looking for first car

[cerates]

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.

[sickcallawayc12]

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.

[cerates]

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.
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!

[sickcallawayc12]

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.