OT: Talking Cars Tuesday - New Driver Suggestions
Per suggestions from last week, what car would you get your 15/16 year old son/daughter/self TODAY?
Many people may suggest something lame and "reasonable" like "an older civic/corolla/focus/etc". This is no place for platitudes and reason. Get on Cars.com/Autotrader.com/Ebay Motors and find one. Let's put a price cap at $5,000. Don't pick "just a car", pick the BEST car and tell us why it's better than anyone elses.
And/or you could go another way and tell us why your first car was the best for a new driver(what I'll do in the comments)
Happy hunting.
Safe, efficient, low maintenance, fairly affordable.
In my case I bought the car, parents paid for gas and insurance. My boss did it the opposite with his kids - he got the car, they paid the variable costs.
If your son doesn't have his own car, he'll just ask to borrow yours every time.
With a couple exceptions every child in my extended family has bought their car and 6 months insurance before they get their license. Solves the borrowing issue right there.
.... my wife teaches HS.
When I was in HS (an all boy HS) we were almost universally hell bent for leather trying to A) Get our license and B) get some wheels. Yes, we had Corvette dreams and Chevette budgets but it didn't matter. One kid got a Yugo. We wanted on the road and the freedom that came with it.
Nowadays???
I know more kids that *don't* want to drive than do. They aren't just apathetic, they don't want to drive. When they do get their license they often have to be forced to use the damned thing to pick up siblings or get groceries.
I admit I have a very limited sample size, but the shift scares the hell out of me.
When I was young I was heavily into cars but we were just coming out of the 70's malaise. The Mustang GT was crowing about having something like 175hp out of its 302. A moderate muscle car from the 60's would crush it. Now we live in a near automotive golden age (except for those f*cking smart keys).
I'm afraid the attitudes of the next generation will kill it.
'If I have to drive, can you make it as much like a slow, mobile infotainment system as possible?'
with my grandparents helping a little and my parents paying for insurance. I covered gas and would have to pay insurance if it went up for accident or ticket. I borrowed parents beater winter car when I was 16 to drive to work to earn money to buy my own car. You should be fine.
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Best vehicle ever to transport teams and for your teenagers to drive. I believe there never has been a fatality in one. Mine has AWD so besides being a tank it has better snow traction than just about any vehicle.
btw it has a Lexus drive train, so these babies last for ever. My Toyota dealer uses them as shuttle cars and put more miles on them than a NYC cabbie.
Extremely reliable with little maintenance required beyond oil changes. They do have run flat tires which don't last as long as regular tires.
to go wrong with Toyota for a kids 1st car.
The most important thing for your kid is safety, followed by reliability. There is no better car.
Also it doesn't have that much power. If they insist on it, tell them to do an engine swap like their forefathers did.
http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/cto/5657809957.html
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Finding a safe car is just fine, but actually look at the ratings, not just whether or not it looks like a tank.
to get the side curtains...
...but this is what made me get mine when I had 2 kids in car seats.
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/ford/five-hundred-4-door-sed…
i prosecuted a guy for attempted murder who tried to commit suicide by driving his parents fancy land rover into the driver's door of an '00 F-350 crew (i have the exact model) at 70mph. repeat, t-bone at 70 mph on the driver's door. the guy he hit was a navy SEAL, master sgt. he was busted up, but able to extricate himself from that truck.
there just aren't that many vehicles where someone would survive that crash, right at their door, not a foot to the left or right. this guy survived and got out of the truck.
I got my kids a used 2008 Pontiac G6 in 2011 for $8900. Looks better than the Gran Prix and is comfortable and gets good gas mileage. Driven it for 40k miles with limited issues and it gets good safety grades. ABS, airbags galore. Relatively sporty for a kids car with good safety ratings.
Here is a 2005 one 44k miles for $4k.
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=48382&…
Or here is a 2009 with 65k miles for $5k
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?endYear=20…
If safety is not a huge issue - Mini's are pretty safe. Would be cool for a teenager (I sold mine to one). The base model is not that fast and gets pretty good mileage. Not big enough for your kids to use to fool around.
How about a used 2004 Mini for $5k with 32k miles?
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?endYear=20…
Or even better
Used 2000 Mercedes-Benz SLK230 Mileage: 88,869
Ok this would make your son or daughter popular. It's a MB so pretty safe. Probably crappy in the snow, but think of the popularity - probably second to the Porsche mentioned at the top.
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?endYear=20…
I'd get my kid a used Ford Five Hundred.
Based on the S80 platform so a very stout and safe design. The Duratec is a decent engine that was well worked out by the time it hit the 500. And you can get it with AWD. If not, its still FWD.
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=48169&…
I don't plan on buying my kids a car. They will get whatever old crappy car I will drive at the time and I'll upgrade. That's what my parents did.
I know as a parent I did not want my kids driving the crap I did. I wanted ABS, airbags and something that would not rollover. If you are cool with your kids driving a crappy '72 Pinto then something is wrong with you, or you live in a town where the max speed limit is 25. btw your wife will undoubtly want something extremely safe for her babies.
'72 Pinto is old for you? I'm guessing you are over 55!
Yes, not only fat but also old. My first vehicle was a '66 Chevy pickup, a death trap by today's standards. But I have seen a lot of newer crap on the roads that I would not let my kids drive.
You can pick up a Volvo for a solid price under 10k. I have driven the xc70 and was stunned at how planted that thing was an how little body roll it had.
I would assume they have to take off all of the cool flashing lights before sale?
If my kids want a car when they turn 16 they can get a job and buy one like I did.
I paid $250 for a datsun 310gx and drove it for 4 years.
Are you married? Have you run this by your wife? I too bought my own first piece of crap car and it was a good learning lesson. But I did a whole bunch of stuff as a kid, much of it dangerous, that I would prefer my kids not do. I opted for relative safety over the lessons learned driving stuff - like how you can push start a manual car.
My wife also had a pretty srong opinion on safe cars.
had me buy a new car because she didn't want the kids carted around in my rusted out ZJ.
I still miss that car (and its cheap keys).
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" But I did a whole bunch of stuff as a kid, much of it dangerous, that I would prefer my kids not do."
I remember me and my best friend driving 85 down a Service Drive in an '81 Caprice because 'we couldn't be late for football practice'.
Dear God in Heaven, thank you for letting me not kill myself, or, more importantly, any one else.
what was the scary/abnormal part of that drive...?
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Probably with drum brakes. I am okay with kids driving shit cans as long as they are safe
I am married, and she drove a shit bomb that she bought herself too. My parents and hers taught us to be self reliant and we will teach our kids the same. Neither one of us have ever financed a car or anything else (except the house and that is almost paid off too)
I am not going to take a 10,000 chunk out of my retirement fund to by my kid a car thats for sure.
So many of my friends my age and older (41) have tons of debt and no savings. There are no more pensions anymore. These people have 2-3 financed cars per family still have college loans etc. My kids will learn a different way.
I am older than you without a nickel of debt. Paid for two kids through college and live modestly but wanted my kids driving something safe and reliable. See how you feel when they are behind the wheel. My wife and I both drove crap cars. I think it is good to have kids buy their own cars as long as it is a safe car.
Lots of safe cars for not a lot of money. Rusty does not mean unsafe.
Agreed
Ditto. I bought a shitbox 1980 Chevette for $600 and drove it until two shock towers rusted out, it overheated every day -- even in the winter, and the alternator went out.
first. But, most owners eventually get them sorted out. They are very well built (like a brick shithouse). A few years ago, I was rear-ended in a 2000 SL by a guy who hit me doing 45 mph in a Buick Regal. I drove my car to the auto body shop for a new rear bumper and trunk lid. His car was totaled and towed away from the scene. I have owned an '83 380SL and an '86 560SL -- I wish I still had them because I think they are great cars with some appreciation potential in the not so distant future. Also, MB's are relatively easy to work on for the small stuff. As long as the electronics have not been issue in the past -- or the hydraulic tops on the more recent ones -- any money you put into maintaining the car should be realized when you try to get out of it.
Here is a 1995 with 140,400 miles for sale at $3,895. There are plenty of other examples.
for me.
They are great cars, but Germans have parts vendor lock like nobody's business. And that injector that costs $50 for a Camry will cost $150 for the Mercedes.
My mechanic did this for his kids. But, he's an excellent mechanic.
The same part on a MB or Porsche will be 3-5x the cost of that part for a VW. Part of it is volume, and part of it is because they can,
They are real nice.
I'm always a bit leary of southern cars after major flooding though....
I will not be buying my kid a car...she can get a job and buy one just like I had to when I turned 16. But if I were, I'd get her and older Volvo or Toyota.
Probably this one because it has a casette tape player in it and I'd love for her to complain about how an iPhone doesn't fit.
