I would not - and I own a VW. Their reliability is no where near what you'd get with Honda/Hyundai/Toyota.
In addition to the models suggested you can also look into a Wolkswagen Jetta or Passat...
Used car to get me through grad school
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You don't need a car. Commit now to a sustainable "car free" lifestyle, in keeping with the vast majority of political science faculty members. We take public transportation, ride bikes, or carpool rather than contribute to the destruction of the planet by owning and driving our own automobiles. I mean, if we each owned a car (or more than one car) and chose to beyond walking distance to campus think about what total hypocrites we would be with all our preaching about progressive causes. What would be next? Choosing to live in cushy suburban neighborhoods far from campus "for the sake of our kid's education"? LOL, you won't find many faculty members doing that!!!
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Don't get a car. Your stipend isn't enough money for that, and a life. If you commit to walking and biking everywhere, you'll kill two birds with one stone: you'll be one step closer to having a lifestyle you can actually afford on your stipend, and you'll place a floor on the amount of exercise you'll get, which has mental and physical benefits.
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I come up for tenure this year. *Still* driving my 2002 Honda Civic from grad school. The car looks like ***t but still gets 40mpg! (More money to TIAA-CREF, or a new car? Savings win every time. I'm gonna have to get a new car eventually, though.)
Smart. Treat cars like a tube of toothpaste--squeeze everything you can get out of them. Only when faced with repairs that cost more than it makes sense to put into a car should anyone ever consider a new/replacement car. Spending unnecessarily on cars is incredibly dumb.
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Unless you LIKE cars.
I come up for tenure this year. *Still* driving my 2002 Honda Civic from grad school. The car looks like ***t but still gets 40mpg! (More money to TIAA-CREF, or a new car? Savings win every time. I'm gonna have to get a new car eventually, though.)
Smart. Treat cars like a tube of toothpaste--squeeze everything you can get out of them. Only when faced with repairs that cost more than it makes sense to put into a car should anyone ever consider a new/replacement car. Spending unnecessarily on cars is incredibly dumb.