First Car

You dismissed The Answer pretty quickly - it might be RWD, but it's light with a really friendly chassis. It has an added safety bonus in that you can't fill it full of buddies with all the distraction that entails. The nice thing about RWD in the snow is that you're not asking one pair of tires to do absolutely everything. You'll learn better car control with it, too. The biggest problem they have is that they can be a little twitchy crossing those piles of snow you see between the lanes in the winter.

Otherwise, driving the lug nuts off something cheap and cheery is a lot of fun. I worked at a Ford dealer in the used car lot for a while and the Aspire was so much more fun than the Mustangs because you had to absolutely cane it just to keep up with traffic. I think anything that was eligible for that hatchback race class (B Spec?) would probably be a good choice in that regard.

I'm not really a fan of FWD either but in your price range with your constraints I think that's what I'd be looking at.  I don't think you're going to find a performance oriented AWD car in your price range without paying a pretty sever reliability penalty.  There are a bunch of fun, reliable, rewarding to drive FWD cars with good aftermarket support in your price range.  The Mazda 2, Mazda 3 and the Yaris come to mind right off.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I wish the answer was the answer. Unfortunately, parents being what they are and worried for me especially in the snow and with teenage knack for hooning well, they aren't so keen on the idea. To them it's "too small too be safe, rear wheel drive so 'bad in the snow' and generally dangerous"

In reply to APEowner :

That seems to be the consensus so I'm going to start looking at fwd cars. The suggestions on this list seem great too. 

Front driver airbags became mandatory in 1990 for the US.  Passenger side for cars became mandatory in 1995 for the US.  

ABS did not become mandatory in the US until 2013 but many cars either had it or offered it years before that.  But on simple/cheap cars pre-2013 there is no guarantee that it has ABS.  

In reply to John Welsh :

Ok good to know. I will make sure to looks out for abs and airbags

One other thing to mention, in your price range, buying on condition is probably more important than getting a specific make/model, so while it is a good idea to get a list of what you might be interested in, and rank it, be prepared to jump when a particularly nice car becomes available at a decent price.

Ok got it. So I shouldn't follow the Ed bolian mentality of buying the worst example of the coolest car I can afford? :D

Depends on how much you like walking :)

In reply to Keith Tanner :

:D that's a very good point. I suppose the better mentality is worst functional, reliable version of the coolest car you can afford. Not quite as fun as automotive Russian roulette huh? 

With respect to "good in the snow", the tires are far more important than which end drives the car. Get yourself some dedicated snows (or get your parents to cough some up) and you'll be a lot safer and have more fun. AWD/FWD will only accelerate you, it won't steer you or brake you. And after growing up north of Chicago, I've never believed the "FWD is good in the snow" thing. Great for teaching left foot braking and handbrake turns, though.

Evanuel9 said:

In reply to Stampie :

Really? How come?

Lighter weight and less drivetrain loss.  Throw a Saab 900/9-3 on your list.

Actually, some correction to my words above.  It was 1990 that supplemental driver restraint was required.  MOST companies achieved this through airbags.  But passive shoulder harness was actually enough to meet the law.  This is what gave us things like Chevy Luminas with the seat belts attached to the door.  The intent was that you would keep the harness buckled and slide in under the belt.  Let me tell you, it didn't really work as intended.    Also in this era was the "motorized seatbelts."  

More at this site

It was not until 1998 that all cars and light trucks in the US were required to have airbags both driver and passenger side

For what it's worth I agree with Keith that a Miata (or any RWD car) with good tires can be perfectly safe in the snow.  I drove a variety of RWD vehicles for over 4 decades in Upstate NY winters and while I did occasionally manage to get myself in trouble none of those instances had anything to do with the vehicle being RWD.  On the other hand if Mom and Dad are footing even part of the bill and they want FWD or AWD then FWD or AWD it is.

In reply to Stampie :

I see, yeah makes sense. I'll add em to the consideration pile.

By the way, huge fan of your work

In reply to Evanuel9 :

Thanks but hasn't been a lot of work lately.  Hope for that to change in the next week or two.  Time to start turning wrenches.

In reply to Stampie :

Count me in...huge fan of your work too. 

I think you're getting a lot of good advice.  The "no RWD" requirement is unfortunate, I had a RWD Chevy 1/2 ton pickup with the V6 and a 5spd manual as my first car, and it was a great lesson in car control, especially going to college in upstate NY, where plowing was seen as an optional activity.

I had a '98 Camry (4cyl/5spd) shortly after that truck, and a few minor mods really transformed that car (Whiteline F&R swaybars, Eibach springs, KYB struts, and a TRD Quickshifter).  I think the suggestions of small, FWD cars are good ones.  Although not as much fun as RWD, FWD isn't a complete disaster with a little bit of work.  Get insurance quotes before you buy - I had my heart set on a Nissan Maxima 5spd, but the insurance was almost double the amount of the Camry.  Insurance can be a bit counter-intuitive as well, my parent's '94 Corvette was about 1/2 the cost of their '02 Mustang GT, for example.

As Keith mentioned, I'd choose reliability over outright speed and sporting potential at this stage in your driving career.  And echoing what someone else said, in your price range I'd buy condition over the perfect theoretical make/model.  Getting some time with autocross, a performance driving school, or a Tire Rack Street Survival event would be a great idea.

Some options to think about later down the road:

BMW 3-series would be another option if RWD was in consideration, although they do make them in AWD (but they're more complicated than the RWD models).  BMWs tend to be time-consuming/expensive to maintain, so that might be a better choice later on. I had a '96 328is (Sport Pkg, 5spd) that was a lot of fun to drive, while still being a very comfortable cruiser.  

Saabs have a lot of potential, we had an '00 9-3 Turbo that was improved with a Genuine Saab rear swaybar and a front rack steering brace.  The automatic was actually a good fit with the turbo, and the sport mode on the transmission made a bigger difference than in any other vehicle I've driven.  They're not sought after right now, so the costs are low.  Parts availability might be a question mark, but they made enough of them that I think you'd be fine for a while.

The G35 from '04 and up is a very capable machine.  If you can find one that was taken care of, the 6MT package with the Brembos is a great car.  All the performance of the 350z, with a cloak of invisibility, and a longer wheelbase that makes them more stable than the 350z (some might say less tossable, it's all a matter of perspective).

Good luck with the search!

EDIT: Looked at the local CL quickly and two other thoughts popped up - the Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe with the 2ZZ/6sp and the Acura TSX with the K24 and the manual.

In reply to John Welsh :

Lol.  Let me add to the above.  I wish at 17 that I had the enthusiasum that Evanuel9 has.  All I was doing at that age was cutting the rear deck of my Volvo 240 for 6x9s.  Anyone can work on cars.  It's just doing stuff.  There's a reason Lil Stampie has his broke Miata.  He really can't break it more right?  Evanuel9 I commend you for your drive.  Learn everything you can.  Break stuff.  Fix it.  Tell the other kids at school what you did. 

Question for the OP:  Are motorsports on your radar?

If so, I would cross off any cars that are likely to end up on their roof/already banned from autocross like Fiesta, Fiat 500, etc.  Technically the Mazda 2 is allowed but its very much right on the edge from a stability standpoint.

Welcome! And you're getting really good advice. My parents were in a similar camp as yours when I started driving and I ended up with a '98 mercury sable (hey it was basically free and I worked at Blockbuster, so...). Terrible car overall though. My list right now would include 1st gen focus, 1st gen Yaris, Hyundai Accent, ep3 civic si. Don't discount automatics either. I prefer manuals too, but  chassis tuning and good driving can make up for a lot of the lost fun factor and autos are cheaper on enthusiast-type cars.A 1st gen TSX actually has a great auto (Aisin) and is really well matched to the tuning of the k24. A g35 also has a decent auto trans and some minor transmission tuning can utterly yank you out of your seat--in a good way.   Over the summer I drove my buddy's 2002  legacy wagon with an automatic and the soldering trick that engages the awd to 50/50 split and came away with a big grin at the end of it. True, I was hooning  it along some country back roads with questionable paving, but still. My advice is to go test drive a bunch of different makes and models, auto and manual, and  find one that you enjoy and speaks to you. You might be surprised with what you end up liking. 

In reply to ProDarwin :

Motorsport is deff on my radar. I definitely want to do autocross. I wish my parents let me get into karting when I was way younger, so pro driving is out the window but c'est la vie. I look forward to track days and autocross. However, it'll be more of a "have fun with my car" and get better at driving rather than a competition thing

In reply to Stampie :

Well I can't wait for the updates

In reply to dj06482 (Forum Supporter) :

Yeah. I wish rwd was an option for them, and I'll continue niggling them about it but so far zilch. Still, something to aspire to once I move out. 

A bummer would likely be a very hard sell. My parents subscribe to a lot of traditional car stereotypes. Saabs, on the other hand, would probably be an easier sell. And they're quirky cool.

I didn't know the matrix had a 2zz. That's an Elise engine no? I've heard it's a fun little high revver

In reply to Stampie :

I appreciate the sentiment. Let me tell you I have big automotive dreams (like carbon body on an Elise chassis big, or no one's midget big, Hell custom carbon monocoque big....I want to be an engineer) but u gotta start somewhere and wrenching on a car seems like a hell of great way to start. Lil Stampie is lucky haha. Can you be my dad? :D

In all seriousness though I gotta start somewhere and I just want something fun, engaging, safe enough and easy to work on. A lot of these suggestions are great!