Good starter car for a newly licensed 16 year old?

[xSkyDrAx]

My Sis-In-Law is getting ready to sell her Camry. 1 owner vehicle, I think it is a 2001 or a 2002, white, automatic, with around 120k miles IIRC. Always well maintained, no accidents that I'm aware of. Couple minor scratches around the rear bumper, new tires. She's in the Redondo Beach area if you're interested. I think she's looking for around $6-6.5k for it.

That probably sounds like the perfect car for him to learn on. With only 120k miles and well maintained that thing will run for another 10 years easily.

 

[mvbighead]

As for an actual model, I'd suggest a 2001-2003 Chevy Impala with a 3.4. I had one for several years and seldom had problems with it. They are extremely common, inexpensive to maintain, and safe.

Mileage is around 25ish, which is decent.

 

[ichy]

Buy a used Ford Crown Victoria or Mercury Grand Marquis.

 

[Arkaign]

Buy a used Ford Crown Victoria or Mercury Grand Marquis.

Hahah yeah. I have a lot of LEOs in the family, and they have nothing but praise for the safety and durability of those things. Only downside is RWD + V8 + kid. They're not all that fast, but have enough juice to get sideways if the throttle is goosed on a turn. They also have the suspension sophistication of a boxcar.

value for money though, I've got to give credit where's it due. And if the kid decides to become a serial killer, he can easily store 3-4 adult bodies in the trunk for transport.

 

[MotF Bane]

Hahah yeah. I have a lot of LEOs in the family, and they have nothing but praise for the safety and durability of those things. Only downside is RWD + V8 + kid. They're not all that fast, but have enough juice to get sideways if the throttle is goosed on a turn. They also have the suspension sophistication of a boxcar.

value for money though, I've got to give credit where's it due. And if the kid decides to become a serial killer, he can easily store 3-4 adult bodies in the trunk for transport.

Unplug four of the spark plugs.

 

[Bacstar]

I know one thing... I'm not envying my sister's situation right now. My co-worker's daughter just turned 16, and his insurance went up $1600 for the year.

 

[MotF Bane]

I know one thing... I'm not envying my sister's situation right now. My co-worker's daughter just turned 16, and his insurance went up $1600 for the year.

Got off easy with that. My parents went up $2100-2200 when I started driving.

 

[IGemini]

Another vote for affordable. DON'T buy a new car for a new driver. My first driving car was a '91 Buick Regal. Was in good shape (paint job sucked, peeled a bit but never had operational problems with the car), $1800 was spent for it, lasted 7 years--longer than any of my peers kept their high school wheels. Sold once the work got excessive, but I've still seen it running around. Only accidents I had with it were <10MPH, usually hurt the object more than the car itself. My first actual owned car was the one that got wrecked.

It doesn't have to be a beater (depends on how well your son drives, or not), but buy used at least. You should easily be able to get a decent used car for half of the budget. Lots of good mid- to large-sized car suggestions have been made already.

 

[draknon]

How about a '00-'02 or so Celica. It's very under powered and you can't get in much trouble with it. The back seat isn't really useable so no worries about dragging a carload of friends around. It's very fuel efficient and very reliable. It still looks good and has a "sporty" appearance that most kids will like. The hatch will allow him to fit some larger items in the back if needed so he won't need to bug others to move things around that won't fit in the car.

 

[ichy]

The back seat isn't really useable so no worries about dragging a carload of friends around.

That's one problem with a Crown Vic, you can squeeze eight, nine or even ten people in one of those.

 

[Bacstar]

That's one problem with a Crown Vic, you can squeeze eight, nine or even ten people in one of those.

I thought with these new "provisional" licenses, the driver is only allowed to have immediate family as passengers?

 

[IGemini]

I thought with these new "provisional" licenses, the driver is only allowed to have immediate family as passengers?

It's a little more involved than that.

Q. What changes are there to the provisional driver license restrictions?

A. Effective January 1, 2006, persons under age 18 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian or other person specified by law when:

• Transporting passengers under 20 years of age, at any time for the first twelve months.
• Driving between the hours of 11:00 PM and 5:00 AM for the first twelve months

http://dmv.ca.gov/teenweb/dl_btn2/q_and_a.htm

More answers on the link provided.

 

[RavenSEAL]

While it's somewhat true that side airbags have given compact cars a boost (I'm happy my compact has them), it's still safer to be in an average midsize car than an average compact or subcompact if safety is a concern. There's simply more mass and larger areas to absorb/deform upon impact.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcTf78b8WfY&feature=related

This has been proven it seems about every 4-5 years since forever. Top Gear I think even did it with the European standards.

HOLY SHIT, anyone in that Yaris would have been dead. D:

 

[alkemyst]

It depends what they can afford and what their family is doing for them.

For me my first car cost me $3600...my dad funding a restoration for another $40k. My responsibility was to dismantle everything and help put it back together.

They covered my gas and insurance, I had to keep up my grades and keep a job (I ended up with 3 jobs actually).

I did get in a couple wrecks that I could have avoided knowing more probably about driving. The first one was unavoidable, a guy came into my lane head on and clipped my fender.

Second one was because I stopped on the white line at a red light....old lady T-boned me. Even though she would have hit me if I was 6" back, I was ticketed.

Once we rebuilt the car, I bought out my share around 1990-91 and bought a 1988 Mustang GT/T-Top/5speed.

 

[BurnItDwn]

my first car was a 1991 Ford Escort. It sucked, but it only costed my 1500 when I got it (late 1996.)
Second car was a 1995 Pontiac Grand Am. It was a HELL of a lot better, but still not the best. Got that one in 99 since the Escort was nothing but trouble (transmission problems). Costed me 3K
Third car was a 99 Chrysler 300M, It was a nice car, had some electrical issues, but was generally a good car... Spent about 15K on it, drove it for 7 years.
On my 4th car now, a 2008 Subaru Forester.

I believe your 16 year old nephew is old enough to ride a bike, bus, or walk. At 16, he's much to old to be asking his mom for rides. he should obviously buy his own car, it's almost always bad when people buy their kids cars. The kid should work and buy his own car when he can afford it. Whatever $$$ the parents were going to throw away buying their son a car, they can save it to help the son out later in life with $$$ to go towards education or perhaps eventually to help with a down payment on a home at some point.

Just my 2 bits. I don't like spoiled 35 year old children.

 

[Bacstar]

my first car was a 1991 Ford Escort. It sucked, but it only costed my 1500 when I got it (late 1996.)
Second car was a 1995 Pontiac Grand Am. It was a HELL of a lot better, but still not the best. Got that one in 99 since the Escort was nothing but trouble (transmission problems). Costed me 3K
Third car was a 99 Chrysler 300M, It was a nice car, had some electrical issues, but was generally a good car... Spent about 15K on it, drove it for 7 years.
On my 4th car now, a 2008 Subaru Forester.

I believe your 16 year old nephew is old enough to ride a bike, bus, or walk. At 16, he's much to old to be asking his mom for rides. he should obviously buy his own car, it's almost always bad when people buy their kids cars. The kid should work and buy his own car when he can afford it. Whatever $$$ the parents were going to throw away buying their son a car, they can save it to help the son out later in life with $$$ to go towards education or perhaps eventually to help with a down payment on a home at some point.

Just my 2 bits. I don't like spoiled 35 year old children.

I had a 2000 Chrysler 300M...just traded it in a couple months ago for a 2012 300S. Loved that car, but it was time to let go and get a newer vehicle.

As to spoiling the nephew, his parents are rather strict with him and keep him busy with school & sports. He does go to a private catholic school that is probably 10-15 miles each way, and they don't bus. His parents are pretty responsible, and I have no doubts they have a college fund setup already. If anyone spoils him, it's probably me and his grandparents.

Discovered the nephew wants a truck. Also mentioned to her what some suggested. She get a new car, and the kid gets the Sequoia.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I had a 2000 Chrysler 300M...just traded it in a couple months ago for a 2012 300S. Loved that car, but it was time to let go and get a newer vehicle.

As to spoiling the nephew, his parents are rather strict with him and keep him busy with school & sports. He does go to a private catholic school that is probably 10-15 miles each way, and they don't bus. His parents are pretty responsible, and I have no doubts they have a college fund setup already. If anyone spoils him, it's probably me and his grandparents.

Discovered the nephew wants a truck. Also mentioned to her what some suggested. She get a new car, and the kid gets the Sequoia.

Ahh, my apologies, I did make some assumptions in my post that were unjustly made towards your nephew. Sounds like he's learning responsibility through his parent's example

 

[Q]

And if the kid decides to become a serial killer, he can easily store 3-4 adult bodies in the trunk for transport.

:ninja::biggrin:

 

[Q]

Used Ford Ranger, 4 banger? Reliable + cheap.

 

[Bacstar]

Ahh, my apologies, I did make some assumptions in my post that were unjustly made towards your nephew. Sounds like he's learning responsibility through his parent's example

Now my other nephew from a different sister...don't get me started. Love him, but geez, he's gonna be a problem teenager.

 

[Jumpem]

Wow, kids are spoiled these days. I started working at twelve, and bought my own car at fifteen.

As for the car, I would suggest the best maintained lowest mileage vehicle the kid can find for $3k of his own money.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I do realize the world has changed and I live in a place where it's very difficult to get around if you don't have access to a car but, dear God, giving the average 16 year old a car is just asking for trouble. Now I know, all of ATOT's kids are smarter than average but, I just wanted to ask how many ATOTers as parents would have given themselves a car at 16? Shit, I didn't even have a bus pass at 16.

 

[Bacstar]

Weird...back with my group of friends, most of us got cars or money to buy a car when we all got our licenses. Now, some were real pieces of crap, but none of us complained. This was over 25 years ago too...

 

[Doppel]

Something VERY slow.

 

[Doppel]

I do realize the world has changed and I live in a place where it's very difficult to get around if you don't have access to a car but, dear God, giving the average 16 year old a car is just asking for trouble. Now I know, all of ATOT's kids are smarter than average but, I just wanted to ask how many ATOTers as parents would have given themselves a car at 16? Shit, I didn't even have a bus pass at 16.

F that. All of my friends including me were in accidents in our first year. 16 year old males should not be driving at all! I was not at all safe.