What he means is that German cars are complicated things. And anything that is nearly 20 years old is bound to have some issues. Due to the complicated nature of German vehicles they are rather expensive to maintain. Personally if I were on a limited budget of 1000-2000 I'd stick with something Japanese. Simple and easy to fix. Not the most glamorous be any means, but a Toyota Corolla might be a better choice for you. Or consider raising your budget to include repairs or a newer car.