i'm curious what you dont like about domestic cars. we were recently looking for a used car for my mother in the $3,000-$4,000 price range. my uncle wanted to get her a toyota camry because they have such high ratings. i looked in the classifieds, craigslist, ebay, etc, and ALL the japanese cars in her price range were (like you're finding) high mileage and/or older. it seems like ALL smaller cars and cars that have high MPGs have gone up in value or held onto it the past few years. (i sold cars 3 years ago. based on what we were selling cars for then and what my car is worth now, my car- a saturn- has only depreciated about $2,000 in the past 3 years.)
we ended up getting her a 2003 chevy impala with 124,000 miles on it from the north carolina state surplus auction. the state basically auctions off former police and fleet cars. if arizona has something like this, its totally something to look into. this specific car was used to transport prisoners. its also designed to last well over 200k. (it has the highway patrol package, which means it has things like a heavy duty alternator, something that monitors tire pressure, power steering fluid monitor, and more. and the state keeps the vehicles well maintained.) we got the impala vs a malubu, taurus, crown victoria (all for sale from state surplus), or the camry because the 2003 impala had a 9.2 customer rating from edmunds.com. (in comparison, the 2003 camry had a 9.0 customer rating.) and it got 29 mpg highway, driving mostly in the mountains of west virginia with the AC on.
i used to sell cars, so i have a few suggesions for financing (since it sounds like that's your plan). 1st, can you cosign for your mom? ie, have your mom on the loan to help build up her credit? have the bank/credit union/car dealership try it with and without your mom on the loan. sometimes you'll get a better rate without her on it, sometimes it'll be the same, and sometimes it'll be more. the loan officer or finance manager will be able to check the credit reports and know what the best plan is. (also, get copies of your credit reports right now to be sure there's nothing incorrect on them.)
2nd, have you considered purchasing or leasing a brand new car? IME, interest rates are lower on new cars (and current model year or last year's used cars) than on used cars. you may be able to get a brand new car with a full factory warranty for a little more than a used car. also IME, interest rates are lower on leases than financing a new car. (you'd have to check with the dealership and compare.) it seems like she drives about 8,000 miles a year, so even the low-mileage leases they advertise on TV and in the classifieds may work out. (then you could save money during the lease and buy it out at the end, so you get the benefit of a lower interest rate, plus any additional incentives/cash back.) its almost the end of the model year, so dealerships will be trying to get rid of the 2007's.
and now that i'm thinking more about it, think about leasing a car for mom. if you finance $5,000 for 3 years, that's about $160 a month with a 10% interest rate. interest rates are normally higher the older the car is. 3 years from now, who knows how much work you will have had to put into this used car and what it will be worth. for a little more a month, you should be able to lease a civic, corolla, etc.
i think i gave this example before. in 2005, while a family friend was pregnant with twins, she was considering getting a used minivan (probably something like a caravan) to replace her 2000 dodge stratus. she saw a 2000 minivan she liked, and the sales guy said she'd be able to get the same payment (about $220 a month) on the van as on her stratus. (she would have traded the stratus.) she had no clue what the term was, how many miles were on it, the service/owner history of it, etc. the sales guy told her what she wanted to hear: $220 a month payment. so here's a 5 year old minivan, probably had at least 60k on it. (avg miles per year are 12-15k.) and i was assuimg that the loan would be for 5 years. so if she bought this van, 5 years later it would be a 10 year old minivan with at least 120k on it and would be worth about $1,000. then think about all the work and money she would have to put into it. then think about if she leased a van for a similar payment: she would have a brand new van with a full warranty. no worries about being stranded at the side of the road with 3 kids in the middle of winter. any work that would need to be done would be covered by warranty (except brakes, tires, etc). and many people say with leasing, you get nothing out of it at the end. but that's not always a bad thing. most people who have a 3-4 year old car are upside down, meaning they owe more on the car than its worth. however, at the end of the lease, if the car is worth less than the buyout, then its the bank's problem, not yours.
