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.
... you get this
http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-Cassette-and-CD-Car-Adapter-73627/2038266…
Cassette tape aux cord.
Tough. But....
My #1:
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/665465983/overview/
'99 Miata. 5sp. RWD.
For a kid who wants fun.
Or....
I found an '06 300 for a nice cruiser.
An '03 Dodge Ram for a kid who likes trucks....
An '01 Highlander for practicality.
My personal #2, an '03 Eclipse Spyder:
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=48169&…
Convertible fun. A bit quick. Not as much of a death trap as the MX-5....
Finally, a '99 Lexus ES 300 for those who like the 'Luxo'd Camry.
I don't have kids, but I sure as hell don't plan on buying them a car when I do. Maybe if they can write me a monthly check for the insurance.
If I were buying for my 16-year-old self, though, the answer's easy. The older the better, as long as it runs OK. Old car = cred. New car = daddy bought it and mommy picked it out. A quick Autotrader look finds a 1989 Thunderbird just inside the price range. YES.
Has been a number of years since I purchased vehicles for my son, and at that time I usually went with the 3.8, tremendous engine. The 3.0 V6 is time tested and rates, as does the Grand Marquis conisistently at 4.8 on a 5 point sclae. I believe the last year for the Grand Marquis production was 2007 but should be able to hit limit on the Marquis if no newer than '03.
Of course, the later would be my choice if we still lived where we did, about a mile from the highway and hitting coast instead of cruise - a trick I stumbled on accidentally - raised the mpg from 27 to around 28.5. This would be much nicer for me when I had to ride along doing to bad lumbar. While the 3.0 gets 30 highway easily and would be my choice if living in the city. I went with Sable over the Tauraus due to it being worth,imo, the extra 4-500, especially given the year it would have to be (04-07) to keep it under that price. Ride of Sable is, surprisingly good. Hyundais would, imo, be worth looking into as well.
learn in. She can't drive friends for another 2 years. I think it's safer than a used car which sold me on it.
I bought a new Mazda 3 GT S ( I broke the price cap rule for a variety of reasons - but safety was up there) . It has more than enough response (which I think is important for new driver), safety and looks good to/for me. I put parking sensors on it and upped my insurance. She's very conservative in her risk taking so far. I'm expecting to get double digit years out of this car and send it with her to school if she needs/wants it. Believe it or not ... she might not want it given what I have seen from her classmates lack of car love. My daughter, so far at least, is very excited to get her first 100 hours driving in and get her provisional license ASAP.
This is a stock photo of the color and trim. Mazda makes good cars... Consumers and Car and Driver rated it high where it counted.
I have to tell this story here, since it just happened yesterday. I took my son to get his license. After waiting 2 hours, his name finally gets called to take his drive. Ten minutes later, he's back. The guy instructs him to go to the camera area, so I followed him. He sat down. I smiled at him and said, "You did it!" He shook his head and said, "I failed. I didn't even get out of the parking spot." I thought he was kidding, but then I saw the look on his face and realized he wasn't. I kept asking what happened but he was stunned into silence. Finally, the guy who took him on the drive came over and said to me, "Did he tell you what happened?" This is in front of a room full of people. "He was backing out. He looked right. He looked behind him. But he didn't look left. There was a big SUV coming and it almost hit us. I had to yell for him to stop!!" This completely humiliated my son. I said, "So now what?" He said in disgust, "You'll have to come back," handed me a sheet that said "Fail" and walked away.
What a horrible experience. Anyone else have something like this happen to them or their kids?
Edit: Once he does get his license, I won't get him a car, but if I did, I'd get him a Subaru or Golf wagon.
5.5 gen (2002-2003) Nissan Maxima
3.5L VQ 255hp motor basically bulletproof and on Ward's 10 Best since its inception. Reliable electronics, fast for a family sedan, pretty good gas milage, HIDs (which I think are a huge safety feature - gotta see to avoid) cheap to fix. Can be had easily for $5k with relatively low milage, not that that matters... mine was at 255k before I got rid of it, and it was in great shape still. It surprisingly looks pretty modern still too, for a decade and a half old car