Best First Car For a 16 y/o Gearhead?

[sontakke]

Anything which even pretends to be sporty and the insurance company would charge arm and leg for the 16 year old male driver. Anybody have access to the online insurance quote system? I will not be surprised if it ends up few hundred dollars per month for 100/300K liability only.

 

[JulesMaximus]

WRXs aren't that expensive to insure. I don't know the OP's insurance rates...

OP asked for a 'gearhead' type car. Those aren't Corollas.

He's 16 years old. He will have the highest possible rates there are especially for a turbocharged WRX. The only thing worse would be him trying to insure a literbike. :biggrin:

 

[sandorski]

Another vote for something really cheap(even $5k is pushing it) and Japanese. Save your money for something better later and get something reliable for school/work that will last a few years, even if you want something different before then.

 

[thomsbrain]

why not get a miata? get an NA for a few grand, throw a cd player in it, put on some sticky tires, lower it, and you will have yourself one hell of a fun car.

and then you'll easily have 6k left over to do plenty of fun stuff - whether it's take girls out, go to track days, whatever. as fun as it is having a nice car, it's a lot more fun when you have lots of cash on hand

100% agree with this.

 

[Riverhound777]

I agree with the Miata, with the stipulation that you are confident enough to not give a crap about what others think. I'm sure there will be those, especially in high school, that will still make fun of a miata and call it gay or a girl's car since they are naive and clueless. If you can laugh them off, that's your best choice.

 

[crashtech]

Anything which even pretends to be sporty and the insurance company would charge arm and leg for the 16 year old male driver. Anybody have access to the online insurance quote system? I will not be surprised if it ends up few hundred dollars per month for 100/300K liability only.

qft

 

[K7SN]

You really should stick to a $5K beater and hone your driving skills for at least a year before venturing into a high HP RWD car.
Your awareness of other drivers (ie defensive driving skills) are extremely poor as you are a new driver.

Lexus IS300 or Infiniti G35 if you must.

+1

I started driving a tractor when I was 7, then learned to drive on a 42 Ford Jeep in the desert around our ranch. By the time 1 was 15 1/2 and got a leaners permit I thought I knew how to drive. Fortunately several 100 hours driving my parents around till I was 16 and could drive on my own taught me I still needed to hone my skills. My Dad would say slow down and watch out that car in the left lane; he looks like he is going to do something stupid. A minute later he turn right from the middle lane across my lane and I'd have to really slow down (I had already learned you can stop quicker if you don't lock up your wheels). Even if you drive perfect, if you don't watch out and anticipate other idiots your beautiful car can become a mangled piece of junk.

He was right, dead right
as he speed along
He is just as dead
as if he'd been wrong
Burma shave signs along interstate (not freeways)

i, like you, wanted something sporty and a summer of work when I was 15 was now paying off in the winter. I was hired to thin a windbreak of Athol trees that was starting to hang over an orchard and got paid and got to keep the wood. That fall I cut and split 42 cords of firewood for people too lazy to cut and split their own wood and sold the wood for $20 a half cord as winter approached. I turned 16 in November of 1962; m, dream was a new 1963 Corvette Stingray but my wise parents said no! They wanted me to get a pickup truck, something useful. Six months later we came to agreement on a used 1959 Chevy El Camino. A couple dents which the other driver got the ticket and I began to realize how wise my parents were.

It takes many miles and lots of hours of driving under different conditions to become a safe driver. A couple of my friend got stingrays; one was an experienced driver and after countless miles to and from college for 4 years and two years in West Berlin fulfilling is military obligation as a 2nd Louie; he ordered his 1964 375 horse fuel injected Corvette and on his discharged picked it up in December of 1963. He still has it and drives it at least once a week. The other friend wrapped his around a tree and didn't get to see his 21st birthday. BTW: I got a new 65 GTO and after 6 months traded it title for title for a 1963 Corvette Fastback; I could drive it all week and turn 12:9 at the strip on weekends. Never got a ticket, never got in a wreck.

I'm not try to advise give up your goal, just temper your enthusiasm and get some 'watch out for the other guy' experience under your belt.

I wish you good luck but hope to see you still posting when you it that magic age of 25 when your insurance rates plummet downward. If you get a beater you may find it cheaper to keep it and use it 'as your primary car' (At least what you insurance agent puts down) and insure your sport car as a secondary vehicle; big savings in insurance, I mean big savings. The officers who were financing corvettes in 1968 were paying over a $1,200 a year; my corvette as a secondary car cost me $32 a year for liability; Three years of good safe driving and you could buy a new car then for what you saved.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Beaters are great too because they generally aren't very fast so you can't get into too much trouble with one.

 

[Zivic]

3 Miatas

/thread.

I agree

 

[exar333]

Miata is a terrible choice. A 2 seater? come one...A 16-year old wants to go around with his buddies, not just one. A old Volvo would be a better choice...

 

[twinrider1]

They just enacted stricter rules here for kids....only 1 non family member allowed in the car your first year of being licensed.

 

[MongGrel]

Two things.

One
What would be best for you depends on you. Though, my favorite all time car was a '93 black and tan Miata.

Two
Whatever car you buy, reserve enough money for a performance driving school. My experience is that the slowest part of most cars is the driver...

Best of luck,
Uno

why not get a miata? get an NA for a few grand, throw a cd player in it, put on some sticky tires, lower it, and you will have yourself one hell of a fun car.

and then you'll easily have 6k left over to do plenty of fun stuff - whether it's take girls out, go to track days, whatever. as fun as it is having a nice car, it's a lot more fun when you have lots of cash on hand

NA Miata or Mk1 MR2. Slow enough you won't kill yourself and fun enough you won't care that it's slow. $2k on the car, $1k for tools and misc parts to get it up to snuff, and invest the other $10k.

+1

 

[MongGrel]

Anything which even pretends to be sporty and the insurance company would charge arm and leg for the 16 year old male driver. Anybody have access to the online insurance quote system? I will not be surprised if it ends up few hundred dollars per month for 100/300K liability only.

I agree with the Miata, with the stipulation that you are confident enough to not give a crap about what others think. I'm sure there will be those, especially in high school, that will still make fun of a miata and call it gay or a girl's car since they are naive and clueless. If you can laugh them off, that's your best choice.

I would go for a car with good power to weight ratio and decent reliability, though, like a V6 Mustang or even a Miata. Sure, they are commmon, but they are also great value for the amount of fun you get, and you can mod/customize them a fair amount. Maintenance or parts for repair if needed won't break the bank, either, which is something worth considering, not just the purchase price.

You have too many requirements. If you want something fast, RWD, not common, with reasonable insurance, and ~$10,000 or under, it's likely going to be something old and unreliable or expensive to maintain and fix. You're better of revising some of those requirements so you can a good first car, not something that you'll regret buying.

+2

 

[smackababy]

A 16yo should have something like an '05 Corolla.

If my first car was only 10 years old, I'd have been so happy. =(

 

[crashtech]

Haha, I'm with you there. My first car was eighteen years old when I got it, and it didn't run.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Miata is a terrible choice. A 2 seater? come one...A 16-year old wants to go around with his buddies, not just one. A old Volvo would be a better choice...

you only need 1 seat for your girlfriend.

 

[MongGrel]

you only need 1 seat for your girlfriend.

+3

 

[Wuzup101]

I love to hate on Miata's due to their lack of power (I secretly also love them... so take that for what it's worth). If you have a limited (16 year old) budget, and want a fun gear-head type car, get a Miata. Preferably one that already has some aftermarket parts (some sort or roll protection, suspension work, wider wheels w/ sticky tires, etc...).

It should be relatively cheap to insure.

It will be relatively cheap to work on.

Consumables are relatively inexpensive (seriously great performance tires for a miata on something like a 15x8 wheel are stupid cheap).

Boosted AWD cars (wrx, evo, etc...) are great cars (I own an Evo X) but are stupid expensive to insure (my Evo X costs around the same as my 15 stingray for insurance and I'm 30 with a spotless record). They are also generally not light on consumables.

A 16 y/o kid can afford to autocross a Miata if they have a normal student job.... good luck doing that w/o help from your parents in a high HP car.

Going fast on the highway isn't exactly exciting... the thrills soon end.

You'll only be able to hold 1 additional passenger... so you can always pull the "not driving no room" card with your friends... furthermore, it's honestly a huge distraction being in a car with 3-4+ other people when you are 16. Yeah you want to do it (I used to get 4 other people in my eclipse as long as the girls were tiny lol).... but it's not the best thing to have to do all the time.

Oh... and if you buy a relatively cheap miata... it'll still be a relatively cheap miata in a few years. You won't loose a ton of money to depreciation AND you will have an awesome track car that you can (and will want to) keep after you move up to your next ride.

 

[XavierMace]

I'd also agree with the Miata suggestion. If you want 4 doors, IS300 would be my choice. Cheap, cheap parts (mostly), pretty easy to work on. Except for that damn oil filter. It's not made to be reached with male sized arms.

 

[Jimzz]

you only need 1 seat for your girlfriend.

Maybe exar333 is implying that the OPs son has multiple boyfriends? :awe:

 

[SearchMaster]

I actually like a 2 seater for teens...the fewer the passengers the less likely they get into trouble IME and when you do need multiple passengers, somebody else has to drive.

Miata would be great for a gearhead because they're easy to work on and you feel very connected to the road.

My nephew got a 944 as his first car (maybe age 18 or 19?) and it's been quite reliable for him and he absolutely adores the car. It was low miles, like 30K when he got it, so it seems to have been someone's baby and well maintained. I'm sure that it'll cost him a half a month's salary or more when the first big repair comes though.

 

[jlee]

Miata is a terrible choice. A 2 seater? come one...A 16-year old wants to go around with his buddies, not just one. A old Volvo would be a better choice...

Nope nope nope nope.

From AAA:

Compared with having no passengers, having one passenger younger than age 21 (and no
older passengers) was associated with a 44% increase in a 16- or 17-year-old driver’s risk
per mile driven of being killed in a crash (Relative Risk [RR] 1.44, 95% Confidence Interval
[CI] 1.01 – 2.04). Having two passengers younger than age 21 was associated with a
doubling of a driver’s risk of being killed in a crash, compared with having no passengers
(RR 2.02, 95% CI 1.36 – 2.99). Having three or more passengers younger than age 21 was
associated with roughly a quadrupling of a driver’s risk of being killed in a crash, compared
with having no passengers (RR 4.39, 95% CI 1.45 – 13.31). The relative risk of being
involved in any police-reported crash in the presence of young passengers followed a similar
pattern; however, the increases in relative risk of being involved in any police-reported
crash were smaller and were not statistically significant.