BTW, my vote is a Rav4 or a Subaru Impreza. You just have to watch out for the 2.5 in the Impreza. They're known for head gasket leaks and you have to make sure you change the timing belt unless you have proof of it being changed somewhere in the 80K mile range.

I can't argue with a guy whose first name is Nick. Have I told you that you have a great first name? :D

Great responses and certainly some other options to think about.

I like the Subaru idea. Will be looking at that.

I will post updates on the progress.

Thank you all!

Much good advice in the thread. It is a different era from when I was 16.

I started asking my dad about a car when I was 15. He said I can have any car I can afford, and he gave me an interest free loan. He got to refuse any vehicle if he deems it not a good deal since he was the bank. I had to pay for 100% of ALL expenses except insurance.

It motivated me to find a real job ASAP.

Hey why should he have an easy time so early in life, haha

I suspect most people here were car guys prior to getting their drivers license or their first car. I don't think a sports car will change your DNA.

I would choose a safe reliable car for my kids over something that might make them enjoy driving. I had a variety of Volvo wagons and I made very few roadside service calls to bail them out.

Question. I am making this decision currently. I do like the 240 volvos but only the last few years had ABS. I can't determine about an airbag. I have made these two technologies a priority. What are your thoughts on this?

Larry

Any newer car, even a small car, will be safer than the older Volvo. Crash test ratings changed recently so even 5 star cars from a few years ago aren't as safe as 5 star cars of today. Here's a link to the NHTSA web site that allows you to compare vehicles' safety.

https://www.nhtsa.gov/ratings#vehicle_compare_1990

When my kids did driver's ed the teacher was a retired state trooper and he was a big advocate of the Ford Taurus. It's in the sweet spot for safety, cost and reliability. For what it's worth, a 2000 Ford Taurus is almost as safe as a 2000 Volvo S70 and a 1993 Volvo 240 is almost as safe as the 2000 Taurus. My thoughts are that a kid's first car should be safe, reliable, easy to drive, cheap and slow. And yes, ABS breaks and all around airbags are absolute minimal requirements.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1488386339.jpg

My daughter 20 years ago. Worked out really well amazingly;)

My first car at 16. A 1974 VW Super Beetle like the one below. I learned to drive a manual trans and work on it.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1488387467.jpg

Volvo. The slower and uglier the better.

A few years ago I got my son 2003 honda civic. It was very reliable considering how hard it had been used before we got and body parts are stupid cheap. He slid into a fire hydrant and new aftermarket body parts to fix the damage were about $120!

I did always worry about him having a bad accident in it since it didn't feel much more substantial than a beer can.

Forget the money pit BMW or Merc....that's why they're soooo cheap used !!

Toyota or Honda !!!

You want to have him driving a car that nobody wants to be seen in. This way whenever they go places they take someone else's car and the DUI falls on some other family to deal with. Old Volvo or most boring Japanese 4 door. I like the Tahoe idea, for long trips with friends they will select another vehicle. On the other hand my son has been driving a 1999 BMW 328i for over 120k miles - we bought it at around 100k miles. He started (12 years ago) with a stickshift Volvo 240. Between he and his brother they managed to drive it into the ground at about 220k miles. We are considering getting rid of the 328i now - he got married and his wife's car is a ? new Rav4. New drivers are on average not too wise - a performance car is IMO not a good idea. If you like tinkering with e.g. a BMW or Merc to keep it running then fine - maybe you can interest your son in working on the car together which probably makes up for all other negatives related to whatever car you select.

Do a search on YouTube for a 5th Gear test where they compared a late 1980s boxy tank Volvo to a modern European city car in a frontal collision. It does a great job of illustrating how far crash safety engineering and crumple zones have come. The older Volvos were tanks, but here's the problem - that dynamic energy has to go somewhere. Modern cars are designed to crumple which absorbs the energy and protects the driver. Stiff "tank" like cars, which were designed without crumple zones, simply expect the rapid deceleration to be absorbed by the soft squishy people inside. People who think the 1980s Volvo was the pinnacle of crash safety do not have a good fundamental understanding of physics.

When I came of age, Ford Pintos (firebombs), and Jeep CJ5's (roll over death traps) were common in our hs parking lot....none of us survived :). A new Jeep CJ5 is what killed me....except that I paid for it, respected what it was, and it didn't last.

Get the kid a Corolla, etc. if you desire, but kids who have skin in the game with their car will be more likely to preserve their own skin IN their car...YMMV.

Does the kid get a vote in this? it's up to us?

Sure. But every time I show him a car, he just says OK. He really does not care so long as it runs. He also knows dad is a gear head and will hook him up.

How about an MR2?
Toyota reliability
Fun but not too fast
Can only take one passenger (distractor) at one time.

Miata.