I bought my smart at Carmax at the south part of Sacmento but it had 12K miles at $8000. My first car and still drive it every day. If your looking for a smart that dosn't have issues, your looking at $6000-8000 for anything smart car from 15-40K for the Carmax and Smart-Merdades dealership in Sacmento for used smarts. If you want something for $3000 then your looking at Smarts with 60-80K miles(Smart cars start dieing out at 120K miles because of small engine ect).
Try the carmax places, they will go heads over heels to get you into a car I promise.