Ok, a bit of old and newer, but we're starting to look for a vehicle that my son will drive (shock - he finally wants to learn). And as a bonus, he said he's interested in learning manual.
We don't presently have a car with a stick in the household. His mom is pushing for "safe/safe/safe", ideally something from this list:
IIHS releases list of safest used vehicles for teens
She is talking about giving him her Acura RL to use. That is a fairly big/heavy car, and personally I think something smaller is easier to navigate around LA traffic. Originally I was going to find a Honda Civic and call it good, but if I look at that list the only thing that pops out is the 2006 3-series (325i isn't too powerful). There are a couple cars around with stick (almost all here are auto), they seem priced on the high side ($10K), but at least it would be more entertaining for me to occasionally drive.
A bit worried about maintenance costs on the e90 though. Evidently HPFP failures were/are common.
OR - I could find a reasonably clean e30 for me to have as a second car (and he could learn stick), but instead find him something more appliance like with an auto to learn/drive. Volvo comes to mind...