[motorsportnerd]

Originally Posted by h22a

toyota Corrola is a good buy for that sort of dollar

You'll be hard pushed to get that shape Corolla for under $2K. I helped my flatmate buy one - and his cost $4K on the road. His one is an auto though.

Would still be a good buy - but more likely you'll need to look for the last of the RWD Corollas or the first shape FWD Corollas to keep it under $2K.

Also, I'm with IB4R. Don't ignore the Ford Telstar/Mazda 626. I had two of these - both from the mid 80s. My father ran an '86 and then a '93 Telstar. All gave excellent service.
The first Telstar/626 from '83 to '88 should be able to be picked up in pretty good nick from under $1000. The next model which was sold from '88-'92 AT series should be from about $1000-$3000. The '92 shape onwards will be harder to find for under $2K. Some of the post '92 AV shape will have the 2.5 litre V6 engine.
I'd look for about a 1990 Telstar TX5 or 626 Sporthatch with a 5-speed manual gearbox and under 200kms. Should be a fair few of those around in good nick for under $2K. Main thing to watch for on Telstars/626s are the head gaskets - the engines are pretty bulletproof provided they've been serviced and never run short of water. If they've run short of water they will do the head. A carefull mechanical check - as Nota advised - will tell you if the engine is fully sound. And you want want to avoid a Ford badge, just go for the Mazda version of the car instead.

A couple of examples:
FORD TELSTAR TX5 AV Ghia 1992 details - CarPoint Australia
- later series AV model, high kms, but cheap.
FORD TELSTAR TX5 AT Ghia 1988 details - CarPoint Australia - 1988 AT series Telstar TX5.
Original AR series 1985 Telstar: FORD TELSTAR TX5 AR Ghia 1985 details - CarPoint Australia

Also, as Nota mentioned - Magna TR/TS are dirt cheap.

If RWD is of utmost importance you'll be limited to the Falcon/Commodore or an older pre-80s small car like a Corolla, Escort, 626 RWD, Torana, Gemini etc.