Recommend a car for my teen, please...

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

I guess I should have given a list of what I would not buy her.

I have ruled out any small American-made vehicles. DH and I both drive American (A Suburban and a Dodge Ram), but I have never been impressed with the smaller ones.

I don't know anything about Kias. I might have to look into those. I guess I always envisioned her in a Beetle, but she seems to get misty-eyed everytime we pass a Mini Cooper. She's a good student, and we live in a small town where the parents seem to be buying their teens new BMWs as a first vehicle. I can't afford that, obviously, but I do want her to be proud of her first car.

I should say that her natural mother has this delusional thought of giving her a 1991 Mazda Protege. I just think that's not a good vehicle to give a kid who barely knows how to gas it up!

 

[DVCLiz]

DD17 wanted a convertible Mini Cooper in the worst way - it was her fantasy car while she was learning how to drive. In the real world, though, she was thrilled to death with the car I actually bought her - a 2003 Mercury Mountaineer. I wanted her up higher, and the Mini Cooper, while very cute, just looked too small for me to feel comfortable with her safety. Not sure if that opinion is backed up by facts, though - does anyone actually know what the Mini Cooper's safety record is?

Anyway, DD has been delighted by her car - I like it a lot, too. Front and side airbags, rear tone to let you know if you are backing into anything (would also be very helpful for me!!!) and not too flashy. It had about 23,000 miles on it, I think.

 

[kristen821]

I haven't read all the post so this may have been suggested. i would go with a honda or toyota. Whatever you get I would make sure it was small. you don't really want to many teens in the car with her - imo

 

[barkley]

take into consideration the climate you live in-vw's are not the best cars in cold climates. if you live in a region that gets enuf snow that chains are necessary check into saturns. they have a very easy "spider spike" system that just snaps onto the wheels and makes for easy on/off.

the other concern i would have with a vw or a smaller vehical is if the driver will be doing highway driving or driving in a region with heavy winds-a light car can get realy tricky when you get a good wind gust (or have a big semi drive past it)-when i owned a vw we resorted to putting sand bags in the trunk for stability.

while i don't own one now, i've owned 2 saturns in the past and could not more highly recommend a vehicle. these are SAFE, reliable cars that if kept up with regualr maintainance tend not to have major breakdowns. another nice advantage is if a big repair (that seems out of the ordinary) comes up the owner (new or used) can contact saturn in tenessee and find out if their is any type of trend for that repair (they will search their data base and see what the stats are for that model)-if they find something indicating a trend they will sometimes repair it free, or waive the labor charges.
i also realy appreciated that the saturn dealerships tended to offer more night hours for regular servicing and repairs.

i would also look at how expensive a particular vehical is for routine maintainance and repairs (it can vary so much these days) and if body work on a particular vehicle is more expensive (my way of thinking is doors get dinged or dented more in places teens hang out-stuff that you may not want to submit to the insurance company to prevent increased rates. if you will end up paying these out of pocket you might want to know how much they can run. and that "cool-unique color"-it might only be available through the dealership at a very high cost).

 

[FreshTressa]

My brother went through 3 used cars for my neice before giving up and leasing her a corolla. He only pays like $179 a month and she doesn't put that many miles on it.

I drove a station wagon and DH drove a buick in high school. Kept us out of trouble, lol.

 

[iggbees]

do not, i repeat, do not buy a vw beetle, unless you want stupid persistant problems with everything and want to take it to the dealer to have a headlight replaced.

i own a 2000 beetle and i'm looking to trade it in next year. i received it as a gift from my grandfather when i turned 18 and i'm turning 23 in a month, i can't wait to get rid of it and put the money towards a car that will last me more than 60,000 miles (or 5 years) without having stupid problems. ie. i've had the door locking mechanism fixed 3 times now, the air bag warning light kept going off so they disconnected it, the oil pan cracked when i took it for an oil change (cost me 500$ to replace), had the window mechanism break and the window was stuck in a down position (cost me 200$ to fix) the list goes on. it's basically a money pit.

the only thing the beetle has going for it is the safety ratings. i've seen pictures of beetles basically wrapped around poles and the driver and passenger escaped unharmed (one story was in the magazine they send you as a vw owner).

look into a used honda, toyota or scion, all of those cars have very good longevity. my cousin has had her 1994 honda accord until this year, it has 150,000 miles on it and has nothing wrong with it! i feel like buying it from her or begging her to have it so i can get rid of my car.

i myself am looking at the honda element or the scion xb (or xa either one), which my dad has and has had amazing luck with it thus far.

 

[barkley]

My brother went through 3 used cars for my neice before giving up and leasing her a corolla. He only pays like $179 a month and she doesn't put that many miles on it.

I drove a station wagon and DH drove a buick in high school. Kept us out of trouble, lol.

mom in law searched high and low for a new car and looked seriously at pt cruisers. settled on a toyota corolla and LOVES it.

my first vw was an old 70's model with an automatic stick shift (my husband still can't fathom this concept). lord when the battery went dead and you had to access it under the rear seat what a pain!

 

[FreshTressa]

mom in law searched high and low for a new car and looked seriously at pt cruisers. settled on a toyota corolla and LOVES it.

my first vw was an old 70's model with an automatic stick shift (my husband still can't fathom this concept). lord when the battery went dead and you had to access it under the rear seat what a pain!

DH has driven two toyota corollas to over 200,000 miles, and he is BAD at maintenance. You can't kill those things!!! They are about as exciting as a toaster, but you can't go wrong on easiness to drive, safety and reliability.

 

[bballmom56]

When DD turned 17, we got her a 6 year old Toyota Camry with 90,000 miles on it. Almost 5 years later, it's still going strong, never left her stranded and she still loves it. I would have loved to get DS a Toyota, but the small pickups are the ones the guys around here have. So we found a 4 year old Ford Ranger for him. After we fixed all the things the dealer told us they would fix (and didn't) it has been fine.

 

[2BigKIdz]

I would also recommend a Toyota or Honda. Honda Accords can be sporty and are very reliable (we have a 1992 with 163,000 miles on it we use as a 3rd vehicle, it has a spoiler and sunroof and looks sporty, people want to buy if from us all the time). I personally would not feel safe in a mini even though they are very cute.

 

[plutolovr]

I don't buy my kids cars. They can buy their own when they can afford it.

 

[luvflorida]

We're sort of facing this with DD15. I say "sort of" because she just started Driver's Education classes and will turn 16 in August. Just the other day, in fact it was after I picked her up from her FIRST driver's training class, she asked me what kind of car her dad and I were going to buy her when she turns 16 and gets her license.

She thinks we're going straight to the new car lot the second she gets her license. Again,

I told her, getting her license doesn't guarantee she'll get a car. We will be in no hurry to allow our daughter to have her own car.

So then daughter thinks over my response and turns to me with a horrifying look on her face and says, "OMG, Mom! You don't expect me to drive THIS car do you!?! I would be sooooooooo embarrassed!" Now, I drive a 2003 Beetle, so I'm not sure why that would embarrass her, so I asked her what was wrong with my car.

"Mom, it's so, I don't know, it's old and like a Mom-car."

I don't this doesn't answer your question, but just letting you know that my daughter has a lonnnnnnngggggg way to go before she gets a car of her own!!

 

[tar heel]

My son thought our third car, a 1993 Olds, was a pretty awful grandpa car until he came to the total realization that we were not buying anything else nor were we co-signing a loan for him to. He now refers to the car as "his" car -- it isn't, of course.

My son goes to the type of high school where a lot of kids have new $30,000 cars provided totally by their parents. He also dates a bright, hard-working girl who has to work to make a car payment on a cute red Saturn. I think school should be the main job of teens, and there's no way I'm letting mine go into debt so work becomes a priority. He does work on weekends -- needs to support his entertainment/clothes lifestyle!

If I were going to buy a car for a teen, I would talk to my insurance agent about what kind does best in crashes and is relatively inexpensive to insure --we did not add a car when our teen started driving and our insurance still more than doubled. I would think of a Mini Cooper as being an extremely unsafe car, especially for inexperienced driver -- just too small to provide good visibility. I would want something sturdy that doesn't flip easily.

 

[Bearvet]

I realize that not everyone plans to purchase a car for their child, but for us it was a no-brainer. DS attends a high school (through a school choice program) that is a 30 minute drive from our house. So, after 4 years of driving, car pooling, etc. we couldn't wait until he could drive himself. He's also gotten a lot more involved in after school clubs and activities since he's on his own schedule. He also helps transport his 2 younger brothers to and from their activities. I help him with gas money since I'm putting so much less into my own car! He does help pay for his insurance.

In MA they are not allowed to drive anyone under the age of 21 except for family members for the first 6 months that they have their license. It's frustrating at times, but seems like a good rule.

Our insurance agent recommended that we get DS his own insurance policy rather than add him to ours. We own a business in town so this offers some protection from lawsuits according to him. It didn't vary much price-wise since we were adding a new car. We opted to not include collision (very expensive on the Saab) and DS is aware of this and is a cautious driver, so hopefully we don't have any problems. We also got him a AAA membership for Christmas - he won't realize how useful it is until you need their service (towing, etc.).

 

[AMClvsMKY]

I would buy a small truck, no back seat, 2 seat belts, then she can only have one other friend in the car/truck with her.

This is exactally what we bought our DS16 - he drives a Ford Ranger, manual trans and no extended cab and he loves it!!

 

[LeCras]

My first own car was a Mazda Miata. Small, girly, sporty and very very reliable. In fact I loved it so much I later bought another one! I have since "upgraded" to the RX-8, but I'd still say the Miata is a brilliant car (there's a reason it's the best selling roadster in the world!)

Charlotte

 

[ntburns22]

I would buy a small truck, no back seat, 2 seat belts, then she can only have one other friend in the car/truck with her.

I had a Chevy S-10 for the same reason for my first car. I loved it!

 

[KarenC]

Our "kids" car is a 2001 Honda CR-V. We bought it in 2003 with 23,000 miles on it. We've had zero problems with it. The kids sit up high so they can see what's going on in traffic and it has a pretty good safety record. We live in a snowy climate and the All Wheel Drive kicks in when its needed. I'm really happy with it.

 

[Banzai]

My first car was a 94 Olds Eighty Eight. Not a bad car for a new driver. It was big enough that when I didn't see that Chevy Cavilier coming, my little brother in the back seat didn't notice I kinda sorta hit it. (In fact, I was more upset than he was at the entire situation )

They are big enough that I could get me plus four other people in the car, plus trunk space, should I have to go to the drive in, to get about three other "close" friends.

Handled great in the snow and on highways. Plus, the last generation didn't look *as much* like an old lady car.

Mine died in October, and I am looking for a new car right now. I wouldn't think twice about getting another Eighty Eight. Well, maybe if I could get a CLK instead...

 

[Pam]

DD bought a '95 Chevy Lumina when she was 16.5 and got her driver's license.

DS, who is 17, bought a '94 Ford Mustang convertible (it is a 6 cylinder!).