car for a teen? Please help!

MelllieMa · Mar 7, 2004

Ok, my sister wants to buy a used car for her soon to be driving teenage daughter. She wants to spend no more than 10k. She wants 4 doors, wants it to be no more than a few years old, and she lives in Minot, so good handling in snowy conditions is a must.
Please tell me your suggestions!

SafeDad · Mar 10, 2004

The April 2004 Consumer Reports has some recommendations on the best cars for teen drivers. While it does pertain to new vehicles, it might give them some ideas.

Robert · Mar 10, 2004

As a safety recommendation, I would stay away from the sporty cars. These cars have a lot of power that teenagers can't handle due to inexperience of drivng.

MelllieMa · Mar 10, 2004

Thank you both, Darren and Robert. I'll get the CR issue and send it to her! (she's a fairly conservative minded person, so I'm sure a sporty car won't even crop up on her list!

)

SafeDad · Mar 10, 2004

My thinking is even if I buy my kids a car and pay for the upkeep, they will be completely responsible for paying the insurance.

That way they can learn by shopping around to see which cars have affordable insurance. Plus, one reportable crash and they will be paying a lot more to insure themselves....

MelllieMa · Mar 10, 2004

I like that

but because my dad was in the Air Force our whole family has USAA, and I think that if anyone chooses to use another insurance (drops USAA) then they can't come back again. I could be wrong here. Growing up we had to pay gas and all upkeep costs, and the insurance difference if we didn't get the 'good student discount rates' or had any crashes etc.
She wasn't going to get a car for her DD as she is only 14, (in ND they get licenses early), but her 11yo just started team sports and dd could really be helpful with the driving as my sis is a single mom and a doc.
My own dd is older by a year, but won't have her first car for some time yet. She is going to be REALLY jealous!

SafeDad · Mar 10, 2004

Of course, they could still have their own policy through USAA... By shopping around I didn't necessarily mean different companies, but rather on different vehicles.

Unregistered · Mar 13, 2004

How about a 1983 Mercedes 240D?
Looks cool, purrs like a kitten, simple to fix and can't go too terribly fast... Plus, if you look around you can pick one up with no rust for about $1000. The insurance is very reasonable too.
Oh, and it just cruises through snow.

murphydog77 · Mar 13, 2004

Might I suggest a stick shift? I've got a real nice '96 Toyota RAV4 for sale, original owner, 4WD, maintained nicely, lol.

Seriously, we got the stick because we felt more in control in snowy conditions (haha, yes it does occasionally snow here in LV, but we travel to ski slopes). You can downshift in slow-moving traffic and basically choose which gear you want to be in instead of the vehicle trying to decide what fits the conditions.

Plus, if she ever needs to drive one in the future, she will have learned on one. I learned on a stick and it's much easier to switch to an automatic transmission than vice versa.

(And they're cheaper than automatics!)

UlrikeDG · Mar 14, 2004

Here are some safe choices that I would consider for $10,000. I don't know about reliability or repair costs, but these are a start.

2002 Suzuki Aerio
IIHS Best Pick

2001 Honda Civic
IIHS Best Pick

2003 Ford Focus
IIHS Crash Tests

2000 Ford Taurus (or newer)
IIHS Best Pick

1998 Toyota Camry (or newer)
IIHS Crash Tests

MelllieMa · Mar 14, 2004

Oh thank you Ulrike!

That is exactly what I was looking for! I didn't even know the crash test links existed, thank you so much!

car for a teen? Please help!

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