Hi (I'm new)
To offer you hope and a light:
I made the best and most useful $500 purchase when I decided to get my '94 Jeep Cherokee. It is black, 4WD, bare-bones, and a stick shift.
And it is a BEAST. It currently has 322,000 original miles on it (thus the low price tag) and I love it. I can haul anything and anyone-- if not inside, then on the top. And I have become a beast of a driver, as well. It only goes 85 mph, but given the points currently on my license from driving my interceptor, this is a GOOD THING.
So, if you come across a $500 Jeep Cherokee, by all means, have your dad/brother/boyfriend/male friend/mechanically inclined friend check it out, then purchase. You'll never look back.