I agree with dcii_sir, you should get a 92 - 95 Civic Sedan Si or VTi ... a VTi only for the sunroof. (I wish I had one!) If you're looking at a $10 000 price range and plus you're looking at a manual car so it's going to be a lot cheaper. Even go for the basic GLi if you want. I've seen a few for under $10 000. Even if you just check out carpoint.com.au

I remember doing the research on my car February 2003, I ended up getting a Honda Civic GLi 1996 Hatchback for $13 500 from a dealer, in March 2003. It was marked $17 500, my Dad bargained it down and they serviced it and added another 6 months registration for me. It was great because my Dad wouldn't let me buy using a private sale or a manual car. I had found so many great Civic's beforehand but they were all manual. I don't know what my Dad has against me driving a manual car :S

Anyways when you're getting you're car, always check how many km's it's done and look for any sign if the car has been in any previous accidents, I found a few 'dodgy' cars out there. The only thing that put me back on buying a 92-95 Civic was how many km's they had clocked up, I got the '96 one with only 116 000 clocked up. I think you might find that if you save up a little more it will be worth it. Because if you have problems with your car it's going to expensive and plus because it's a Honda it'll be even more expensive. I also agree with skoota, getting your licence is expensive, you've got registration which is about $700/year then you'll have insurance, and you'll probably want third party comprehensive insurance and that costs me about $2000/year ... then you have to think about petrol costs, servicing and maybe an NRMA membership as well plus you might want to add a few mod's to your car ...

Even think about getting maybe a Civic Hatchback, they're not that bad Hehe. I know 5 people on my street own Civic Hatchbacks and only 1 has a sedan Hehe.

I hope you're search goes well. Good luck.