Any advice regarding a teenager's first car?

I'm 16 years old, licensed for about a month, and looking desperately for a car. My price limit is $8,000, with no more than 80,000 miles, which narrows my search down to crappy '95 -'01 cars. I'm in love with Volkswagen beetles, but after visiting local dealers, I've noticed too many expensive problems accompanying the older used models. My father is set on either Nissan or Honda. With so many high standards I have no idea where to begin, any suggestions on reliable, older cars?Any advice regarding a teenager's first car?
Acura CL, Ford Mustang V6, Honda Accord or Civic, Nissan Frontier or Pathfinder, Subaru Impreza or Legacy, Toyota Corolla or Echo





for around $6k an Acura Integra 98-99 is a great car.Any advice regarding a teenager's first car?
how about an 98 mustang or a used ford focus(there pretty cheep) ?. ford has been always reliable when it comes to cars. plus ford cars would last a lot longer and will not rot as fast as most cars do. if you keep it in good shape, i think you will do find. and it will be a lot easier to get parts when you need them. i tried Japanese and European cars before, there nice but you got to take good care of it or else you will end up buying really expensive and hard to get parts. i hope i helped you out. good luck!
Let's see: You want something with less than 80,000 for $8K, and you want newer than 2001. Try visiting Carmax.com. I've found a handful of Dodge Neons and Chevy Cavaliers built between 2002-2005 that meet your criteria.
My daughters first car was a sporty looking mitsubishi lancer. My wife searched online for several months looking at private sales and not the car yards. The car we got was 4 years old and had only done 40,000 kilometres and cost $8100 but at the time the blue book value of the car was $11,000 The person selling it was really desperate to sell and had put extras on the car for his son but then I think they needed the money. It was only a GLI model so didnt have a huge motor in it which is great for a first car.


So you really need to watch the market and find out the types of car you are interested in. Go look at those that are a bit above your price range and take an adult with you when you look. Be sure that you yourself look disinterested in the car so the owner does not think that you are dead keen on it and then offer a fair bit less than the asking price. Sooner or later someone is desperate enough to accept and if you state you will pay cash as well then that is a real bargaining tool. Do make sure you have the car checked over and also check that it is not on the stolen car list.