I was going to suggest a
Toyota,
Honda Civic,
Nissan Ultima or a
Mitsubishi for durability.
A
Saturn, a
Neon, or a
Focus for cost efficiency. Maybe even a
Mazda???
Even if you get a 5-6+ year old Honda or Toyota,
you will be getting a great car.
I do not know what 4K can get you these days. However, you may want to finance the rest.
I know in 2003, I gave my daughter 5K as a down payment and she got a Mitsubishi Gallant with a 5 year NO interest payments deal.
Her first car was a 1988 NOVA. So she was thrilled when she had a job and could get what she really liked.
All safety features available and then the luxury items, electric windows, brakes etc, sun roof, tinted windows, remote door opener, detailing, things I would not consider. AM/FM/cd player/XFM radio -(is that satellite??)
I got her a portable navigator as a gift.
Even if you get a cheap one on eBay (and there are some for less the 250$), get one, so you never get lost.
I got her the Garmin 7350, but the smaller Garmin would have sufficed (I am talking about 4½ years ago when they were 800$)
as I said before ... GQQD LUCK!!! do not go alone!
I never thought a sun roof was a necessity.
sorry so long.