First Car for a teenager

My sisters ex wants to buy their son a new car for when he turn 16. This is the list of cars my nephew has somehow had his dad agree too. The ex BIL isn't a car guy did even know what kind of car he was driving, if asked his answer would have been white.  This list looks like a teenager's dream, I probably wouldn't buy any of them for a new driver. What does the hive suggest?

Hyundai Elantra N, Toyota Camry TRD, Toyota Corolla Hatchback XSE.

Twenty years ago, I'd have said something Volvo, for their legendary crash safety.

My youngest is driving his older brother's hand-me-down E39 530i, which has been all that I had hoped it would be.  Now 20 years old, and looks and drives amazingly well for a car that old with 160k miles on the clock.

Toyota Camry is probably the easy button, but a Honda Accord is a better drive.

Life's too short - get the beater Corvette.  The kid will thank you at some point in life.  

(All kidding aside in 1978 some dude had a clapped out POS '64 Corvette that he drove to my high school) 

Suggest that dad inquire into insurance rates for them before purchasing.  Even though some cars can seem very similar, their insurance can be very different.  

I'm sure any parent worth their salt is going to be tracking their kids through apps and watching how they drive like a hawk, so an ideal first car would keep this in the kid's mind at all times while they are driving.    What about the vehicle that's literally named that?  Jeep Cherokee Trackhawk...

My eldest bought his beater car with money HE had saved.  He learned to drive in it, and has ONLY ever driven it.  He has never driven our cars.  (He also fixed the control arm, sway bar end link, two struts, and helped "fix" the bent rim when he "brushed" a curb (as in "did you even lift, bro?")).

My youngest bought his beater car with the money HE had saved, and is learning to drive in IT.  He will also, not drive our cars.

I think kids will be a bit more careful when it's THEIR money and sweat equity invested in it.  I have, of course, recently been proven wrong.

Having said that: whatever is cheap, good on gas, and has lots of others in the junkyard.

Does he have a job for gas money? If not, he'll see the benefits of an EV.

The answer is again, Miata.  With only one other seat there is much less opportunity for distraction from passengers... in fact, if there was a single seat road car I would recommend that.

DrMikeCSI said:

My sisters ex wants to buy their son a new car for when he turn 16. This is the list of cars my nephew has somehow had his dad agree too. The ex BIL isn't a car guy did even know what kind of car he was driving, if asked his answer would have been white.  This list looks like a teenager's dream, I probably wouldn't buy any of them for a new driver. What does the hive suggest?

Hyundai Elantra N, Toyota Camry TRD, Toyota Corolla Hatchback XSE.

On that particular list, the Corolla Hatch is the winner, because giving a 16 year old the keys to their own brand new car that will trap 100mph in the 1/4 is a recipe for disaster.

It's been proven that teenagers have a much higher accident rate when driving with friends so the fewer passenger seats, the better. Also, a manual transmission will prevent a lot of the driving and looking at the phone that plagues people these days. And you want a vehicle that can take a few dings and dents without being written off, so I think the obvious answer is a regular cab pickup truck with a manual transmission. Maybe a regular cab Toyota truck? Then you can also send the teen to pick up stuff for you, too. When I was a teen, I was given a GMC squarebody 4x4 regular cab with manual trans so I speak from experience

In reply to DrMikeCSI :

8 year old accord would be 2015. That's as nice of a car as I would buy a kid, knowing it's likely to be wrecked. And actually a pretty nice car too.

edit:

To respond to the actual question posed: I'd be reluctant to endorse putting a teenage boy in a fast car. None of those are slow but the Corolla I suspect is the slowest of the bunch. So Corolla.

Ex wife's suburban. It's paid for, 12yrs old, looks decent, and has 270k on it. If "I" lose to it to a crash, I'll be sad, but in that end it should keep the kiddo safe and I end up with lots of ls swap goodies. Lol.

triumph7 said:

The answer is again, Miata.  With only one other seat there is much less opportunity for distraction from passengers... in fact, if there was a single seat road car I would recommend that.

As someone who, at 17, once "brushed a curb" like SkinnyG's oldest, because my female passenger was wearing a low cut top...I can tell you one passenger can be distraction enough. 

There are plenty of 12-15 year old used cars in the <10k category that should keep a kid safe. If I had to buy cars for kids today - Honda Fits/Mazda2s/Nissan Versas all with 5-speeds. And I'd unhook the stereo, install front-rear dashcam with interior monitoring, and make the kid stick his phone in the glovebox (which gets locked) while driving. But I'm not very nice when it comes to teenage drivers (even though I once was one). 
 

On that list, Corolla for sure.  But I wouldn't buy any of those for a new driver either.  Maybe a 2010-2015 Corolla, but not a new XSE anything. 

I just need to throw this out on a miata:  We sold ours after my son missed a deer and then later hit one.  Thankfully the second deer was while he was driving my rally cross mustang.  We live in an area with too many deer, so for us it was an issue.

He went for a wrx after that, but always wants to steal my mustang.

Who is paying for the car?  Insurance? Upkeep? Buying the car is the tip of the iceberg with a first time driver.

I still like the throwaway price range.  At 3 grand or less a decent local driver can still be found.  At 5 grand it is easier.

I say buy a sacrificial first car until they get through their first couple of wrecks.  Then buy the Corolla or similar.  

I would shoot for an older and reasonably dependable used car under $4k-$5k. Then plan on them crashing it at some point. I'm 4 kids into new drivers and have 3 wrecks in 3 different cars to show for it. There is no way I would put a 16 yo in a new car. 

I think it's very curious that so many of you encourage your kids to wreck a few cars to get it out of their system.  Buying a junker that they hate driving is one way to do this.  For my kids, I opted for something we could work on together that was older and fully depreciated, yet was at its core a very well-regarded automobile that they could take pride in driving.  I've told them that I have every confidence in their abilities as a driver, but that a large number of folks they'll be sharing the road with are drug-impaired lunatics driving on a revoked license and without insurance.  Be vigilant, drive defensively.  Also teaching them that insurance is expensive enough for young drivers.  For young drivers with a few tickets and an accident or two, well, it's cost prohibitive and you'll be riding the bus. 

Knock on wood, they've both been incident-free, but for one gentle bump on a deer.

I don't think anyone here encouraged their kids to wreck their cars.  It's just what kids do, often it's their own fault but just as often it's just bad luck.  I don't think anyone ever walked out their door saying i'm going to wrap dad's car around a telephone pole today.   If your kids have been incident free so far in today's traffic then count yourself lucky.    

06HHR (Forum Supporter) said:

I don't think anyone here encouraged their kids to wreck their cars.  It's just what kids do, often it's their own fault but just as often it's just bad luck.  I don't think anyone ever walked out their door saying i'm going to wrap dad's car around a telephone pole today.   If your kids have been incident free so far in today's traffic then count yourself lucky.    

And I absolutely do count myself lucky, but my kids also understand that driving is a privilege that they can lose if they Berk up.  It seems that some young drivers just don't understand the actions/consequences thing.

1988RedT2 said:

06HHR (Forum Supporter) said:

I don't think anyone here encouraged their kids to wreck their cars.  It's just what kids do, often it's their own fault but just as often it's just bad luck.  I don't think anyone ever walked out their door saying i'm going to wrap dad's car around a telephone pole today.   If your kids have been incident free so far in today's traffic then count yourself lucky.    

And I absolutely do count myself lucky, but my kids also understand that driving is a privilege that they can lose if they Berk up.  It seems that some young drivers just don't understand the actions/consequences thing.

That's truth.  But.. i've found that an extended period of time they spend wearing out shoe leather does wonders for their attitude..  

In reply to 06HHR (Forum Supporter) :

I agree.  I guess I could have phrased it differently.  Another way of looking at it is that our kids will often live up to our expectations of them.  We should never set those expectations low.

Something with low insurance, high crash protection, good brakes and tires.

And nothing so big that the seats can fold up to make a bed in the back.

Next door neighbor got her kid a lightly used Leaf. Plug it in every night, 100 mile range is fine for the kid's needs. Hatch has some utility and good visibility.  Seems like a very good and practical choice.