The first car i could take out was a olds cutlass supreme desiel. I had to jump out and "jump start" the alternator everytime I started it. It was loud, smelly, and great for taking girls out on dates....not really, but it got us around. The first car I bought was a 67 ford mustand convertible. I rarely drove it, i acted like an old man it in mostly, but not always. Gotta break em loose occasionally, but it's a cruising car, not a hot rod. Since it was mostly stored and still is, my next gem was a ford escort.
I can't remember the year 80 something and I bought it for 650 bucks. That was my everyday car for and lasted me into college. Then it died, but i got more than my monies worth with that car.
Today, I would think an older saturn, honda, toyota car, and those types of cars are good for first time drivers. Decent gas mileage, mostly reliable, safe and they do the job. If they want to know what an SUV is like to drive, then they can feel the pain of maintaining and filling it up after they prove they aren't going to kill someone else while driving that huge thing. No audi's or BMW's unless they want to know what it's like to repair one and pay for it.