am i a good uncle?

my 16-year-old nephew emailed today to tell me he just got his license, and is now looking for a car. he said, "i'm leaning towards the E30 325i, but am also considering S14 240sx and VW GTI or Jetta 1.8t."

since we live about 500 miles apart and i don't see him all that often, i had no idea he knew anything at all about cars. so what did i recommend?

P71
E30
Miata with hardtop
S10 with V6

i told him i figured the VWs were all stanced out and would carry a high hipster tax, whereas all the S13 and S14 cars in his price range were probably d0riFt0'd to death.

in a few days i'll send him links to the E30 rallycross builds.

I think that if depends on how much you trust him. P71 if you trust him a lot. All the others if not. A good friend of mine got a ragged out AW11 because his mom did NOT trust him and specifically wanted something with only two seats for him. I would say Miata with a hard top is the coolest of the available choices when considering the whole package (E30s are awesome but are getting old and beat).

Hipster tax?

Make it run, make it safe, then make it yours. My 16 y/o first car was a 1963 Buick Special with a 215 aluminum V-8.

Safety First! Get over peer pressure.

singleslammer wrote: (E30s are awesome but are getting old and beat).

It's a first car for a 16 year old. It's supposed to be old and beat.

EvanB wrote: It's a first car for a 16 year old. It's supposed to be old and beat.

QFT. My first car was an old Caprice, and I couldn't be happier. Any car seems awesome when you're a 16 year old driving it.

Earlier this summer, I got my 16 his first car. A 2001 Chevy Cavalier Z24. Looks like a racer to him and underpowered enough for his mother not to worry about him getting in too much trouble. The leather interior looks like new and it has a sunroof. What more can a kid ask for?

Although, he would have prefferred a Nissan GTR :P

My sisters kids are still a few years from driving. I like to be a good uncle by buying them silly string and kazoos everytime I see them

You are trying to steer him away from the VWs....you are a good uncle.

At least around here e36's are at least as cheap or cheaper than beat e30's.

I'd steer him away from the P71. Cops don't find the humor in a 16 year old driving one of their old cars.

The E30 isn't a bad choice. But does he live in the rust belt?

My first real car was 10 years old when I bought it. It was a solid Chevy 2-door Malibu. Going much older than 10 was getting into rust around here.

In some sort of irony, the newest vehicle in my fleet now is 11. My nephews are about 15 years away from driving. Applying the 10 year old car rule to them means their cars haven't been built yet!

My oldest niece is 16 and on her permit. Her mother, my oldest sister, wanted to buy my car for her. I would not put a 16yo girl into an oil burning, rusting neon R/T.

Hell, I wouldn't trust my 18yo self with a DOCH neon... Neither did my father

My first car at 16 was an '88 hyundai excel that we bought not running for $200. a little elbow grease and parts it was a fine running car. Everything worked, was good in the snow, and sipped fuel with it's 1.5L 68hp 4cyl.

Strange, but sometimes I wish I had another car like that for my commute.

Then at 19, I bought myself a '93 LT1 Firebird Formula and, oddly enough, I'm still here.

-Sean

I like all of them except the P71 idea. I'm sure he's a good kid, but RWD + V8 + plenty of room for friends = possible shenanigans.

Since I have never understood the attraction to taxis I don't know why P71s are on the list. BMW e36 will get him attention from the ladies. That is more important than hp, suspension or anything else to to a 16 yr old.

Agree on the lack of P71 love. I wouldn't want one now. I really wouldn't have wanted one when I was 16. Maybe when I am 80 and want to drive around with my hat collection in the rear window.

Fox body Mustang?

GTwannaB wrote: Since I have never understood the attraction to taxis I don't know why P71s are on the list. BMW e36 will get him attention from the ladies. That is more important than hp, suspension or anything else to to a 16 yr old.

I wanted a P71 when I was 16. Still do, in fact.

As far as ladies go, all but a very select few appreciate a new Camry much much more than an E36. Hell, my friend's Hyundai Sonata was unanimously considered one of the coolest cars at my school– it had leather! Most kids made fun of my E30 M3, except for a few who loved it. Go figure.

My gf, on the other hand, rode around in my ratty, no A/C, stiff suspension E30 for 6 months while I finished it, and now she loves riding in the Trooper, "Fidel."

My point is that you cannot possibly have a cool car anymore (unless your parents are making payments on it), and if you do it might not attract the best women....

when i was in HS, one of my classmates had a retired impala cop car. we had a wooded area not too far from school where we'd roll in a keg and hang out (Little Forest, for any upper NWDC readers). the cop headlights would send us scurrying every time he pulled up. so i think P71 is a great choice for a 16yo for the friend-scaring potential.

Ask him if he wants a P71, explain it's good and bad points. Make sure he watches The Blue Brother first. After that I'd vote Miata or S-10. Maybe an Astro with a big TV, shag carpet and disco ball?

Iusedtobefast wrote: Earlier this summer, I got my 16 his first car. A 2001 Chevy Cavalier Z24. Looks like a racer to him and underpowered enough for his mother not to worry about him getting in too much trouble. The leather interior looks like new and it has a sunroof. What more can a kid ask for?

Just keep an eye on his tires. I'm on my second Cavalier and when the tires get worn the ABS can do some frightening things. I have thrown away some cheap tires at half tread beacuse in a light rain the computer seems to get confused and release the brakes altogether for a second or two. It has happened a few times and each time scared the crap out of me.

I started to throw the Impreza 2.5 RS in this thread, but I smell dirt road shenanigans.

E30, e36, miata all sound like decent choices, I'm not a fan of taxis either so I'd pass on the p71 too. Impreza maybe too, although not everything about subarus is that wonderful.

No matter what car he ends up with after he gets it send him to a Street Survival course.

Street Survival

I've done it for all of my neices and nephews and have attended with a couple of them. They get a bit of class time but most of the focus is on actual wheel time in their own cars. They all enjoyed it and left more prepared to deal with situations that might occur in real world driving.

Jeff