Best cheap starter car to buy?

I'm in college and I work part-time. I'm going to take my drivers test soon and so I'm also looking to buy a car soon. I'm looking for a car made after 2000 but under $2000. I would also appreciate some pros or cons of certain manufacturers. I've heard a lot of good things about hondas, but still, i'm more focused on the price and year make.

Hondas and Toyotas are both very good. However, under $2,000 is asking a lot.

$2000 does not buy much anymore

With $2000 to spend, you can't really be picky about age or make or model.

My 94 is worth under $2000 but its not for sale. I can get another 5+ years out of it.

You need to look at, drive & compare about a dozen cars. And before you buy anything, take at least a 30 minute test drive and have a mechanic look it over after your test drive to see if anything obvious sticks out.

Anything you can find is going to be old or very high miles or both.

If I were in your shoes, Id probably look for cars with faded paint, dents and/or manual transmissions because all those things lower the value but they can still be mechanically sound.

For $2,000 you need to get what you find, you can't be too choosy with age/make/model.

Two schools of thought -
1. Get a "quality" brand car that doesn't break down often (but is invariably very expensive to fix when it does (Honda/Toyota/Mazda)
2. Get a cheaper car that may break down often but is cheap and easy to fix (GMH/Ford/Hyundai) etc.
If you have a tame mechanic, ask him what he recommends as he probably sees a lot of these cars coming through his shop.