What car-16 year old new driver?

My Grandson will be getting his license soon. Altho he's pretty ambivalent about cars, I let him hoon on the truck in the snow last winter & he enjoyed it. He's also driven the M3 & seemed awed & overwhelmed. I'm considering a Miata because it's the answer & there should be fewer distractions with 1 passenger max. I'll have to investigate insurance rates before making that decision. We're planning on spending $10K max.

We want to get him something safe & dependable & affordable to drive & maintain. He doesn't need a project at this point. He wouldn't be embarrassed driving an appliance.

I understand that Fiat 500s have depreciated a lot since new & there was quite a bit of discussion about them here a year or so ago. How have they been over the ensuing months for you guys who bought them?

P71 appeals to me on many levels, but I'm thinking they're getting pretty old to have as a first car.

I'm open to & would appreciate ideas,suggestions & comments.

If you are thinking miata, ive got one.....

We got my niece a 77 f150 longbed for her first car.

Id reccomend something cheap to fix and disposable. Unfortunately first cars that survive over 3 years are the exception, not the rule.

civilian crown vic/mercury marquis. can still find low mileage grandma fresh editions that will live forever with just maintnence. Safe, dependable and decent gas mileage.

2wd 4cyl 5 speed Ranger. Can't load it up with friends, manual forces more awareness.

I cannot recommend this strongly enough.

This one.

Manual Civic. Whatever fits the budget. Good on gas. Safe. Disposable, there's always another one like it. The big thing is to spend a LOT of time driving with him. Driving is a skill. It's taught and learned.

I'm thinking safety with a first car, and a convertible isn't the answer here.

If it were my kids, I'd be thinking a Mazda6, Accord, Legacy, something like that.

Manual Honda CR-Z

Seem to be a lot listed on Autotrader in the $7-$10k range with mileage in the 50k-100k range.

2 seater, hybrid, row your own gears, sporty looking but shouldn't get him in trouble, new enough has good safety features.

Fr3AkAzOiD wrote: Manual Honda CR-Z Seem to be a lot listed on Autotrader in the $7-$10k range with mileage in the 50k-100k range. 2 seater, hybrid, row your own gears, sporty looking but shouldn't get him in trouble, new enough has good safety features.

Not a bad idea for all the reasons mentioned. I saw one for $6k a few days ago.

2005+ Grand Marquis or Town Car for the 31 spline axles. Throw in a $180 Ford Traction-Lok rear end and 3.55 gears and have a reasonably perky, safe, practical car that can really take a beating.

Lets put it this way a jeep wrangler is the only car I know that comes with a roll cage stock!

That's what I ended up with and loved it, 4cyl was slow enough to keep me out of trouble! The best car you can give a 16 year old is one they are invested in aka they need to help pay for. I had a lot of friends that got cars when they turned 16 and they didn't care about the car because it was free. Not everyone will be that way but it helps to have to pay for the junk you break.

A buddy had a crown vic we had fun roasting tires and acting like we were the cops (now I know how bad that was...)

CR-Z might be cool, one thing iv found is the 10K range of cars is scary, iv seen cars 8 year old and 150k in that range, then iv also seen cars with 40k on them. Between $5k-12k you get a huge range of quality of cars all mixed up together.

Id just say if he is into cars get him something cool!

Want him to be popular? Brodozer lifted with all the trimmings. Want him to come home in one piece? Older Volvo. Want him to get pulled over a lot? Old Police car. Want him to learn the hard way? 30 to 40 year old vehicle and AAA membership. My guys want old cars/trucks. I like that but also like modern braking, tires, lighting, crush zones...

$7,000. Will get you an exceptionally nice crown Vic. Almost to nice for a first car. These run for ever with basic Maintence.

4 cylinder Camry. If they have some restraint, a Maxima.

Manual Civic, new enough with intact air bags.

Just spent an hour driving around the Volt with my 15 year old. It's a boring midsize car with some cool nerd tech. The boring midsize car part feels perfect from the passenger seat.

Mazda3. Reliable, cheap and fun with a manual.

Mazdaspeed3 is also a possibility, but likely too much for a 16yr old.

I'm gonna go with something in the $2K range and Toyota. SC300? That's pretty tough and "sporty." Manual Rolla? XRS? Matrix XRS? Those might be in the 5K range, but FWD so better for snow. After he crushes it into a ball, then he can start thinking about something in the $10K range.

I started out in a corolla. Some sort of compact slow mobile is always my go to.

Based on my experiences in the past couple years, regardless of vehicle type, go for something disposable, and make the kid have some skin in the game. My son has a 99 F-150, 5spd V-6. It was cheap, it's slow, pre-dented, he can fix it himself without too much collateral damage, and he's made a nice little side business hauling stuff for friends and neighbors.

Per his own observation, the kids whose parents buy them a new 25k+ car really don't care, and will beat the car mercilessly. He pointed out that the expensive gifted cars get totalled at a much higher rate than something older where the kid has their own money invested in it.

Also, the car WILL get beat up at school. He took my Saab for two days while we were doing some work on the truck, and it ended up with several new dents and scratches, despite parking defensively in the back of the lot next to his buddy's restored old F250.

When I was in high school, one of my class mates' parents bought him a brand new '79 Trans Am. Yeah, that went well. Not. My favorite memory of that was that he was stopped in traffic in front of the school, saw someone on the sidewalk, reached over, threw the passenger door open and BAM, a motorcycle cop who was riding along between the traffic and the parked cars slammed into the passenger door, ripped the door off the car and went down. He also married his pregnant girlfriend a few months after graduating high school. I think she was 15 or 16.

If he likes the driving experience of the Miata, a Mazda 3 offers a similar feel.

Of course, I must tout the 7th gen Accord here because that's what I do. An 08-09 with a four cylinder will be plenty peppy, safe, and pretty much maintenance free for the first 100k.

Civics are also always solid, but I've always enjoyed the driving experience of the Accord for DD duty more.

The newer Fusions might be a good bet too along with '12+ Sonatas.

I worry about a new driver with a p71. They are large and require a pretty good understanding of the dimensions so you're not slamming into people while parallel parking. I've no evidence for this, but it's a though I just had. But they are disposable, safe, and offer great visibility.

Nobody said Hellcat or Viper yet?

Huckleberry wrote: Nobody said Hellcat or Viper yet?

Poor kid is 16. Like he can afford gas for that, or the $$$ from the eventual paternity suits due to all the hot high school action being thrown his way. Think of the children!

Sunfire or Cavalier.

Cheaper than dirt, and painfully reliable.

Most wreckers have a Sunfire/Cavalier section, so you'll have body parts a-plenty.

No sense having Jr. wrecking a perfectly good car, eh?!