i'd definately recommend a pug 306 d turbo as first car, i love mine! we paid £1600 for mine and my insurance is only £600 ish but that's 3rd party fire and theft.

Sod spendin 6k on a first car though! thats just barmy!! LOL
As much as i love my pug i'm glad it;s nothing special as i've hammered the hell out of it and i'm going to end up runnin it into the ground