Ah, the good old fool's logic of trying to impress people you don't actually care about. How stupid this can be... Can you actually be impressed by somebody's car? I can't for more than 1-2 minutes even if we talk about porsche/ferrari. Lasting positive impression can't be bought, no matter how much cash you throw at it.

Reliability of an old car can be an issue, but if you find a good mechanic, he will go over junky car, fix and replace what is needed, and on top of 3-5k you spend maybe another 3-5k at most. Even better is to have an used car be shopped around up by such a mechanic, but that often requires a friendship on some level. Voila, reliable car for 6-10k, you just need to get a check once a year (shouldn't be costly if initial one was done properly).

I have 15-yer old BMW 3-series, amazing car. Won't change it till it dies/crashes/gets stolen. Fiancee bought before old Toyota Corrola combi for 5k - amazing workhorse. Driving experience is crap compared to BMW, but it just keeps working, consumes nothing (diesel 2l engine). New one costs easily 4x more, for very little added value.

Unless your pay directly depends on you being reliably on time someplace, or you commute over longer distances in some higher white collar job, this is enough.