Kids and their first cars: Part 3

[Dueller]

As some of you may (or may not) recall. I was in a quandry over cars for my twin stepdaughters, Looked at everything from Miatas to neons to new beetles.

And the winner is:




Good choice?

[CJFusco]

Hmm interesting choice. The 318 (ti?) is a small, cheap car from a good car manufacturer. It is "sporty" enough to make her happy, but probably doesn't have enough power to worry the parents.

My only concern would be that the name "BMW" conjures up a sporting image that might make her want to drive faster than necessary...

[Moneyguy1]

Who is paying for the inevitable repairs?

[jkarolyi]

Great Choice. Had a '96 318ti for awhile with the M technic package (like that one) and it was a great reliable car if a little underpowered.

[Tim Hancock]

Good job, but I only see one. (twin step daughters, right?)

[onewhippedpuppy]

Very good choice. Fun to drive, handles well, not all that fast. Decent looks, plus they can impress their friends with the fact that they have a BMW, even if it is 10 years old.

[Dueller]

I don't think either of them assoociates BMW with performance. And with 1.9 litres connected to an automatic, I don't see a drifting career in their future...lol

As far as repairs that is their responsibility. I have a line on a second ti...if I'm lucky on that one, I'll be into the two cars for less than 10K....so its liability and UM insurance only. They wreck em, they walk is our insurance theory.

[Mr_Wizard]

Wow I wish that was my first car. Mine was a 84 Plymouth Turismo. When I left for PI the damn thing had 290k on it. Loved that little car. The Grey Ghost was its name.

[jkarolyi]

Originally posted by Moneyguy1
Who is paying for the inevitable repairs?

My car was purchased new by my father as a commuter, and I bought it from him with 130,000 miles. Put another 20,000 miles on it over two years. Not a single problem EVER! That car still had the original clutch, and even the original battery when I sold it. The only thing we ever changed on it was the plugs and plug wires. These last BMW four cylinders were pretty much bulletproof.

[VincentVega]

I love my 318is, good mileage, just, barely, fast enough and it sill looks good.

Nice pickup

[Tim Hancock]

Originally posted by jkarolyi
My car was purchased new by my father as a commuter, and I bought it from him with 130,000 miles. Put another 20,000 miles on it over two years. Not a single problem EVER! That car still had the original clutch, and even the original battery when I sold it. The only thing we ever changed on it was the plugs and plug wires. These last BMW four cylinders were pretty much bulletproof.

+1

I bought our '92 325i in '98 w/ 145k on the clock for cheap and it now has 270k on it without any serious major repairs (still on the original clutch! ). I use it to commute 40 miles to work each day and it still drives and looks great!

[legion]

Originally posted by Mr_Wizard
Wow I wish that was my first car. Mine was a 84 Plymouth Turismo. When I left for PI the damn thing had 290k on it. Loved that little car. The Grey Ghost was its name.

I had an '85 as my first car. It was gold.

[CJFusco]

2 318tis for under 10K? THat sounds like a good deal.

[Schrup]

I had my 18 year old daughter over for dinner a few weeks back & she confessed that she had infact wrecked the car I gave her & made up the story. I'm finding out all the crazy & dishonest stuff she was doing while living with me, glad she didn't get hurt & that I'm not paying restitution. Here's the thread from a couple years back.

16 year old's life lesson

[RallyJon]

I don't see a drifting career in their future...lol

With a slammed trailing arm rear suspension, I wouldn't be so sure. The ti used the old E30 rear suspension didn't it?

[Dueller]

Yup...the one in the pic is a 98 model with pristine grey leather, one owner, 103K miles, new tires, M3 17 inch wheels, meticulous manyenance records, never wrecked for 5200...

Got a line on a comparable 97 model silver one owner for less than that..

[deathpunk dan]

It's just a matter of time before she secretly gets the Downing Atlanta Supercharger kit, has schrick cams installed, and maybe goes to Mcoupe rear suspension.

[GothingNC]

Originally posted by Mr_Wizard
Wow I wish that was my first car. Mine was a 84 Plymouth Turismo. When I left for PI the damn thing had 290k on it. Loved that little car. The Grey Ghost was its name.

I had a Black 83 Turismo many years ago with the VW motor.
It had great gas mileage and I beat the snot out of it and it kept going.

A 16 YO girl in a Mustang blew a Stop sign and trashed my car

[Jims5543]

Dude I could have saved you so much money. Same car different badging.

[Jims5543]

All joking aside hell of a nice car for 1st cars. Congrats!