I would suggest for a first car get something more like a honda civic or accord, something that will run forever, but also, that's a good price for a car with such low miles. I just sold my 06 honda accord v6 with 44,000 miles on it for 13,000... as they hold their value much better, but I'm not one to pass up a good deal, if a car has lost its value over the years, its their loss, your gain
The brand of the car is going to have less to do with reliability, its more on how it was taken care of, and the exact model (like if that specific year/car has issues), some cars are just lemons, no matter what brand.
I disagree with "Pontiac are shitty" its more like, cheap shitty cars are shitty, if a car is cheap, you get what you pay for, if you bought a nice expensive 2002 TA WS6, it would go 200k miles + but if you buy a grand am, well, you are buying a car that cost half the price of an accord, of course its going to be less reliable, its a cheaper car, but if it lasts 150k miles, you paid half the price for a car that lasted 3/4 the mileage... which one is the better deal?
Check out craigslist, your local paper, and auto trader for good deals, then compare those deals and pick which one you like the most. Check out and drive multiple cars until you pick the one you like, don't settle on a car that you are not happy with.