my first car was a 1989 Honda Accord (which I got about 4 and a half years ago when I got my day permit), which had been driven by just about every member of my family (Im talking parents, grandparents, aunts and uncle). my senior year my parents got me an S-10 which I am still driving. My recommendation would be to get him an S-10 or Blazer (or something else along those lines). With an S-10 or some other small truck they get good gas mileage, limit the number of people you can transport (which can cut down on driving a lot), and are pretty reliable (I have a friend that had a 92 S-10 that he has wrecked at least 8 times including once where he backed into me) and until he finally sold it it still ran (of course everything had been changed on it except for the cab). If something does break down you can usually get replacement parts for pretty cheap. Plus if he is into working on cars and stuff there are a lot of things that you can do to S-10s (and other small trucks) for relatively cheap.