first car for son

A toyota pickup with 22re is both versatile, economical, tons of support, has some mods you can do if you choose. My truck has 225k miles on it and besides a time chain and all the ancillaries it keeps running. The time chain and clutch are weak points but these trucks run forever on minimal maintanence. Also they rust like crazy. It also gets a consistant 27mpg. The only mod it really needs is a set of bucket seats.

If you drive the truck correctly and smoothly they are quite fun through the twisty bits. Go through and replace as many rubber bushing in the suspension. Riding on 205s the truck sticks pretty good and is so light there is little understeer and it doesn't have any power so there is little oversteer. The engine isn't a powerhouse but it is fun to surprise people, most driving is psychological not mechanical.

The reason I suggested a 2wd pick up (Ranger in this case) is that you can get a craigslist lawn mower/weed eater, a couple of rakes and tell him that he has until Christmas to pay off half of the truck.

A kid with his livelihood riding in the back might be a little more conscious of his driving.

Rusnak_322 wrote:

donalson wrote: miata... at this point my big requirement for my kiddies car will be no back seat... fewer seats = fewer people in the car = less distraction... also means they won't be asked to drop friends off at home or whatever...

Never underestimate the stupidity of a 16 year old boy. I had a Fiero when I was 16 and I regularly had two girls in the car and one time used it to double date. I had a 944 when I was 17 and got pulled over for speeding - I had 5 pasangers in the car including one in the hatch.

No doubt.

I could fit 4 people inside my Subaru Brat.

Seriously... how about a '00 - '04 Taurus/Sable?

fornetti14 wrote: Seriously... how about a '00 - '04 Taurus/Sable?

Dirt cheap, very safe, reliable as an anvil.

I would also extend that back to the 96(?)-99. Same car, different sheetmetal.

My second car was a 318ti I loved that thing, I wish I still had it

Get him a manual. It will keep him much focused on driving rather then everything. I would say ABS wouldn't be a bad idea. I say an EK Civic DX. Power nothing, less likely to be tuned, reliable and yet can still be fun.

EJ22 Subaru in any of it's incarnations. I definitely agree with the need for him to work for it. Preferably get a job and save enough money to buy it himself. Otherwise, get a job and pay you back for at least half of it and have him pay the insurance so he feels it when he gets a ticket.

I like the idea of a mini-pickup and some lawn equipment to go with it but I'm also worried about their sub-standard safety since they don't have to conform to equivalent "car" DOT safety requirements.

no car gets a man laid... at least not by any woman worth sharing a bed with.

Thank you for saying that!

I agree with the near-gutless standard cab compact truck idea. It has to be near gutless or he will kill himself in the rain and/or go too fast too often.

I definitely DONT agree with the miata thing. They're a bit too insubstantial, dont tend strongly enough toward understeer (ALWAYS better to hit something forward than sideways), and have this strange habit of being upside down after wrecks ( equals death ).

Dirt cheap, very safe, reliable as an anvil.

Eh, the reliability thing could be better. Get the OHV vulcan motor for sure, and if the trans suddenly 'breaks', check the pump shaft before shelling out for a rebuild.

I would say ABS wouldn't be a bad idea.

ABS would be the best idea. Ideally, stability control, EBD, and ABS would be the best idea. Nobody learns from a mistake they dont live through. Sink or swim isnt a good approach to learning how to handle situations you can only get wrong once, so start with all the nannies you can get and he can ween himself off them if and when he so chooses, hopefully in a safe venue.

Another vote for a compact pickup truck w/ manual transmission.

-Fewer seats is better.

-Manual trans. forces more attention be paid to the road, less to cell phone, hot pockets, etc.

-Even in 2wd guise they are sorta cool, 4x4's are definitely cool.

-Most of the 5spd ones will be 4 cyl., thus comfortingly slow.

-In your price range most of the 4 cyl. trucks are easy to work on and a good starting point for learning how cars work.

Try for a Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, or Ford and make sure he has good tires.

I would honestly feel that a '95 and newer XJ Cherokee would be a good canidate. 2WD or 4WD. They're reliable, they're a descent size, and they handle well for an SUV.

Most of them are 4.0s, though.. which means they will all kill young people once it starts raining because they are REALLY easy to spin on wet pavement. Short wheelbase rwd w/power always = bad for kids.

I would also register another vote "against" for the Miata

-Sorry, but physics dictate that no car this small and low is going to be terribly safe.

-Everyone gets some E36 M3 in high school, don't burden your poor kid with a "chick" car, no matter how clearly we all know that it's really a great sports car.

-If he doesn't wreck it by college, it will get broken into in college. A convertible is always unlocked to a man with a pocket knife.

steelynorm wrote: how many miles can you expect to get out of 3000 dollar impreza?

A lot. Hard to say, but they can take a beating.

As someone not far removed from this situation (just turned 21), I'll say that whatever you get, try to get a stickshift. Imprezza is a good option.

I dont think a miata alone is terribly unsafe, but having to constantly watch for trucks and suvs who cant see you, then having a balding middle aged man have an attack of road rage becasue you honked at him to let him know he was about to run you over is best avoided. Subarus last a long time, my dads legacy has almost 370k on it. I dont think parts for them are terribly cheap once you need to start doing more major work though. My first car was a shelby charger, and my sisters car a mk2 jetta. The jetta is still doing fine, the charger was sold after way too many rides on the back of a tow truck due to various mechanical failures.

Agreed that the miata may not be the best choice due to size and lack of airbags. However, a late 90's protege has all the reliability and a bot more size/protection. Also an escort zx2, focus, older altima, or really any compact will do him fine. Some tints, lowering springs, and cheap wheels can make any first car cool. I definitely agree about the making him pay part. Despite the fact that I paid for my first car, my parents paid the insurance for me. they let me know that any damage done by being irresponsible with the car would not be fixed by them and they would not replace the car if I totaled it being stupid. While I still did my share of stupid things, the fear of not driving kept me from doing anything too stupid. Can't say the same for peers who were handed a car.

I'm in this same boat right now having come to the sudden realization that my daughter gets her permit this year.

Subies are high on my list of contenders for her. She lives in snow country and likes to ski so it makes an all around good choice for her.

Of course she may get my Smart car too, after close to 4 years (by the time she gets her license) Im ready for a change.

Datsun1500 wrote:

93EXCivic wrote: Get him a manual. It will keep him much focused on driving rather then everything. I would say ABS wouldn't be a bad idea. I say an EK Civic DX. Power nothing, less likely to be tuned, reliable and yet can still be fun.

Check your insurance first. My insurance guy said the most expensive to insure are Honda/Acura and Jeeps. Even with no coverage on the car itself a Honda Civic was 2 times as much as the Audi.

It was my first car and it was the same price as a Miata or most any other compact. I would rather have Civic than the Audi any way in terms of parts cost, the ease of working on it and aftermarket support.

I second the vote for audi with a stick. Extremely safe, low power and cheap. Or a volvo 240 if he can't handle a stick, they are tanks. For a first car safety has to be the major concern. They don;t have the experience to get out of a bad situation. One of these cars will let them walk away from almost anything. A truck is not the best idea, they don't meet the same safety requirements, easily lose control in bad situations and are very hard to recover if they lose traction.

8v Golf/Jetta Simple, cheap, easy to work on. And he will need to work on it...

thanks for all the input, sounds like i will be looking for a kind of german, japanese and swedish truck with a canvas top.

Vigo wrote:

I would honestly feel that a '95 and newer XJ Cherokee would be a good canidate. 2WD or 4WD. They're reliable, they're a descent size, and they handle well for an SUV.

Most of them are 4.0s, though.. which means they will all kill young people once it starts raining because they are REALLY easy to spin on wet pavement. Short wheelbase rwd w/power always = bad for kids.

Agreed. They have a deceptive amount of power. The first time i stabbed ours hard from a stoplight confused the hell out of me.

Here's my vote:

Any FWD Celica. Dead nuts reliable, cool enough looking that he'll want to take care of it. Great brakes, slow but not TOO slow, and handle well in avoidance maneuvers.

Also easy to find in a stick. Good MPG a plus.

You CAN fit 4 people in them, but nobody will want to sit in the back.

how reliable are dead nuts anyway?

belteshazzar wrote: how reliable are dead nuts anyway?

The most reliable way to prevent pregnancy. So.... pretty reliable.

An NA 3000gt or Stealth is a good choice. Quick but not fast and a great looking car that any teen will think is cool, most are 5speeds, all have driver side air bags, and are built like tanks (heavy cars). They are also reliable, just make sure the timing belt is changed every 60k miles. You can also get the SOHC motor in last few years of production (all years for Stealth) if you dont want to deal with the timing belt and want it a little slower.

I picked one of these as my first car, I paid half and my parents paid the other half as my chirstmas gift. I loved that car (and still do as I still have it) I washed that car every weekend in high school and took great care of it. I never even thought of beating on it cause I didnt want want to have to pay to fix it as I was footing the repair bill also.