I have owned two cars so far, only been driving for 3 years now if you count the 15-16 period of learner's permit.
94 Honda Accord DX 5 spd- Fairly reliable four door family car. My dad bought this one new and opted for the total stripper, the only option it had was A/C and I think that may have been installed at the dealer but I'm really not sure, it didn't even have a radio though. The only maintenance he had to do to it up to the time he turned it over to me was basic oil changes, and I think it needed a new axle or something at one point. I got it at 120000 miles and sold it at 127000 miles after driving it for a year and a half. The car obviously had a cheap interior, being the base model, it had no power features, it did have a decent stereo but I installed it when I got the car. There were some minor squeaks and rattles, nothing major. During the time I owned it I had to do something like 2000 dollars of maintenance, mostly replacing stuff that was breaking due to the mileage on the car, but it was all very annoying. Other than that, it was a reliable car, great for learning to drive a 5 speed on, but way way too slow and no cheap ways to make it faster. I sold it at auction after it developed a mysterious electrical problem and about 2k miles from needing a clutch job (original clutch), because at the time I was disgusted with the amount of money I'd had to spend repairing it- most of the 2000 was in the last 6 months of ownership.

1992 Plymouth Laser AWD- I just bought this car a month and a half ago, and I can't comment on it's reliability. The last owner was a dipshit and it was mistreated, so far it hasn't been at all reliable because of this. The only problems I've found so far that I can't blame on the previous owner are the idle surge, the lifter tick though mine's not bad, and the valve cover gaskets that need replacing. I'm not going to judge the car until it is up and running with everything fixed.