Wasn't the reason I logged on this morning, but this thread caught my eye, so thought I'd chime in.
Was in a similar position a couple years ago, wanted to get my oldest something safe, reliable, and, of course, "cool" as a first car. Took a shot with a low miles, one owner, all maintenance records in hand DII. Challenges with that ride are well documented elsewhere in this forum, and NPR was able to tow it away and auction it off.... lesson learned on that one, but it was fun for a year.
So she ended up with my Xterra (2010SE). Has been a GREAT high school car. Completely reliable, great in the snow, comfortable and most importantly, safe. I notice that there are many Xterras in the high school parking lot, both 1st and 2nd gens.
She is somewhat vertically challenged, so we had a reverse camera, with picture in the mirror, added by Cartoys. I was pleasantly surprised by the install work, and the post-sales service. It quit working after about a year, they diagnosed and repaired the issue (ground wire had broken) with no issues. Quality of the image in the mirror is so-so, but it's great to have that view when backing up in the Mad Max like scenario that is a high school parking lot.
It is somewhat large, and there is a small "dent of shame" on the passenger front fender to prove it. That post at the bank drive through just jumped right out in front of her... When I went to investigate I found about a dozen different paint colors scraped onto the same post, so she's not alone on that one.
So consider this a long winded vote in favor of the Xterra as a 1st car - she graduates this week and is off to college in August, but her younger sister turns 16 in the fall, so the high school Xterra will get passed along. Still debating whether or not to fix the dent-of-shame, or let it go another year - I'd hate to fix the same fender twice, and we all make mistakes - especially in that first year driving.