I was looking at a daily also, mainly just for going to station, and places where I would otherwise not park etc. I dont care what it looks like etc ONLY that it is cheap and has working a/c.
The best option I came up with was a Toyota Startlet... based on what they are selling for I could easily get one for $3k and being a 1.3 they sip petrol. That is for a car that is about 10 years old and has a drivers airbag, a/c and power steer.
Only thing that annoys me is paying 2 sets of rego and 2 sets of insurance and 2 sets of maintenance which would be about $1k a year for a starlet I would say.
Not too bad a price though for the added convienience