Kid driver - what car ?

[Seahawk]

Great perspectives here:

https://www.carinsurance.com/best-cars-for-teens.aspx

[PorscheGAL]

My son's first car was a Ford Focus ST. No regrets. It was a manual so he got to learn that. The insurance was cheap, well, cheap for a teenage boy and it has been trouble free. It survived through college with almost 250K miles on it. It is now going to need more work than it's worth. My son doesn't want to let it go.

[oldE]

Originally Posted by unclebilly

As a free bonus, your kid will learn how to change head gaskets…

Thanks, Unclebilly! You saved me the trouble.

Best
Les

[Seahawk]

Jack drove our 1999 Tacoma 4 cyc manual through HS, college and the first two years of law school.

We got him hooked early

[GH85Carrera]

I was chatting with a friend just yesterday about first cars.

His dad bought him a Checker Cab for his first car. Parts were cheap, and a vehicle built like a tank, and tank like performance, slow and steady.

[1990C4S]

I would be more concerned about reliability than airbags and ABS.

[Scott Douglas]

My son's first car was a M-B 300D donated to him by my brother. It had a tired 4-spd in it and was slower than a pick-up truck pulling a boat. We had to do some work to it to get it to the point it would be reliable enough to trust it such that it wouldn't leave him stranded here in town. It was a great learning experience for him I think. It taught him to appreciate having a car versus having to take a bus when he wanted to go somewhere.

When he was awarded a full scholarship to school I figured we could help him out with getting a car to take with him to school so we found him a higher mileage Accord coupe. He made it last thru school and then some.

Now that he's hit the big time earning wise, he's treated himself to an M550i and a '56 short bed big back window step side Chevy pickup to play with. He has a nice garage too to go with them and plans to build a shop when funds allow. The pool house and pool will come first though.

I don't believe all teen drivers are going to get into accidents. Mine never did, daughter and son.

I think if the kid has sweat equity in the vehicle they treat it differently and think more when driving. They know how much they've invested in the car and what it will take to replace it if they screw it up. I think if more parents would recognize this they'd be better off for it.

[gacook]

Gave my son my '03 350Z when he turned 16. Been teaching him how to drive it (stick) since he was 13.

[matthewb0051]

Got our daughter an '08 Mazda 3 for $500. Dude thought it was falling apart but only needed engine mounts. It was a great first car until she got t-boned by a Toyota pickup.

I'd say avoid the Audis that others have mentioned. Got a 2000 A4 3.0 for our son. It was too much car, held the road too well, and too powerful for a first car. He must have wrecked it 5 times before he finally had one wreck that I couldn't fix (that and the car / him were 2000 miles away at college)

They are both in Land Rover Discovery IIs now. Very slow but when purchased were cheap. Not so much cheap now though.

[aschen]

I wouldent put my kids in anything pre ABS and airbags beyond just dash, Ideally stability control as well. Old "tank" built cars are not as safe even if counter intuitive.

I think there is no need to get creative, post 2000ish camry, civic, accord, prius, corolla, rav 4, crv etc.

I would like my kid to learn car control and manual if they want, but I will do that in a seperate setting taking them to autocrosses or similar.

[matthewb0051]

Here's my thread from a few years back when I was in the same boat. IIRC, we go the A4 for $2,000

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/947711-first-car-16-year-old.html

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Scott Douglas

.....

I don't believe all teen drivers are going to get into accidents. Mine never did, daughter and son.

I think if the kid has sweat equity in the vehicle they treat it differently and think more when driving. They know how much they've invested in the car and what it will take to replace it if they screw it up. I think if more parents would recognize this they'd be better off for it.

Always exceptions of course, but your last part rings true based upon my experience ... just watching others

I came of age with Pinto bombs and rollover Jeep CJ5s ....

Guess which one I bought .

And making straight "A"s doesn't count for squat .... jmho.

[rockfan4]

Nobody has mentioned a SN95 Mustang yet? Might even be able to find a convertible.
A beat S195 is probably under $5k as well.

Here you go - $4000 in Sacramento.


Around here kids get a W body GM, Impala or big Buick.
Find one that grandma owned and didn't drive any more.

[1990C4S]

Buick with a 3800 V6. Safe, reliable, won't get stolen, or carjacked.

[stomachmonkey]

Gave my daughter the 01' Tahoe. She hated it, was too big for her.

Got her a $3,000 Hyundai small SUV. Figured she's going to bang up whatever we give her in the first couple of years. She had a couple of minor issues like the radio that PO installed with janky wiring catching fire inside the dash, that was fun.

Since she was going away to school 10 hours away Daddy didn't want to worry so gave her my 2015 Escape, 4 years old at the time.

Didn't feel like playing the same games with the boy when it was his time and took advantage of the glut of cars that rental companies had sitting idle during COVID.

Picked up a fully loaded 1 year old 2019 KIA SOUL in Alien Green from Hertz for a steal. Car had 40k on it but the kid barely drives anywhere and 3 years later still has under 50k on it so the mileage and age are almost back in sync. I can flip it today and break even or close to it.

I firmly believe in buying them a POS that's mechanically sound and has good safety features and let them trash that while they learn as long as they are going to be home and not driving in more than a 50 mile radius from the house.

If we can't be around to help them when it breaks then we should get them the best car we can.

[otto_kretschmer]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

Front wheel drive GM V-6 cars from the 90's like: Monte Carlo / Grand Prix, etc. Rock solid, tractor simple, tractor dependable, and most of all, cheap

man, you're stealing my thunder



My TDI is still running strong with 279k miles but if I replace it, it will be one of these GM cars.

I just want something that won't put me in the poor house.

[otto_kretschmer]

It's just across the bridge.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/cto/d/san-francisco-1998-buick-regal-92k-miler/7651768547.html

[matthewb0051]

Here you go, I'll even go look at it:

2007 Mercedes E-350 130k miles $5,499

"Gently used miles" whatever that means

https://sanantonio.craigslist.org/cto/d/san-antonio-2007-mercedes-350/7647788546.html

[Scott Douglas]

Here you go too....
https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/d/fountain-valley-2007-ford-explorer-xlt/7655871914.html

And it will have enough room to help them move out of the house when they're done with school too.

[Dan J]

I just had a guy buy a 996 GT3 from me for his 17 yo.
I said no but he wore me down. There's not a 17 yo boy in the world that has that much self control
for that matter not many adult males