Teen's first car

[Chris Padilla]

Timely thread...my daughter will be 15.5 come late August and I'm anxious and she is as well to get her permit and eventually license ASAP. I look forward to her driving herself to her thousands of sporting events!! And now that summer is here, she wants to participate in various [insert sport here] camps and unless she finds a ride or can take the bus or maybe Uber/Lyft, Mom and Dad are working and cannot shuttle her around.

And not to get too far off topic here, but prices for used cars are coming down and should continue to do so due to the subprime lending bubble slowly building up in the credit markets. Avis and Hertz rely on massive debt/cash injections to purchase their billions of dollars worth of cars every year and that spigot is slowly getting turned off. This will likely bankrupt both firms and they will need to liquidate their cars. Anyway, there ought to be some great prices on good used cars as this unfolds.

I've all but given up on manual cars. My first BMW (2001 530i) was a 5-speed and while it was fun in the beginning, it began to wear on me as the years went by. In 2006 when I bought my Tacoma, I went automatic. It got to the point where both my wife and I preferred the auto to the (laborious in traffic) manual. Since then, my 2014 BMW: automatic. My (coming soon) 2017 BMW: automatic. While I would like to teach to drive a manual, odds are decent that she'll live a full, rich life never needing to row gears. I'm okay with this.

I also don't see a problem with new technology giving our young drivers a hand. Things are different today than 20, 30, 40 years ago.

https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/best-cars-for-teens
http://www.bankrate.com/auto/the-7-b...-2016/#slide=1
http://www.autobytel.com/car-buying-...10-000-114608/
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicles-for-teens
https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/...n-drivers.html

I've been perusing the above links trying to figure out a good first car for her. For sure, it'll be used. IIHS likes midsize for safety reasons--quite reasonable. Toyota and Honda put out excellent, cheap cars perfect for teens. Funny, and I'm not sure why, I've always pictured her in a VW Beetle. Frankly, most manufacturers put out pretty high quality stuff in the <=$20k (new) category so I think there are a lot of choices and it may just come down to the miles and price. I think I'd like to keep her first car at <=$15k but we'll see what we find.

I should add that she will likely end up driving the 2006 Tacoma for a little while. It is high up and bit longer (it is a double-cab, long-bed) than usual. I really wanted to replace the Tacoma with a nice new Ridgeline but with college 3 years away, I'm thinking that isn't a good idea. The Tacoma only has 83k on it and is just getting broken in but I'm getting fidgety with it just wanting new gizmos (keyless entry/ignition is one the BMW has spoiled me with). The Tacoma is also perfect in that we picking up a brand new BMW soon (you could argue not a good idea but the previous BMW's lease was up and well...... ) and I really don't want/need two car payments.

[Mike Kreinhop]

Since things have changed from when I was that age I'm interested in hearing others' recent history approaches on cars for their teens.

I vaguely remember my reckless days as a teen, but if I had a teen who was ready to enter the driving circuit, my main concern would be occupant safety, followed closely by pedestrian safety. As a former Deputy Sheriff in Virginia, I responded to many fatal traffic accidents, some involving teens and some of those in single vehicle accidents. I strongly recommend a modern car with a great impact safety reputation, side-impact airbags, and reinforcing the use of seat and shoulder belts. I never unbuckled a dead person, but I did have to help recover pieces of ejected passengers. I think it's wise to give an inexperienced driver every advantage possible to help transition beyond the "I know everything" phase (not that I ever went through that ).

The machine is only one part of the new driver equation. Discretion and spacial awareness are two more factors that must be developed. One accident I worked involved a 17-year old boy who failed to comprehend the closing rate of his car and an oncoming car when he pulled out to pass a slow school bus. He sincerely thought he could pass the bus safely. He didn't, but fortunately no one was killed. I won't address the taboo subject of distracted drivers.

[Chris Padilla]

Do young drivers have any limitations/restrictions on their driver's license? Here in California, and this surprised me but ultimately I think it is a good idea, they are quite restricted in their driving until they turn 18. For example, she can't drive between 11 PM and 5 AM. She can't have any passengers in her car under the age of 20 UNLESS accompanied by a license driver who is 25 or older. However the part I don't care too much about is that she must have PROFESSIONAL (i.e. I have to pay) training that involves class time and behind-the-wheel time. I had a full-blown license when I turned 16 but this was in Colorado during the mid-80s and my Dad yelled at me to train me to drive.

[Wade Lippman]

Teens first car?!

I gave my son my 6 year old car as a college graduation present. He was thrilled.

[Scott DelPorte]

If you are a Ford family, a used Crown Victoria might be a good pick. They are plentiful and relatively inexpensive. Also safe in an accident.

[Matt Meiser]

Chris, I have a booklet sitting here I need to read with the rules but yes there are restrictions.

LOL on the Crown Vic...our next door neighbors oldest son got grandmas Grand Marquis a couple years ago. He's now in college and commuting to Toledo so he got a new car and their almost 16 son is getting it. With respect to Chris's question--my daughter is under the impression she'll still be able to carpool with him once he starts driving. I suggested we get a black one to be the opposite of his white one.

[Harold Balzonia]

Forget the car... buy your kid a Harley.

With a side car

that way they can't fog up the back windows at inspiration point....

[John K Jordan]

Wow, lots of people think the same!

I taught all my kids on a stick shift. A valuable skill. My son, 35, thanked me the other day for making him learn to drive a stick - he had just bought a new car with a stick shift. Also, he knows someone who had his manual-shift car stolen at a gas station. The thieves got about 2 blocks before they messed up the clutch and gave up. :-)

Before they could get their license I required each of my boys log an arbitrary 1000 miles in the car with me as passenger. I did things like put a styrofoam cup with a little water on the dash to teach them not to hot rod on starts, stops and around corners.

They had to demonstrate changing a tire, check tire pressures, and check fluids and oil. Instruction included panic stops and sudden obstacle avoidance (in a parking lot), a lot of parking including parallel parking, and constant review of the rules of the road. Important training is how to find your way around - I'd have them drive to someone

A house rule was no passengers, ever, no exceptions, until otherwise notified. This alone can save untold grief.

I think the first car should be an older, very sturdy used car. Teens are sometimes short on wisdom and need protection rather that sport and convenience. A dent or two in an old car is less painful. If the first car is a pickup truck, load the bed with weight to keep it from sliding as much on wet/slippery roads.

JKJ

[Jim Becker]

As the timing was right, we chose to keep the 2011 Subaru Outback Limited that Professor Dr. SWMBO had been driving for our daughter and get a new Outback Limited for da mamala. We knew what the condition was since we had been maintaining it for almost five years and it even had new tires. If that hadn't been the case, we likely would have bought a similar used vehicle for the purpose.

I do understand about the insurance. While rates are certainly relative to geography, we almost went from $1400 a year (top coverages all around) for two cars to nearly $4000 for three vehicles (same coverages) for three drivers with one being 16 with our previous carrier. In PA, a young driver affects all vehicles on the policy. So I did a little shopping and changed to AAA for all of our insurances. What I saved on homeowners moving from Chubb made up for a lot of the increase in the auto...which under AAA was nearly a grand lower than Progressive wanted. It's a dance...

[Jim Becker]

Do young drivers have any limitations/restrictions on their driver's license? Here in California, and this surprised me but ultimately I think it is a good idea, they are quite restricted in their driving until they turn 18.

Most states have such restrictions. In PA, under 18 cannot have more than one passenger unless it's family; cannot drive after 11pm unless it's documented for work commute, etc. (My 17 year old daughter also cannot drive into NJ next door because they do not permit 17 year olds on the road without a parent present, which means if she and friends want to go to the shore, someone else has to drive. ) Even though she graduates from High School next Tuesday and is free of the "child labor laws", she's not free of the 11pm driver curfew until mid-August right before she starts at Penn State. Honestly, "I" am ok with that, but she's, um...not.

[Jim Becker]

I taught all my kids on a stick shift. A valuable skill.

That's a tough row to hoe these days...manual transmissions are just not all that common anymore...

As to "older" cars...I don't favor going back many model years at this point because of safety concerns and reliability. But that's me.

[Mac McQuinn]

Matt,
My son's first vehicle was a 1991 Ford Ranger, decent on gas, reasonably easy to repair and available until 2011. Lots of different trim levels. Full framed vehicles like the Ranger stand up reasonably well in accidents, etc. Decent vision as they sit a bit higher than a car. Parts, used and new are also reasonable as the Ranger was built for quite a few years. He tagged a tree the second year he owned it and would have been totaled if it was a car. A long weekend drilling spot-welds, a new fender, inner fender, radiator and hood put it back on the road. He learned to work on cars with this vehicle and looking back, I think he made a great choice.
Mac

[Matt Meiser]

We have talked about Rangers and the good thing is there's not much passenger room. The bad thing is winter performance (and I do not want to deal with a high mileage 4WD vehicle for sure) and they are either holding their value decent or rust buckets. And they don't just cosmetically rust. My brother had a mid-late 90's one up to a couple years ago and rear suspension mounting points were rusting off the thing. Escapes can have similar rust issues around the rear shock mounting points.

I've considered flying down to Tennessee or Georgia for a long weekend but that's a pretty considerable cost adder.

[Jim Andrew]

My friend in the car business says the 2000 to 2005 Buick Lesaber was just about the best car GM has ever built. With the 3.8 V6. Unless you get one that still has the original motor oil.

[Greg R Bradley]

Don't even consider the nonsense of a manual transmission. They are so obsolete as to be irrelevant and have been for quite some time in normal transportation. I am a car enthusiast and own a couple manual trans cars, one I bought 40+ years ago and another that is a Classic, which were all built before automatics were invented. What vehicles would be worse with an automatic? Well I own several motorcycles that would be worse with an automatic.........