My friend bought a used vehicle from a dealership, he had a bad credit score, and is paying a TON of interest on the vehicle.
Like others have stated, I would probably just spend the money on a private sale from someone on craigslist and use the money you were going to finance the car with to save and go towards repairs.
A lot of people where I live drive trucks and Suvs, and I agree with ppl saying Cherokee / Santa Fe / Subaru.
I personally live in Canada, in a place with a lot of snow, and have driven a Chevy Lumina for 5 years with all season tires and done just fine.