You can find older Legacy's for a few grand. My gf has one and it's not terrible to work on. The only problem with them is everybody else has used them as winter cars over the past decade(s) and you can bet they've got some rust and rattles. Also if you want a cheap awd beater you'll have to take into consideration you can't just change one tire if it gets fucked up as all 4 will likely need swapped at a time.. and an awd-anything will likely get sub-par fuel mileage.
Find a Civic with a good body and you'll be fine. Parts are everywhere for them, and super cheap.