well im on p’s and am shopping 4 a car – around 25-30000 bucks
now im just after some thoughts and i hate anything older than 2000 – No VL’s 
also i dont want bmw/mercs, etc, cause bastards will proably scratch it at car parks
im looking at
honda accord euros (2006) (what do u think)
or possibly a VE calais
your thoughts are welcome –
also manual is prefered and i obviously cant have a v8 or higher or **** with turbo
ALSO – what do you think – are black accord euros cool?? – would you drive one / like to be seen in one??
im guessing you must be from Vic, due to the restrictions.
the VE calais is a good little pick, class leading luxo interior, and the alloytec pre SIDI still had 190kw on tap. which is more than enough mumbo to keep most P platers happy. the calais will also yeild you a bit more street cred than what a honda accord will. but!, the accord euro is also a very nice and and hondas have far better reliability than holdens but wont have as much poke as the holden. im pretty sure calais cant be had in manual so that will be a problem, if you like you can have a shift kit and high stall installed into your autobox to give you more than enough edge to beat most manuals. + technically thats an illegal mod for a P plater but unless they are a fully qualified transmission mechanic and open up the box you can get picked up on it. some other options to consider in that price range would be the VE SV6 as its still got the 190kw alloytec BUT heaps made in manual. and it has a sportier bodykit than the calais, but with less luxo stuff inside. ford wise youd be looking at a non-turbo xr6, mitsubishi wise you could get a brand new mitsubishi lancer VRX which look very nice. dont forget at the end of the day you can still put big wheels on your car, lower and nice stereo without breaking any restrictions laws, so you can still make basically ANY car look good with this combo.
Good luck!