Used Cars: help buying used car, chevy malibu, little cars

Question
hi.
I'm a college student about to graduate.
I have a small budget and am looking to buy a used car. it'll be my very first one. I know I can't get anything amazing, but at least an automatic.

my budget is maximum at $4000.

I have no idea how to go about looking for a car as I have never needed one.

Where do I go? what do I look for? what can I get in that price range?

Help .. :)

Answer
Well depending on the market where you live, you would be looking for a Ford Focus, Chevy Malibu, Pontiac Grand Ams, and Grand Prix's, hyundais, and kias.
Stay away from Dodge products in that price range, and if you are looking at a chevy product you absolutely DO NOT want a 4cyl motor, get a V6, and I would rank the Grand Prix's way above the Grand Ams, if you find a Grand Prix with a 3.4 V6 or a 3.8 V6, you should be ok.
If at all possible I would avoid a chevy malibu.
The Hyundais and Kias are pretty decent little cars, but they are not the safest on the road.
The Ford Focus' have their little quirks, but all in all they are an ok car.
In general this is an area of focus for you.
First thing is I would buy from a reputable company.
Do not buy anything from tote the note lots, find a reputable dealer, preferably a small used only dealer.  The smaller dealers typically dont have to make the kind of profits that big dealers do, but those are also the dealers that have bad reputations for vehicles.
If there is a local used car dealer, that gets their vehicles from the bigger dealerships, that would be a good place to go.
Once you find a vehicle that fits these parameters, and one that you like, run a carfax report on it, and make sure it has not been massively wrecked.
The more you can know, or find out about a cars history the better, but dealing in this price range makes that a little difficult.
If I were you I would browse around a little, and see what is out there that you like, given the selection I have provided you.
Once you know what you like, then go to websites like Craigslist, or autotrader.com, and look for ones for sell by owners.  Find some that are in your price range, that you like, and the first question I would ask them is "Do you mind if I have it mechanically inspected?".
If they say NO, hang up the phone and go to the next one.
When you find one that looks like a good possibility, then you need a independent mechanic, with a good reputation, and have them do a checkover for you.  They need to check for oil pan leaks, intake leaks, and let them drive it to see how the transmission is acting.
Now I dont mean to sound confusing, the ideal thing would be find a reputable place with a car like you want, at the price that you want, but checking craigslist and other websites gives you the ammunition to negotiate them down.  If they dont get where you want, then go the craigslist way and do what I said.
In this economy there are a lot of good deals out there for sale by owners, you just got to find the right one, and the right price.
If you need any help as you go through this process, feel free to ask me any further questions.