well a price limit is not going to do any good because cheap car are also unsafe cars. I can get a used car with 150hp for 500$ but there will proabably be something wrong with the brakes
Of course I know that ANY car can reach speed which is lethal but HPs are about acceleration and acceleration is what gets you going in speeding.
If my car needs 30+ secs to climb from 0 to 100kmph I don't get excited, I get bored even when I'm drunk.
Also a Ford Festiva is no car to show off and race your friends (while I know that at this age you're even speeding in an old VW beetle if you get the chance to).