I'm looking to spend less than $20,000 on a used car. What are my best options? The sticky seems really outdated

I'm looking to spend less than $20,000 on a used car. What are my best options? The sticky seems really outdated.

I have extremely limited experience with driving a manual but was hoping to buy something fun and practical, preferably manual and quick that isn't too difficult to work on and ideally has a good functional aftermarket. I'm not really interested in cosmetic modifications.

I'm currently considering the following:
Ford Fiesta ST
Volkswagen Golf GTI
Perhaps a slightly older Subaru WRX if I can find one in my price range.

Is there anything else I should consider or know about the cars on my rather short list? I haven't done a lot of "fun driving" aside from a 8,000 mile round circuit of the US I recently did in my shitty 2003 Hyundai Sonata. I'd prefer to get a car with less than 50k miles. By the way, I'm 6'7 so having enough head room is important. Given that two of the cars on my list are small hatchbacks, I may have made some mistakes.

TL;DR suggestions under $20,000

>335 sedan
>Miata + Street Triple

>6'7"
>Lists the FiST

I recommend the Smart car

The new WRX is fucking dope. Brand new it doesn't even have competition. Closest thing is xDrive BMW or Audi S4 and those are way more expensive.

Ur other considerations are both fwd and built off shitty platforms. They're also way slower, and the ST has like no room.

You should be able to find a base wrx for under 20k if you keep looking.

What model years should I be considering for the WRX? I realize that my other options are not particularly high quality but anything I get needs to be low mileage and in good condition.

Having driven my mom's echo and ridden in a mini cooper, I'm not discounting small cars until I get in them myself. Both had much better head room and were more comfortable than my current car or my grandma's Chrysler Concorde which I had before it.

I got a 2011 Mazdaspeed 3 a year ago for 19,000 with only 17k miles on it

The 2015+ generation.

I'll bet that there's no chance I'll find one under 20k though.

base used model? you should for about 19k for 2015, older models are easier to get and cheaper, try to aim for stock.

I'd be interested to know where, because all seem to be $25,000+ in my area. I found one 2015 base model for $20,000 with 33k miles on it but it's over 150 miles away.