$500 Cars

A $500 Civic won't last 4 months.
I'm not trying to dissuade you from buying a beater, but your budget is too low.

;^)

I bought a 1993 Toyota Corolla for $500 that lasted a whole year before a rod in the engine blew. I have a 1995 Geo Metro that I bought for $300 laying around. I'm slowly in the process of replacing the head gasket. But I think this car may fart out soon as well.

0.1666666666 3k civics

>Economic strategy is to go through a $500 beater ever several months or so
This is a terrible economic strategy that will end up costing you more money than just saving up a few grand and buying a better beater car.
I recommend Oldsmobiles. It's a dead badge that was popular with old people, so you can pick one up in decent condition for cheap because everybody else is looking for a Civic or a Camry.

This guy is smart. Aleros and Intrigues are good and cheap. Old Buicks are similar.

Your other option is the early 2000s Hyundai Accents, Kia Spectras, etc. Awful but will run.

Thank you for the advice! Do I need to know anything specific about maintaining these kind of cars?

Most of them are built on similar platforms, like the W-Body, so parts are pretty cheap but getting to them can be a headache (in my old 99 lumina I had to disassemble the washer bottle to get to the battery, for example).
Other than that, stuff like oil changes are really easy. On most 90s-00s GM cars, the transmission was the weak link, but the 3.1 and the 3.8 v6s were taxi engines and held up well as long as you kept the fluids topped off.

Also Ford Taurus, Dodge Intrepid.
Basically any sedan that would have been used as a rental car or government fleet vehicle.
Supply is high, demand is lower and maintenance is cheaper.

Another option, Chevy Cavalier.
It was a miserable little car that was constantly out shadowed by the Ford Escort, but that's a good thing.
All the escorts are gone, they have been driven into dust, but you can still get a working Cavalier for $1000-$1500.
Also don't rule out Saturn, it's another dead badge that people largely forgot about.