Older Volvo S40

What says the GRM hive mind? Not as pretty as the newer ones. Probably only moderately fun to drive, but since I'm looking for a car for soon-to-be-18 DD#2, that's OK. This one looks decently maintained, and it's from a neighborhood that makes me think it has a pretty solid history:

http://delaware.craigslist.org/cto/3819761822.html

That's not bad looking. All you need is a big prancing moose decal for the hood.

[sorry. I'm sure that others will offer better advice]

Watching with interest. I'm starting my research on my winter-beater Eclipse replacement and late 90s-early 2000s wagons and hatchbacks are what I'm focusing on. The 1st. gen V40 is on my list. Pity they only came with manuals in Europe.

I don;t know about the 4 cylinder FWD volvos. If it were the 5, you could probably grab a manual from an 850

It's a Mitsubishi Carisma underneath. Not really anything in common with other Volvos. They did some reinforcement to give it typical Volvo safety ratings, but they are not known for typical Volvo reliability. The newer S40 is a much better car. I'd probably pass on it, but it might be just fine for your needs at that price.

Above post is correct, it's more Mitsubishi than Volvo; the way they drive shows it too. I've never been impressed by them, and the lack of a manual gearbox in the US is icing on the cake.

Or the charging Lambo-Moose...

[URL=http://s937.photobucket.com/user/MichaelYount/media/AA3_zpsd424fced.jpg.html][/URL]

Seems like a decent choice for your situation.
Others have commented about auto only, but my guess is you are looking for auto so no negative there. My guess is that the young'en is also not all about driving dynamics. If princess is into cache' then I suspect she will like the nameplate, the leather interior and the tidy looks.

Mom will like that it is not an ancient rust bucket that is older than princess herself and that it has the proper "safety features."

Dad is smart enough and capable of keeping the car running well as long as princess is still living at home or in the area. If princess will be hours away at college, I would lean more Nissan/Mazda/Honda/Toyota.

Does not get good mpg with just middle rates of 19/24/27 on Premium but I also suspect that princess typically does not put on enough miles per year to really make a big enough impact.

I've got one sitting in my driveway awaiting a headgasket replacement. Pretty decent little car for what it is, the auto is supposed to be relatively stout. However if I was looking for a car for an 18 yo I would stick with something considerably more simple and cheap to fix.

Its a Japanese car with a Volvo engine and an Aisan Warner transmission. They don't seem to rust very much. I'd drive one.

OK, thanks, all. I was aware of the Mitsu background, but not sure who's drivetrain was in it.

Princess is not exceptionally into driving dynamics or cache, though I doubt the fit and finish will hurt. She's been gently angling for mom's 2004 TSX but that is not slated for replacement for at least a few years yet - probably 4 - and so that's not happening.

Princess does want something not too small, and she wants to be able to sit up and see out and feel safe. She would probably be happiest in a cute-ute, but I'm not turning her loose in an SUV of any sort. She's a decent driver and a year pedaling the Grand Caravan around town has given her a feel for dealing with mediocre dynamics and large vehicles, but I just don't find the small SUVs to be useful in the 'burbs and they require a lot of compromises to handling and safety.

Thanks for the insight!

Newer S40 - What says GRM to this one? I have always liked this body styling, and since it's a Mazda3 underneath, the dynamics are probably a little better.

What is the timing belt interval on these? Thanks.

I am also not stuck on the S40 and in fact was not even considering one until I found the original listing above.

Cars on my shortlist are 4-cylinder Mazda6, Accord, or Legacy. She'd rather a sedan than a wagon but Legacy sedans are not common, unfortunately. I do like the Outback idea since they sit up a little taller while still driving like a car.

Any other recommendations? Although probably the best deals, not really interested in Alero/Malibu/Taurus etc.

I had a 2009 Mazda6. Mine was the V6 manual so it was moderately fun. Decent enough car, never had any problems or issues. Why not a Mazda3? I had a lot of friends with those and they all had good luck and they were sort of fun too. What about S60's arond the same vintage? Also safe, and not much bigger. Not sure what the reliability or maintenance is on those. I always did covet the R version.

I had a 2002 Civic throughout college and that was safe (trust me), and never let me down, and was incredible on gas. Just a thought.

DD#1 has a 2002 Impreza wagon. DD#2 thinks it's "too small" and isn't very happy driving it. She feels safer in the slightly larger TSX on the few occasions she has driven it. So I'm looking at things a little larger than the Impreza/Mazda3/Civic.

Also, it seems that used Mazda3s and Mazda6s are about the same price, at least in 4-cylinder guise.

For what it's worth, I've trained two daughters in a 2001 S40 that I got for not much money. They haven't killed it yet. Replaced coil packs and it's getting close to needing a timing belt. But otherwise it's been trouble free. YMMV

FJ

if you want a volvo. 850s can be had for pocket change and are availible with a 5 speed. Just make sure the timing belt is done

The S40 in the first post is gone; my bad for not getting up out see it earlier.

No specific interest in Volvos; just looking for a nice reliable and decent midsize sedan for my daughter. Price in the $4k-6k range, preferably the bottom half of that range. No need for a manual trans, though not necessarily a deal killer.

How about a Saab 9-3 or 9-5?

Like the cars... scared of parts prices.

Another issue... I live in the midatlantic area. How do I avoid Sandy cars?

go south to Md to buy? Most of the southern end of NJ was spared the full wrath of Sandy, but cars on the islands still got submerged. Up north the waters went further inland

Fly to Atlanta and road trip something back? Since everyone knows all the cool deals come from Atlanta.

As for the newer S40's, they drive really nice. My wife loves her C30 (S40 with a cooler rear) We have not had a major issue with it.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/2001-volvo-s40-2000-in-ma/98359/page1/

I see what you did there.