As bfuller already said, they do exist. I got my 2005 Honda Accord (Manual) on craigslist (2 days of research) for $2900.
It has lasted me 5.5 years now with no maintenance except oil changes.
Possible that you got lucky in a lemon market?
I've noticed manual transmission cars are usually discounted relative to autos.
It definitely does, you just have to be willing to spend the hours to look for the deal.
FWIW, I bought a 2004 Corolla with 140k miles off Craigslist in a HCOL city for $3,200 back in June. No issues so far.
Look for any 1999+ Toyota Carolla/Prism with under 200k. Many camary of that era are bulletproof. Civics all got bought up by ricers, but '3k civic' is literally a meme for being so common.