I am trying to help my wife's friend locate a good car for her teenage son. I have been scouring Craigslist but thought I too would ask what y'all might know of.
Looking to spend less than $2k.
This is not so much a "what car" thread. In this price range I am just trying to find the best example possible.
As always mpg is a concern but not the only concern.
Stick shift is an option (but will take automatic as well.)
Interest in small Pickups as well as cars
Too bad, I just sold my spare Miata.
A "starter" car for a teen? The answer is almost always going to be a Camry or Accord. "Almost always", because nowadays the prices of these cars are going up.
A truck? Does your friend REALLY want to put a young driver in a vehicle that can easily do smokey burnouts? Easily drift with the best from Japan? Has a propensity to flip and roll like a dog desperate for another doggie treat?
If you can find one, look for the cheaper but still well built Korean sedans like a Hyundai Elantra of Accent.
Teenagers are horrible creatures behind the wheel. I went to a small town high school and I think we had at least one kid killed out of the ~500 there every year, and four one year. Alcohol, teenagers and empty 2-lane rural roads are a bad combination.
Crown vic? Buy something up toward the top of this list:
http://www.informedforlife.org/demos/FCKeditor/UserFiles/File/DEathRatescombined1994to2004deathorder.pdf
Note the 4400% difference in death rates between the top and bottom of the list. A lot of that has to do with who buys what type of vehicles (minivan drivers = safe) but still...
Corolla? My first car was one, and I own another currently. It's nowhere near there, and the wife might need it, otherwise it'd be the best deal in town. Also for fun, check Kia Sephia. Dirt cheap, and they were secretly BG chassis Proteges.
I do not recommend a full-sized van, wagon, truck or anything else that will hold lots of friends, beer kegs and a mattress at the same time. Trust me.
P71.
Cheap enough that you can walk away from it without going into bankruptcy
Strong enough that you can walk away from it without going to the hospital.
SAAB its 5spd beeter status feed gas and oil gets 30mpg just west of indianapolis I would drive it any where
Search for Taurus SHO's, that way when said teenager wrecks it(as commonly happens), he will survive and our community can scrounge the parts.....lol.
You can find pretty good condition ones in that price range, and there are like eleventy billion of them in the midwest
Locally, the leading candidate is a $800 S10 Pickup
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