Generally speaking,Japanese car will be the better choice. Because most of them are省油,毛病少,折舊率低,易於駕駛...etc.
For new car(under$16000),you may consider about TOYOTA Corolla, Honda Civic, Mitsubishi Mirage...and so on.
Used car,I have lots friends drive TOYOTA Corolla,cute looking,easy to drive and reasonable price,I think it's really a nice choice!