I'm 19 female and looking to buy my first car?

I'm looking to buy my first car… Used obviously. I'm still in the process of saving but I'm not sure what type of car would be best for me? I'm looking for one somewhere around $5,000 or less? I like small cars like the smallest possible but still with 4 doors. Right now I only drive my moms toyota sienna mini van and it's so big I don't want to drive it. I like the shape of like the honda fit and nissan versa note. Do you have any other suggestions? Do you think I could find a honda fit under $5,000?

No. Don't do it.

You want a car that'll keep running for awhile and that's relatively safe. Stay with something about the size of a Toyota Corolla or a Honda Civic. Look for something under 75,000 miles, and 2008 or later. That will cost you about $10,000-$11,000 or so. If you spend $5,000, you're likely to end up with a piece of junk.

Seriously.

Hope that helps.

Look at pieces of junk because the first few cars you drive will end up that way anyways… Because they are your first and you know nothing about car maintenance.
. Any car in demand because of fuel economy will cost more because there's a lot of people willing to buy it. You are looking for something people don't want in order to get a low price. It is check the classifieds of the newspapers for private sales. Car lots have a car lot they pay rent on and employees they must pay(so plenty of overhead costs) so their cars cost extra. A private person probably lives in their own house and does not have any employees who rely on them for income from car sales.
Lower overhead means lower price. The warranty for a used car is identical(between the car lot and the private person) Once you buy it and pay them in full, then the car is yours. If you need to do a payment plan, arrange that with a bank and borrow the money from them (for the home owner is not interested in payment plans). They do not have to give you the car title until the last payment is made.
. Pay them in cash and they are done with you.
If not you, they will wait for someone else to buy the car who has the cash.
. If you are not mechanically smart, then hire a mechanic that you can trust to check it out and give you his "opinion" Is it junk or not? He can only give you his best guess using his good eye and good ear. He is not perfect but better than "I don't know"

Great small cars that are dependable and get great fuel mileage in your price range of $5,000 which is going to be very hard to find one without lots of miles on the odometer.
1. Honda Civic
2. Toyota Corolla
3. Ford Focus
4. Mazda 3
5. Hyundai Accent
6. Ford Fiesta
7. VW Jetta
Here are cars you can afford that are not necessarily small cars but are solid dependable cars.
1. Mazda 6
2. Honda Accord
3. Pontiac G6
4. Toyota Camry
5. Ford Fusion
There's 2 very important things you need to do before buying any car. Research the reliability of any car you are interested in. You can do that here. http://home.autos.msn.com
Also check the value of any car you are looking at here: http://www.nadaguides.com
And 3rd and most important of all, have any car you are interested in inspected by a trusted mechanic even if you have to pay them to inspect the car. This will help you to avoid buying a money pit.