Car for my 15 Year-Old Son

A truck can teach some valuable lessons if you let it. Don't lower the tailgate for less than 20 bucks and you'll find out who your real friends are. If he moves to college or anywhere I'm sure he would appreciate it at that time.

Don't be surprised if your son has a different definition of "old". He may see something older than 2004 as being from "before the beginning of time" which may be a valid point from his perspective. 

Something from the 20th century may as well be 100 years old. 

Volvo. Because it might not get him laid (he is only 15, but he is thinking about it!), it won't be cool in front of the school, it won't be fast, but it will take care of him when (not if - he is 15) he crashes it.

Pick a S70 5-cylinder without turbo for maximum reliability and minimum speed/fun/front tire wear, but still sparing him the humiliation of driving a Wagon.

I also recommend a Chevy pickup.

They're not going to live at home forever, and having a truck makes that easy.

And ANY part, at ANY parts store, or ANY wreckers, ANY time you need it, for CHEAP.

There is nothing cheaper than a half-ton Chevy pickup.  You'll buy MORE parts, but they are CHEAP parts.

As much as I love BMWs, I wouldn't suggest one as his first and only car. I have two and I kinda wish I was more into Hondas or Toyotas.

Depending on how much you're wanting to spend, he could be in something from the early '00s (E46/E39) up to the '10s (E90/E60). Personally, the E36/E34 could be pushing it in terms of the age of the car vs just how many problems it has.

Each have their own slew of problems and depending on the problem, could be more than what the car is even worth. 

A NB/NC Miata just might be the best and safest bet in this instance, IMO. Still fun, easier to find in manual, and cheaper to own and maintain.

+ 1 for something he is excited about.  My parents let me get a 64 Spitfire in 90 for my first car, I still have it and my wife still rolls her eyes every time I point out cars as we are driving around.

Hmmm. Most of the cars I would have wanted as a teenager wouldn't actually be good suggestions for a parent who wants to keep their teenager out of trouble.

How about a Ford Taurus? I ended up with one of those that my grandma bought me. Vulcan V6, slow but bulletproof. I scraped and dented the heck out of that car and nobody cared because it was just a Ford Taurus. Yet, if you get one with the Duratec V6, it's got 200 hp and could be kinda fun to mess around with. 2000-2006ish would be the less ugly ones and they should be plentiful and cheap.

My duratec Sable was a pig.  20MPG no matter what I did, used 8 quarts of oil on a refill or some obscene number, ate wheel bearings, etc.  Not ideal.  Anything W body/3800 would be the same car, made by the bowtie instead of the oval, but with a good powertrain.   Around here they have all succumbed to the tin worm.  I did see a guy with an OG bubble taurus wagon with collectors plates in the Menards parking lot last night, that was pretty fun to see.  Tail lights on the coupe version of that is so much FD its scary.   

Floating Doc said:

My 15 year old son hasn't gotten his permit, and doesn't care.

I'm a failure as a parent.

Follow up: he brought up the topic of driving unprompted this afternoon.

SkinnyG said:

I also recommend a Chevy pickup.

They're not going to live at home forever, and having a truck makes that easy.

And ANY part, at ANY parts store, or ANY wreckers, ANY time you need it, for CHEAP.

There is nothing cheaper than a half-ton Chevy pickup.  You'll buy MORE parts, but they are CHEAP parts.

Cheap usually doesn’t get much positive attention at school.  Different does.  In my day a model A Ford was cheap and different.  So we’re old T series MG’s as were Motorcycles.  

A top that goes down is definitely different to the SUV/ mini van crowd. As are only 2 seats. Girls feel selected when riding home or to the game if she’s the only one.  Plus parents understand the space restraints of a 2 seater.  

In reply to frenchyd :

Short bed regular cab v8 truck is cool. Especially after its given a few whacks with the lowering stick.

Our 15.9 year old loves the 2006 Civic sedan we got for her.  Good safety features, reasonable cost, reliable so far apart from a bum starter motor at 159k miles.

I also recommend highly the Street Survival class ... her confidence and car control have both increased tremendously.  Due to state regulations, she has to complete a 24 hour in class and 8 hour on the road professional course.  Class is over, and over the road nearly is.  Her instructor noted numerous times how good her technique is.  

mtn said:

Miata. NB Miata - newer and safer than the NA’s, which is good for a 15 year old. It’s like a British sports car, except it works, and it doesn’t leak. 

 

Then get him autocrossing ASAP and have him go to a Tirerack Street survival course. 

Going to second this as long as you live in a land without snow.  Only 2 seats, low power and, most importantly IMO, extremely forgiving.  A lot of people buy their kids vehicles (especially SUV's) that have both a inherently poor handling AND don't recover well when they are pushed too hard which kids inevitably do either intentionally or due to lack of driving experience.  The other really great thing is they are relatively easy and inexpensive to work on and the ability to customize them is second only to Jeeps.  

I've got this.  Got busy and haven't really tried to sell it any more than this one ad.  

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/cars-sale/2003-bmw-330i-5-speed-manual-fl/155895/page1/

Daylan C said:

In reply to frenchyd :

Short bed regular cab v8 truck is cool. Especially after its given a few whacks with the lowering stick.

 

That’s exactly what I’ve driven since 1997 ( but 4x4 ) Since I live in the frozen tundra. But neither of my teenage daughters wanted it.  

Guys can appreciate a cool truck a lot more than girls, I guess 

Just realized, where do you and the son in question live? My very, very cheap Boxster will be for sale in a few weeks here in Charlotte, NC. 

This is my X5 that my boys learned to drive a stick on and was my daily for years.  I have had it for 9 years.  If it might fill the bill for your son we might be able to work something out.

I have a 128i for sale on this board if interested. It's not too old that everything needs to be replaced before it's a good driver, but not too new that you'll feel bad letting a new driver use it. Reliability has been fine, and it won't ask for anything more than typical BMW maintenance.

Daylan C said:

In reply to frenchyd :

Short bed regular cab v8 truck is cool. Especially after its given a few whacks with the lowering stick.

 

Sounds to me like a wreck waiting to happen.

I do like the idea of a mini-truck.  

In reply to spitfirebill :

Well v8 doesn't mean fast, old truck does mean horrible handling in stock form though. So you have a solid point. I got lucky when I was younger I guess with my truck.

Thanks for all the input!   We are still shopping.  Looked a couple Jeep Cherokees XJ (which I had one back in early 2000’s) and a newer model.   Both were too small - my son is 6’8”.

Also - we live in northern Indiana - so icy and snowy winters. RWD pickups and similar are not the best especially for a new driver.   

Will let you know how things unfold.  

In reply to Timlank :

If I was going to put a new driver in an SUV, I would want it to have stability control. Older ones get rolled far too easily.

New drivers don't need AWD or something that's "good in the snow."  

Not to say they can't have it...but when the weather is too bad for school busses to get around...nobody NEEDS to go anywhere (as a teenager).  Just keep that in mind.

When it snows/ices here, the teenager car gets parked.

If you think a RWD trick isn't good you might consider saving the BMW until he's crashed his first car and/or becomes a confident winter driver.

(I'm sure a rear-drive truck is worse in low-friction environments than a rear-drive BMW but I still think until they learn and feel confident in the snow...they don't "need" to get anywhere that bad.)

Timlank said:

Thanks for all the input!   We are still shopping.  Looked a couple Jeep Cherokees XJ (which I had one back in early 2000’s) and a newer model.   Both were too small - my son is 6’8”.

 

Also - we live in northern Indiana - so icy and snowy winters. RWD pickups and similar are not the best especially for a new driver.   

Will let you know how things unfold.  

I am in Northern Ohio (Sandusky/Cedar Point Area) and I plan to sell this car soon.  

Pontiac Vibe, awd, w/67k miles  Other than the obvious cosmetic dent it is perfect.  

At 6"1" and 250lb I fit in it well. 

ClemSparks said:

New drivers don't need AWD or something that's "good in the snow."  

Not to say they can't have it...but when the weather is too bad for school busses to get around...nobody NEEDS to go anywhere (as a teenager).  Just keep that in mind.

When it snows/ices here, the teenager car gets parked.

If you think a RWD trick isn't good you might consider saving the BMW until he's crashed his first car and/or becomes a confident winter driver.

(I'm sure a rear-drive truck is worse in low-friction environments than a rear-drive BMW but I still think until they learn and feel confident in the snow...they don't "need" to get anywhere that bad.)

 

I drive school bus and those 40 foot long monsters are pretty darn good in snow and ice. Last year the rear tires were approaching minimums and I still never got stuck.  Hard stops like at the bottom of steep hills do require skill technique and judgement but are doable.  

We do have “snow” days  when children stay home but that’s because traffic gets so congested that we can run more than an hour late. Children standing on street corners for up to an hour is not safe or smart.   The trouble is on snow days parents take kids to school which adds to congestion.  

That’s why I take great pride running on time and on schedule, so I don’t inadvertently  add to traffic congestion.