Lets say you had $2000 for a teenager's car...

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Melanie

New member

• Aug 1, 2011

• #1

What would you buy?

DD1's about to turn 16 and get her license I'd really like her to have a new car with a million airbags and bubble wrap the whole thing. But this what she has to work with. She'll be covering the car expenses. With the high insurance rates where we live there's no way she can afford a car payment too. It doesn't need to last forever, just the next year or so.

Totally out of the norm for here, but car seat compatability doesn't matter.

 

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Jessica61624

New member

• Aug 1, 2011

• #2

I have a 2000 intrepid its pretty big. I can pretty much do any 3 across even with a frontier. so that tells you how big the back seat is. I've had it 3 yrs next month and have had mo problems.

My first car was a 1996 cavalier and I really liked that car too!

 

EmmaCPST

CPST Instructor

• Aug 1, 2011

• #3

Definitely a Honda Civic/Accord or Toyota Corolla/Camry! I work in a shop and well, half of the techs and service writers have 90s Corollas and Accords that they drive back and forth to work every day as their beater commuters, and all of them have over 200K on them. You can easily find one that will be reliable, inexpensive to maintain, and go forever!

 

April

Well-known member

• Aug 1, 2011

• #4

emma41256 said:

Definitely a Honda Civic/Accord or Toyota Corolla/Camry! I work in a shop and well, half of the techs and service writers have 90s Corollas and Accords that they drive back and forth to work every day as their beater commuters, and all of them have over 200K on them. You can easily find one that will be reliable, inexpensive to maintain, and go forever!

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:yeahthat: I totally agree with this. Or an old Volvo if you can find one. Those things last forever.

I wouldn't be looking for a big backseat for a 16 year old girl though. :duck:
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jsta1005

New member

• Aug 2, 2011

• #5

April said:

:yeahthat: I totally agree with this. Or an old Volvo if you can find one. Those things last forever.

I wouldn't be looking for a big backseat for a 16 year old girl though. :duck:
Posted via Mobile Device

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:yeahthat: However, Volvos are $$$ to maintain!

and haha!

 

QuassEE

Moderator - CPST Instructor

• Aug 2, 2011

• #6

I agree with Civic/Accord! We just went through this recently and bought Wendy's old Xterra for our son, when she got her Mazda5. It's a little top heavy, but one of our priorities was that we wanted him to learn on standard (and it is..) I'm not sure if you can find my old thread, but I know that the Focus was highly recommended in that thread, as well. I'm just not a domestics kinda gal.

-Nicole.

 

scatterbunny

New member

• Aug 2, 2011

• #7

:yeahthat: to the Civic/Accord/Corolla/Camry/Focus. You'll be able to get a newer model year if you go with a Focus, but I think for long-term reliability and gas economy, the Civic/Accord/Corolla/Camry are going to be hard to beat. My first car was a 91 Accord, and to this day I miss that car. I see tons of them on the road, running strong. The only thing I hated about it was the stupid automatic shoulderbelts up front (which they changed by the mid-nineties, I'm 99% sure) and the lack of rear center shoulderbelt. I was adamant on getting a car with a rear center shoulderbelt this time around, so we ended up with a 2003 Focus. I like it well enough, but I now almost wish I'd gone with an older Honda or Toyota, even without a rear center shoulderbelt, simply because the Honda/Toyota would have rear outboard headrest "humps" tall enough to work for my 5-stepped 10yo. The Focus doesn't have rear headrests and the seatback is pretty darn low, so my 10yo is too big for a booster, passes the 5 step test, but doesn't have adequate head support in the back of the Focus. I think I'd rather have her outboard in an older Honda/Toyota with head support than in the middle of the Focus (I think).

 

QuassEE

Moderator - CPST Instructor

• Aug 2, 2011

• #8

Just don't buy a Neon. You do that, and we'll disown you

-N.

 

M

Melanie

New member

• Aug 2, 2011

• #9

Going to look for your thread Quassee...

So is the consensus that an older Honda/Toyota with more miles is better than a newer domestic with less miles? What about the safety aspect? What about a Nissan Sentra/Altima? They seem to be a little less than Honda/Toyota. Is that because they don't tend to last as long? We loved our Altima...but we also only took it to 145k miles and one in her price range would have way more miles.

I hadn't even thought about the rear seat headrests. There's so many things I'd like this car to have that it might not. It's hard working with a little amount of money and putting your baby (big baby) in it.

 

Last edited: Aug 2, 2011

cookie123

New member

• Aug 2, 2011

• #10

My dd#1 had a 98 toyota Corolla. Actually she had hers until she had 3 kids and needed a minivan.

Our youngest had a Focus and I can't recall the year, but it had door lock issues. One of the doors could not even open - and even for a single person that turned out to be an annoyance. It turned out that it was a big problem for the vehicle.

 

ericarizo

New member

• Aug 2, 2011

• #11

emma41256 said:

Definitely a Honda Civic/Accord or Toyota Corolla/Camry! I work in a shop and well, half of the techs and service writers have 90s Corollas and Accords that they drive back and forth to work every day as their beater commuters, and all of them have over 200K on them. You can easily find one that will be reliable, inexpensive to maintain, and go forever!

Click to expand...

:yeahthatlove:

 

Jillian

Active member

• Aug 2, 2011

• #12

I vote Corolla!

 

QuassEE

Moderator - CPST Instructor

• Aug 2, 2011

• #13

Unfortunately the 2003+ Corolla runs $5k minimum. That's where I'd go with Corolla, so it doesn't align with your budget. I believe that Honda resolved the older car rust issues sooner than Toyota did, but I'm not 100% on that. So if you live in an area where they salt roads, it's something to consider.

I have a 1989 Toyota LC, and it's cheap to fix, and runs strong..but I wouldn't let my kid drive it. No airbags is where I draw the line My dad had a 1990 Honda Accord EX-L and that was a great car. I think they updated the bodystyle in 1993 to those triangularly shaped lights, and I know those model years had excellent reputations and are in or below that price.

-N.

 

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Melanie

New member

• Aug 2, 2011

• #14

You guys are so much help. Thanks for all the input...keep it coming. Rust isn't an issue here in AZ.

 

JerseyGirl'sMama

New member

• Aug 2, 2011

• #15

We just sold my '99 civic with 339k miles on it. Still runs great. No airbags of course, but just wanted to show you how ling they run.

 

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Melanie

New member

• Aug 2, 2011

• #16

JerseyGirl'sMama said:

We just sold my '99 civic with 339k miles on it. Still runs great. No airbags of course, but just wanted to show you how ling they run.

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Wow, that's impressive! I love Civics. DH's commuter car is a newer Civic. DD will probably wind up with it when she's in college and we can mover closer to DH's job.

 

unityco

Ambassador - CPS Technician

• Aug 2, 2011

• #17

cookie123 said:

Our youngest had a Focus and I can't recall the year, but it had door lock issues. One of the doors could not even open.

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Don't get me started on our ('06) Focus and (hatch) lock issues. Our particular Focus has recently become a piece of junk and has turned me off the whole Ford brand, but it may just be our car that is a lemon. :shrug-shoulders:

 

QuassEE

Moderator - CPST Instructor

• Aug 2, 2011

• #18

Melanie said:

You guys are so much help. Thanks for all the input...keep it coming. Rust isn't an issue here in AZ.

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Are you in.. Phoenix? Cuz I need people in Phoenix..

-N.

 

M

Melanie

New member

• Aug 2, 2011

• #19

QuassEE said:

Are you in.. Phoenix? Cuz I need people in Phoenix..

-N.

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I am. What do you need?

 

BabyKaykes

New member

• Aug 2, 2011

• #20

Same price range for our almost 18yo here.

We were looking at a Neon, but found an awesome deal on a 94 Maxima with great milage. Trying to get the guy to come down a couple hundred.

My grandmother is unwilling to give up her car, even though we (collective we as a family) have offered to buy her a new one. Her 92 Accord is in perfect running condition with great interior, paint, and 280K miles on it.