Thanks, GR. I didn't know that. Very good tip.

We just found a 200SX in the paper for a good price. It's a '97 and a 1-owner car. How about Nissan's? Do they run forever, too? This has 121K on it.

200SX, VERY sought after car here in the Islands. Rear drive, they make great "drift cars". The price is climbing on them and parts are getting hard to find, but then again, your not in Hawaii. :D

Their weakness is their transmission, drifting or not, it's just not "that good". Otherwise, great car, I had one, loved it!

Mavericks and comets are easy to find. Good ol stra8 six. Peppy and good on gas. If she doesnt know much about cars, that would be the simplest to learn and the easiest to maintain. When she wants more power you could always stuff your old cobra small block in it. It was my first car in high school. Painted it royal guardsmen blue, wimbeldon white stripes. Chicks dug it.

A good place to look for a used car is Auto Trader online. The newspaper has always been hit or miss for me.

Almost 6 years ago I built a 65 Mustang for my oldest daughter's first car. 6 cylinder, dual exhaust, "a BENCH SEAT" and a nice set of wheels. She got in an accident about 6 months after getting it in the middle of winter, pouring rain. Because of no shoulder strap, just the seat belt, her face went right into the steering wheel. Swore I'd never put her or the younger one in anything ever again that doesn't have airbags, shoulder straps and disc brakes.. Their both driving new Honda's while I'm driving an old POS! The bad thing about Honda's is the insurance, very high on account of them being stolen all the time. Starting around 10K with really great interest loans you can get a new car. Safer, no worries about her breaking down on the road at night somewhere and you know what your getting. Might want to take a look if you haven't yet.

you may think I'm crazy, but nobody has mentioned a used Mercedes. I don't know about AZ, but here in Washington, DC area $4000 can get you a Mercedes 300E or 190E vintage 1990-1991 with 120K miles. If it has records, which many do, you can see its maint. history. These cars are great for a 16 yr old daughter. (I know, I have one!). I bought a 1991 300E in 1999 with 70K miles on it (yes it was more than $4000 then). It was a one owner car and in great shape. My wife drove it to 160K miles with no problems. When I got my wife a new car, we kept the Mercedes because it was only worth $4500+/- and I had a 15 year old daughter that would be driving in a year. I couldn't dream of buying a different used car for that kind of money that could compete with the safety and reliability of the Mercedes. It has a bullit proof straight six that gets 20mpg city and 30 mpg hwy. It has same day acceleration (0 to 60 in the same day!), and is as safe as a Sherman Tank on the highway. And what 16 year old girl isn't going to love having a Mercedes for a first car! The insurance is dirt cheap on it, and getting OEM parts wholesale is not hard at all. You can replace all four brakes AND rotors for about $250 bucks and do it yourself in about 1.5 hours.
The car has 170K on it now, my daughter is driving it daily since December. It is probably good for another 50K to 100K with only regular maintenence. Don't be scared to look at a 14 year old Mercedes, there are plenty of them out there that have had dealer service all their life. Look in your paper and see how many Mercedes you see for sale that have over 150K miles on them, its just getting broke in!

I have bought 3 Suzukis at the Manheim auto auction in Tolleson for my friend's children. The Suzuki Aerio has a 7 year 100k warranty. They usually sell for about 8,000. (2004 approx 18,000 miles) If you threw the car away after 6 years the depreciation is only 100+ a month. Cheap transportation. They come fairly loaded.
John

Well, we just bought a '95 Civic. 130K miles. It's in really decent shape. My daughter has to learn to drive a 5 speed but she needs to. Everybody should know how. It's exactly the car she's wanted the most.

She's on cloud nine now... :D

Good for you! :D I'm still contemplating the bunch of excellent suggestions made on this thread.

I still have a '91 Mazda 626 LX I got 4 years ago for $2k, have put about
30k miles on it, it had 84K when I got it, still a solid car - no rust (good for
Hawaii) and I just keep it for an extra. Recently sold a '90 Nissan VE 6
pickup that had 218k miles and was going great - very few maintenance
issues. It was the 5 speed and still had the original clutch - no slip at all.
No oil lost or burned - I changed it every 5k. I had to buy a new one for
the company or pay the $ in taxes - no brainer there. A friend still has
his Honda civic and it is way past 250K miles and even bagged a deer with it
North Carolina. Very good car. I think the critical issue on buying any of
these is feeling comfortable about it's maintenance history - whatever it is.

The first car I bought for our daughter was an '82 Mercedes 240D. Great car. Couldn't get out of its own way, but lasted forever. Sold it to someone else whose daughter drove it a long time, too. 25 mpg, and a great way to teach them to drive a stick-shift. She drove it back and forth to school at Xavier for 2 years.

Bought our son a Chevy Cavalier. Pretty much the same deal, without the overall longevity. It's still on the road, too.

Good luck,
Steve