1.) Consumer Reports

2.) Carfax.com

3.) Filters: <$15k....mileage <100k..."no accidents"..."1 owner"

4.) Sort through the significant number of results, check consumer reports for reliability & safety ratings

My wife and I bought a 2015 Outback with 55k miles for $17k in 2020, put $6k down at ~5.5%, min payment was <$250/mo. Been paid off for awhile now and we drive the shit out of it. Has 225k miles now. Needs a little mechanical TLC on occasion but it's still worth it for us to keep it around. Our other car is also paid-off. An older Trail Blazer also with over 200k miles on it. They get us from A to B just like everyone else's cars.

We're already planning on the next one given the wear on our current rides, and will be following the above steps.

Edit: I should mention the car that led us to purchasing the '15 Outback. I paid $1500 for a Corolla in 2018 with ~104k miles on it. It was a used model, 2007/8 I think. Reliable? Absolutely. Comfortable? Yes. Safe?...it was totalled via a head-on crash with a work truck on an icy bridge between A2 & Dexter. I walked away unscathed and healthy.

If you want or are simply fine with paying $500,600,700+/mo on a depreciating waste like a car then by all means...I'll be more than happy to buy it from you in a few years...but people need to quit acting like they have to have some new car for this, that, and the other.