What car are you planning to buy and what state are you in ? Since you're young the two best things you can do financially is to:
1. stay debt free
2. start saving money (401k, ROTH, etc)
I started contributing to my 401k when I was 24, I wish I had started sooner. I'm 30 now and believe me the last 3 yrs have just blown by so fast I can't believe I'm 30 already. You still have plenty of time just start saving money now
With that in mind, the cars I listed (add 94-97 Accord to the list too) earlier are all solid cars and are probably the most reliable, cheap to own and trouble free of any other cars in that price range (and even in much higher price ranges). They're probably better bets than buying even a lot of newer cars (unless you buy the newer models of the cars I listed).
Either way good luck.