looking for first car

I'm 16 and wanting to buy my first car. I've been looking at 1980s to 1990s Volvo 240's and 740's and Saab 900's and 9000's but I am open to that. Are these reliable cars? Do that get high MPG? Are they very expensive to maintain? I have a $2000-$3000 budget.

edited to add that I prefer manual but I would settle for automatic. This is going to be a car that will be driven on the highway as much as in town.

I hear the older Volvos you are looking at are much easier to work on and cheaper to own than the newer ones so I say go for them. Saabs are cool and all, but I don't think they make very good first cars. Upkeep is most likely gonna cost more money with the Saab rather than the Volvo. Some Saabs will have a factory turbo also, so upkeep will rise even higher with those models.

Ok I've been reading into Volvo 240's ALOT and I've talked to my dad about them (my dad has had 4 Volvo 1800's and has done extensive work on them) and after reading wreck stories all I want is a volvo. :icon16:
If I get one I want to install anti-sway bars and halogen headlights, is this easy enough to do for a beginner? And does anyone know how hard it is to install a stereo system?

Thanks for your help and answering questions from a newb!

A stereo system is exceptionally easy, at least I think it is, but is a good do it yourself subject to learn. Head to the audio forum here, many members there who know more about it than i do!

For the swaybar, you can do it yourself, but probably not something you wanna do alone. You might need special tools to compress/decompress the springs and such.

Swapping headlamp bulbs can be done by a 5 year old in most cases.