First car advice??

Reliable and nice don't go together with $2000 for a car. You might get lucky if look long and hard enough. Reliability is dependent on the condition of the car at the time you buy. A car in poor condition will not be reliable, regardless of whether it's a Honda, Volvo, or whatever.

Any used vehicle that old is a crap shoot. New, these were all decent cars, but 13-14 years later there's no way to tell . I wouldn't pick any of them, and I know you have to pay more than $2000 to get a really good quality used vehicle.

When looking at 13 year old and 14 year old cars then there is no point at looking at what is known for reliability as the life they have lead will negate that. Any one of those, if you looked at one of each could be the best one to go for. You need to look at the individual car, and as close as possible, to gauge how it has been looked after.
Then after all that, because of what cannot be seen internally, a fault could occur that could cost as much as half or all the value of the car within days.
Buying a car of that age will always be a complete lottery - unlike a lottery where you might win though in this case you are going to lose its just the timing and size of loss that are unknown.

reliability is based upon how well the owner took care of it. those are all fine cars, but you will have to have a mechanic inspect the car you plan on purchasing (or inspect it yourself if you know what you are doing)

just keep in mind that almost any car you spend 2k on is gonna have issues. thats usually why it's being sold. the seller wont tell you what issues it has 99% of the time. budget for tools, maintenance, and repairs.

You cant put nice, reliable and $2000 in the same sentence. If you only spend $2000 on a car you are going to get a pile of ****

I would personally go with the Mazda or the Scion being that those seem the most reliable by going by names. Stay away from the Volvo and Jetta if optional but just like any car if it was take care of their should be no problem.

get a honda there easy and cheap to fix and last a long time i have a 02 honda civic with 350,000 still going great

When you're dealing with older vehicles, the make and model is secondary. What is most important is the current condition of each vehicle.

In other words, a very good condition early 2000's Chevy Cavalier may be a better buy than a trashed Honda Civic