A manual Civic or Corolla or Mazda 3.

How much money are you willing to spend? A used Ford Mustang with the V6 is a good start. If you do go for the V8, you will pay double of the price.

I have the same question.

Are there any years better or worse than the next for civic, corrolla, Mazda 3 or Mustang?

Why would you recommend Mustang, especially, for a new driver?

Thanks so much! LOVE this channel and forum. I have been living in NYC for 20 years and relocating to Florida, so enjoying jumping back into cars... so much has changed... so much is the same!

Here's where you can see which years are best (usually when they bring out a new model) This is for Civic, but you can do the others at the site too https://www.carcomplaints.com/Honda/Civic/

Then use this site to see what the problems are/what to check for https://repairpal.com/2016-honda-civic/problems

Why Mustangs? Manual trans cars are hard to find, but there are a lot of Mustangs out there with manual transmissions. I'd recommend a Miata for your kids to learn with, but you would probably enjoy it too much to let the kids drive it.

Perhaps a honda fit? I have seen several in my area with manual trans. Good basic little cars.