During my time, I bought a new 2012 4WD Jeep Compass with a manual transmission.
My case was a little unique due to Australian laws at the time - i.e. new drivers were not allowed to drive vehicles with a V8 engine so that ruled out the Grand Cherokee I already owned. Plus, I wanted the girls to learn how to drive a vehicle with a manual transmission - which is of negligible benefit other than the fact that it prevents their friends from driving their car.
The girls learned how to drive it which cost me 1 clutch and 1 gearbox and ultimately I had to sell it for $500 for scrap after 7 1/2 years of ownership because it needed a new gearbox and wasn't worth me shipping it back to the USA. I did bring the Grand Cherokee back however and in fact, my wife is driving it to Austin this afternoon.
There was only 1 collision which was when my daughter refused to listen to me and backed into a dark colored car parked across the unlit street at the end of our driveway. At the time, the hands free Bluetooth was of benefit. Otherwise, the only damage to the vehicle was caused by my wife running into curbs and in the tight confines of Sydney parking garages, breaking taillights. I did have one situation where I scraped the paint on the side due to a sneaky column in a parking garage.
The main difference for the kids learning to drive in the USA was the speed. In Australia, I could go a month without breaking 80 kmh (50 mph). In the USA, they're out on the highway at 70+ mph in no time.
If you're looking to get your kid something that will last 8+ years to get through college and then some, I'd get something that is mass produced so that there is plenty of support out of warranty. Think Ford F-150.
In Texas, I'd get something that is big and sits high enough up where they can see in traffic. It doesn't have to be a Ford Super Duty Truck but, you don't want to be putting them in a Subaru BRZ or something where the roof is only 3 feet high.
Modern safety features such as airbags, reverse cameras, traction control, and obviously Bluetooth. Navigation is an underrated benefit since most kids just want to use their phones for everything. I've ridden with enough people to tell you that the built-in navigation is superior to Google in many locations.
Another thing I recommend for a learning driver is AWD rather than 4WD because AWD will always be helping them and they don't have to make a decision about the weather conditions. On the other hand, if they get a regular 2WD RWD vehicle, they can learn how to drift and how to recover from a loss of traction.
Another consideration is the age of the vehicle. I recently encountered a situation where a mechanic straight up told me he doesn't work on vehicles over 20 years old. Also, in college when my kids were driving my 1999 Ford Expedition, a few of their friends didn't like riding with them or made fun of them because their vehicle was so old. On the other hand, if there was a large group of them wanting to go somewhere, they always wanted my kids to drive in the Expedition because 5+ of them could ride in the vehicle so fewer cars, less parking dramas, etc.
So if you back all those requirements into today, I'd say that you're looking for something used, with a year model not older than 2013 or so. I'd be looking for a 4WD F-150 or similar. Save some of that $25k for repairs. It's important for a young man to learn how to fix stuff when it breaks. And maybe more importantly, to know what symptoms look like when something is going to break or need repair.
Good Luck!
