Help an 18 yr old pick her first vehicle!

[Towanda]

Didn't Rolls-Royce make a diesel rotary engine in the 70s?

[Vicarious_Lee]

The problem with the Mercedes sedans is that although they are safe---built like tanks---they are sluggish and "heavy" to drive if you understand what I mean. Also, there are many little things wrong with them...they continually break down and are expensive to fix.
She is thinking maybe a small pick-up or jeep type vehicle. BUT, following her fathers' parameters,it HAS to be diesel. Heck, if she got an old Chevy pick-up, I could work on it...as long as it wasn't a diesel.
She isn't feeling "entitled" to a car. Her dad gave her older sister one of the Mercedes when she turned 18 and the kid HATED it. She was okay with it being an older car and all that...it was the "sluggishness" that bother her. It also broke down on her...had to have the transmission replaced...so she gave it back to her dad. It runs now, but again, it still has that sluggish thing happening...as they all do.
As far as safety...they have seat belts, but these cars are ALL pre-air bag vehicles.

If I had the money, I would get her a gasoline powered vehicle. Probably a Mini-Cooper---she loves those things.

Lambykins, I know I'm late to this party, but I've owned and driven a 1984 300D sedan for many years. The fact that everything including the door locks is run by fragile cracked vacuum lines (no that is not an exaggeration) notwithstanding, here's the problem I have with these cars:

1. Shit brakes.
2. Shit emergency handling.

I almost flipped it dodging a raccoon one night and I'm pretty good. In emergency lane-change they tend to compress the suspension way down, set, offload the rear inside tire and break the back end out, then pogo back down and unload the fronts so you can't steer.

My sister ran the same car into a fence just drifting off the road. To be honest, she's a fucking terrible driver, though.

Find a way to make the suspension/tires/brakes work better. Those cars are built like tanks: Nothing soft inside (no airbags) and difficult to change directions quickly.