cayenne s for my kid?

[PorscheGAL]

Originally Posted by aap1966

You want every Frat boy at college to be chasing the 'rich chick' who drives a Porsche?

You want her to have fun, right?

I don't know how big the campus is but I can tell you that I never saw what people drove on my campus (20,000 students).

We always talk of young people never knowing about cars. I think they won't even notice. It would be different if she was in a GT3.

[enzo1]

Buy her the Cayenne if you want to.... life is short, real short

[tabs]

Originally Posted by MRM

Owning a car is one of the most important financial decisions you can make in this society. Considering how expensive transportation is, it is as important to pick an appropriate vehicle as it is to select the right retirement plan or house. Reliable, inexpensive transportation is the foundation on which all future financial decisions will be made, including job opportunities, how much savings she will be able to put aside, and eventually what lifestyle she can live within her income. Every dollar a young person spends on transportation takes away from those long term goals.

The first question is whether a car is absolutely essential for her in college or is it just a luxury? I had a car during college because I worked off campus and had to have one, but i considered it a distraction and I wished I didn't have to spend time and energy taking care of it, parking, etc., when I could have used that energy and time on my classes.

My older son is a sophomore in college and my younger one starts in the fall. I've had a deal with them as long as I can remember. For their first two years they will live on campus and they will not have a car. At the end of two years we will look at their grades and reconsider. My older son is happy without a car and has agreed that LIVING AT HOME IS THE WAY TO GO AFTER COLLEGE. He will get a practical, reliable car when he graduates from college and really needs one.

If you are dead set on getting her a car now, and not rewarding her at the end of the journey instead of the beginning, you would be doing her a disservice by buying her anything other than a very reliable, relatively small efficient vehicle that has a low long term cost of ownership. Toyota Camrys are a stereotype for a reason. They are the definition of cheap, reliable, high quality and high value transportation. They're not fancy but they're comfortable, very reliable, and are low cost.

My cars growing up were old and unreliable because that's what was manufactured back then and that's all I could afford. I can tell you from personal experience how difficult it is to have a car that breaks down, especially when you're in college. Having to spend a lot of money on maintenance or repairs is a killer. Don't teach her how to fall into the trap of buying something that is "cool" just so she can pay the price in terms of breakdowns, higher cost of ownership, and difficulty driving.

If she has to have a car, keep the Volvo if it's working for her. If you have to get something else get her a Camry or Accord or Civic or Corolla or a Mazda 3 and teach her a positive life lesson about cars and personal finance. Or a RAV if she has to have an SUV. But if she doesn't really have to have a car, send her to school without one and teach her a real lesson on savings and personal finance.

WOW!!! Looks like Dad here is set to retire at 150 years old....

[Hads930]

What are you doing with the Volvo? 240 was the first car I bought. Pics if it's for sale.

[fintstone]

I drive a 2004 Cayenne TT and would not have hesitated to give it to my daughter to drive to college other than poor gas mileage (she drove a lot more than 4 miles). It is built like a tank, has good safety features and the only significant repair in the last 60K miles (has about 110K total) were the coolant pipes and a new battery, and brake shoes once.

I bought my daughter a 2002 Lexus IS300 when she started college and she is still driving it with close to 200K miles. Of course she drove it for 4 years undergrad, 1 year grad, about 3 years med school and 3 years as a resident. She is getting ready to ship it overseas to use in her new job this summer. A well made vehicle is always cost effective. Pay me now or pay me later.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Who pays the maintenance bills? Who picks her up when it breaks? I would argue that both the Volvo and Porsche are poor choices, unless she's a car-savvy girl that enjoys tinkering. She needs a good reliable car that is cheap to run, can be worked on by any shop, and won't ever break. ESPECIALLY if she's moving away to college, where you can't fix it when it breaks. The Lexus that Denis posted would be perfect. If the choice is antique Volvo vs 100k+ Porsche I would vote for neither.

[porsche4life]

A corolla makes a pretty perfect college car....

[Rusty914s]

How about an early 00 Range Rover or an old A8...punishment, you know.

[diverdan]

Cost of ownership is a huge factor and that seems to be the op's main concern. New cars with their complex electronics are daunting to me. However its getting difficult to find old tech cars that aren't worn out. So what are the bulletproof options? I still want to do my own work and keep the car out of the garage, but a run of the mill four door sedan will not be considered. If I could replace my 4x4 pick up with a Cayenne that wouldn't bleed me, I'd be delighted. For your daughter, why does she need a truck?

[look 171]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

A corolla makes a pretty perfect college car....

100% in agreement. My wife drove a Corolla since she started college, (bought herself, a stick shift because it was a few thousands cheaper then the auto) and for another 12 years after that. Great little car.

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by tangerine911S

Running costs aside, I wouldn't because she may get the reputation of "rich girl whose daddy bought her a Porsche".

I bought my 911S in high school and never drove it to school. Only my close friends knew I had it. People are quick to judge and I just didn't need that at the time.

Same here, but 914-6. The cat was only somewhat let out of the bag Senior year. I guess I might have outrun a cop or something I dunno....

[aap1966]

How about an early 00 Range Rover or an old A8...punishment, you know.

What about a well set up 944?

[WPOZZZ]

Originally Posted by speeder

I agree with the used Camry advice but if you're going to go the nicer SUV route, I suggest something from the Toyota food group. Either a Highlander or maybe a Lexus RX. They don't break and don't have "known issues" like a Cayenne. No negative stigma, either.

You can get nice previous generation RXs with 100k miles in the low teens. I'm selling my Dad's 2005 AWD RX w/ 49k miles right now, PM me if interested. It's in L.A.

I had an AWD RX330 and it was a great vehicle! It is trouble free and would make a great vehicle for a daughter going to college. I would no hesitate to buy my daughter one, if I had a daughter.

A couple things to know about RX330s.
- Lexus has a warranty enhancement for dashes that crack
- there is also a warranty enhancement for the headlights fogging up.

[jyl]

There is a reason why that car, with all its cool, power, luxury and cachet, is only worth $12K.

[drcoastline]

This. Nothing less is good enough for my little girl.

[TSNAPCRACKLEPOP]

Unless U must have a "foreign" car, I am hugely impressed with the ford explorer, mine is 1999 awd 4..the SOHC engine.

I drove jeeps and S10s for years. Then someone stole and ruined my last S10. Found this explorer where a guy was given a company car, 99 explorer sat for 2 years It had new tires, and 140k miles.Bought a battery and have driven nearly 30k miles.

I found that gm was selling 4 speed autos (400R tranny), lucky to go 80k. Ford uses a 5 speed auto with much better mileage, and if I ever need parts.....OD has a lockout button, you still have 4 speeds.Much Newer ones have cvt also

I have beat this car up and all it does is go. I see millions of them, and there is a reason. They run and run. If you see one sitting for an extended period, it may have a bad tranny. I can identify them by the wheel style used that year, and the foglights, other than that they all look the same.

I hunt, pull motorcycle trailers, drive distances, drive snow.

Older ones have doorlock switch/solenoid problems, fix is on youtube.

I am looking for my next one. Great deals for under 5k$

interior is nice in leather. dont get the eddie bauer with running boards and a 302, baaad gas mileage.

good luck!

[911SauCy]

A Cayenne for a college car...

A Porsche? Why an SUV?

I remember my parents bought me a ... Nope, no they didn't.

I got a job, worked 20+hrs/wk, saved my $ for a couple months, bought my own car, payed my own bills, placed 16th/426 kids in my HS class, went to college and resided on the Dean's List, still working 20+hrs/wk...left with little debt, paid it off in 3 years...you get the picture.

I just don't understand this handing kids big shiny prizes thing...It does nothing for everyone.

Ok fine, perhaps an original, low mileage, Gold '96 Buick Century, but that would be motivational.

Lastly, I owned a nice, used Cayenne myself. Overall great car, more like a tank.

[Scott Douglas]

Get her something like this:

2008Honda Crv

You won't be eaten out of house and home with repair bills, it sits her up higher and gets decent mileage too. Plus it's white so will be cooler in the summer time.

[Justin@Athens]

Volvo for life

[David]

As a new (used) Cayenne owner my first thought would be, go for Cayenne! But my second thought lines up with the others here which is buy something Japanese.

With that said, I'm surprised by the number of older Cayennes I see on the road. And not driven by younger folks you would think would be up for the bargain price along with the hassle of a little extra maintenance but by gray haired folks like myself who you figure would want something very reliable. So perhaps they are reliable as they age. I guess I'll find out over the next few years.