E.R.
Can't recommend a specific dealer, but when I got divorced a few years ago and needed to get a used car, here is how I did it. A friend who had a very good mechanic ( had worked on their family cars for years, never cheated them, very knowledgeable) sent me to him. He recommended another family who was selling their Suburu Imprenza hatchback to upgrade to a minivan because they were expecting another child. He arranged for me to test drive it, etc. and I bought the car.
It was a great investment. I can totally recommend a small Suburu as being very safe ( Consumer Reports gives Suburu very high safety and crash test ratings) and the mechanic explained to me that Suburus are also inexpensive to take care of, because replacement parts are cheap and the motor is arranged so everything is easy to get to, and it doesn't take as many labor hours to fix things.
The car is now about 10 years old. Other than basic maintenance and replacing the tires this year I have never had any trouble with it. I've driven it to work and also back and forth to Ohio for family visits several times.
So I say check out a Suburu- good luck!!!