can't help with where to buy but with new cars there are some cars that can be had for under 17,000. Used cars is trickier- depends on the year, make/model and wear/shape of the car. I'd say 5,000 is a starting point- have heard of cars being sold for around that or less. 15,000 would be the other end for used cars.
Really it depends on what you want in a car and the other points I mentioned above.
Caveat: I'm out of practice lol as I don't like car shopping. My car is 12-13 years old.
