[goatwgn]

Dont forget about the 3800 powered cars. Especially W bodies. They make nice, reliable daily drivers. and can be had pretty cheap. Things like up to 1997-2008 Grand Prixs, Impalas, Lacrosse. H/C cars like the Bonneville, Buick Park Ave/Lesabre (although the Buicks will likely not be "cool" at all to a teenager) Believe it or not, as much as I hate to admit it, (because I despise vans in any shape or form), Chrysler minivans with the 3.3 or 3.8 are solid vehicles. The Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis are a couple of others. All of these cars come with airbags and antilock brakes. I can attest to all of them being pretty mechanically sound due to years of working on vehicles. Sometimes window regulator issues with all the cars above, and other minor things, (like HVAC controls with the Crown Victoria and Chrysler vans, but overall well engineered. If you buy a new car, lease it, because every last single car made today is going to cost big $$$ to repair.