older civic, mazda 3, camry/ corolla, older subaru sedan (legacy or impreza), small truck... there are so many different options that are fairly cheap. my oldest kid (18) drives a 98 civic, next one drives a 96 subaru and the youngest drives a 95 subaru until he is done with his 72 chevy C10 pick up. all are cheap to insure, even for their ages.
and for me being a gearhead, they are all easy to maintain and repair. the civic has had the head redone, then a whole new engine swap (damn girls driving oblivious to any gauges or noises), new rack and pinion (damn girls not paying attention to curb locations) and new cooling system (its hot here, wanted better cooling). all that and im still under 3k total cost of ownership.