[It's Just Eric]

-1 on honda. my sister has a 97 civic she has replaced everything on twice in the 6 years she owned it. that and I personally thing they are a pain in the buttocks to work on. I mean come on, they put the damned motor in sideways

+1 on legacy with the 2.2
Have seen more of them with 200k + miles on them than I havent

+ another on the old beetle. Cant beat the nostalgia and the gas mileage..just dont plan on driving on highways or in the winter. My friend and his dar are restoring one for his sister to use as a first car. parts are cheap beyond belief

But hell, you might luck out with an svx. If your looking for a "reliable" svx, get a fwd one and a good tool set to work on it with. the fwd tranny is alot less likley to explode. Example given...a Woman I know has a fwd svx with a little over 300k on the clock..Original motor and tranny. The tools will sure as hell help when (Not if)it breaks. Ive had mine since halloween and have yet to take it to a repair shop (Though I currently need to make some time to get under it and fix a few things)
my good friend AvPPoW has had his for.....Im not even sure, im going to guess 2 years...but anyhow, he has yet to take it to a mechanic, and he has had quite a few thing break, including his tranny

Or you can get even a little pickup truck, like an older toyota if thats your thing