just buy a c230 kompressor......looks like a benz, its weight suggests it is a benz, and it'll cost like a benz WHEN she wrecks it.
I stand behind my original post of she needs a reality check and a car that is considered disposable.....for less than the budget.
Get a beater from a local tow yard , pre dented , drink spilled , . Just don't get a station wagon , I loved my Pinto with the back seat down . Was like a queen sized bed back there .
I'm not sure you can find one, but the poster who suggested a LESS than 16 year old SUV, nailled it. My niece wanted a Jeep for years, even before getting her license. (Unfortunately? for her) her Dad, my brother, got her a '01 Civic coupe...an LX I think. She thinks it's okay, but you can sort of tell she's disappointed.
We recently found this E36 for my stepson's GF for $1200. Not only does SHE like it (it's a BMW after all) all her little teenage friends like it too.
They also like E30 convertibles. They don't care that it's old or that it's cheap or that it's an enthusiast favorite. It's a cute BMW.
This sort of thing should be all over Florida for under $3k:
http://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/3164546916.html
I know there's a cute white one down there that needs a timing chain and head gasket for $1500 (could probably be had for $1k, fix it and be a hero):
http://spacecoast.craigslist.org/cto/3189907397.html
Datsun1500 wrote: In reply to Curmudgeon: When I was looking for my kids a few years ago my insurance guy said no Acura. No Honda. They are supposedly the most to insure.
That's one reason the Civic was at the bottom of my list. The ricer kids and 2F2F fanbois really screwed that up. It doesn't help that the mid '90's Accord is the most stolen car in America.
lots of excellent suggestions already, but I'm gonna run this up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes it.
Any Chevy Tahoe, for these reasons.
1.Turn signals are for old people.
2.Blind spots are a lie from the Devil.
3.Mail boxes are magnetic.
4.Trees have leggs and most are suicidal.
This is her first vehicle....Get it detailed and tuned up. take pictures of it in all it's glory, then watch as the universe plots it's demise. That vehicle is a tool in her on-going driver education. 
I don't like New Beetles, but they were rated as one of the safest small cars. And girls think they're cute.
Southtexassupra wrote: lots of excellent suggestions already, but I'm gonna run this up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes it. Any Chevy Tahoe, for these reasons. 1.Turn signals for old people 2.Blind spots are a lie from the Devil 3.Mail boxes are magnetic 4.Trees have leggs and most are suicidal This is her first vehicle....Get it detailed and tuned up. take pictures of it in all it's glory, then watch as the universe plots it's demise. That vehicle is a tool in her continueing driver education.
S'Tex,
I will let you in quickly on a GRM board secret.
If you want an item to be single spaced, you have to hit the space bar two times at the end of a sentence or else it all gets put into one sentence.
For your paragraph above I just hit the space bar two times at the end of each sentence to get it to look the way you wanted it.
With that covered, I do like your idea of a temporary car in the interim.
Thank you
Surprisingly, i do not hate those. The v6 is semi quick, they sold a 4cyl/5spd which i liked driving, and they are all the 'right size'.
Everyone thinks putting their teen in an SUV is safer because it's big. IMO, this does just the opposite by makign them feel invincible. They can't feel the road under the tires because of the pillowy suspension, they're so high up they can't feel the speed, and all the controls are so numb they feel like they're just playing a video game. There's no sense of danger at all. I think the best thing for a developing driver is to make them intimiately aware that they are in a death machine lol, so I strongly recommend smaller cars for young drivers.
Even further than that, I think every young driver should have to learn to drive a stick shift and should have a car that's at least kind-of fun to drive. I remember reading an article in TIME magazine or somewhere, and they were talking about why people suck at driving so much now, and why there are so many accidents nowadays. Their (and my) conclusion is that it's because no one likes to drive anymore. It's a chore. In the 70s, kids loved driving even their junky beater cars. Give your child a car that makes them feel the road, one they have to work on themselves, and show them how to drive in an emergency (like the Tire Rack school talked about in GRM).
People don't know how to drive because they don't know how a car works, and they don't know how it FEELS to drive. When they know that, you don't have to worry about them pulling the phone-in-one-hand, latte-in-the-other kind of nonsense that SUVs breed.
In reply to Bowenaero:
Thats too logical......we could put them all in aveo's and let darwin do his work 
BTW, thank you......not many bother to actually teach their kids to drive.
You could always de-power the steering rack in their car 
^LOL!!!
Honestly, i think with as little attention as most non-enthusiast drivers pay to driving, the difference in tactile sensations between a CUV and anything else they're likely to be willing to drive, is completely immaterial.
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