number one is reliable!

I'd like to spend no more than 5000 but would prefer to spend around $2-3k.

Any suggestions?

2004 Toyota Corolla. Easily tunable, as seen in the photo below, good on gas mileage, extremely reliable, it's a Toyota, and it's in your price range.

Toyota/Honda/Subaru/Nissan are good.

So is Mazda 3 and 6 and ford focus.

Forget $2-3k. You probably won't get much for that money. For $3500-500 you stand a much better chance.

Its still likely to have a lot of miles so long test drives & a mechanic are important.

Buy an older Ford/Mercury/Cadillac/Buick/Pontiac off of craigslist under the search "estate". There are lots of older cars driven by seniors that will fit your needs.

I'm going to go in a different direction. All of the suggestions above have the same weakness. They are front wheel drive. This means ball joints, axles, and bearings are more likely to become an issue. I recommend you find a Mercury Grand Marquis or non-police, non-taxi Crown Victoria. Do not buy one with the electric load leveling suspension. These cars are incredibly tough and can be found very reasonably priced with very low mileage (Most MGM's were sold to older people who do not drive much). I personally have an 07 MGM and can attest to how well they run. You will pay a penalty at the gas pump, but unless you drive a lot, its cheaper than expensive repairs.

Another option is a RWD small truck. Like a Toyota Tacoma or Nissan Frontier. Trucks are also very tough and the Toyota in particular will be very reliable. Again gas mileage will suffer some, but you are trading for less repairs. Another problem is it can be hard to find these trucks for a low price.

45 miles one way for class, are you insane? DORM IT, or if not applicable, find an apartment, and live close to campus. You are spending 90 minutes of your day commuting, when are you going to study?!

Get a lincoln town car. Fun to drive, good on gas, very fast. I live a half hour away from my college. Gets me from point a to point b in style. Make sure you have snow tires for winter, these do decent in snow, just put it in 2nd gear, DO NOT stop and the car will just keep going. Throttle response is quick, you can run down the highway at 80+ mph and not even know it. These cars are built for speed and comfort. You can pick one up for cheap except for new ones. With gas, it takes 15 gallons to fill up on dead empty. They get around 16 mpg in city driving, 20 combined, 25-30+ highway depending on your foot.