My daughter is 5'3, 100#. We bought an SL2 for her in high school for under $3000. The size fit her well. It survived high school parking lot dings (plastic body), got 30+ mpg, and ran for 70K miles over 3 years. The transmission started a delayed shift into reverse. For $35 I got an rebuilt valve body. I removed the air box, then the top of the tranny was right there. About 8 screws and the valve body was right on top. Overall a very simple car, for good and bad. We sold it for 90% of what we paid for it after driving it 70K miles.

Was it a luxury car, no. Basic transportation is all, but that is what she needed. A friend had a similar car and was broadsided by a car at 40 mph. All 3 in the Saturn were fine.

I would rather be in a Mercedes, but this fit what she needed for a while. I am a believer in buying a car for what you need. If you have a family of 6' + folks, I had a Ford-e-150 conversion van that had gobs of leg and head room, twice a Mercedes. Maybe that is a better option.

Good luck!

Chuck