Best car for a friend's daughter, under $10k, in Denver

Criteria:

• Automatic trans

• Lives in the rockies (so some winter capability and decent at altitude)

• 16 year old girl, so has to be something not dorky

• $10k maximum price

• Parents are not car DIY'ers, so low-maintenance is best.

GO!

Lowest mileage/newest Civic 4 door you can get for their price point.

FWD Honda or Toyota with proper tires. Civic, Accord, Camry, something like that.

Rav4 or CRV.
The two easiest vehicles to recommend to the general public. No one doesn't like them.

John Welsh wrote: Rav4 or CRV. The two easiest vehicles to recommend to the general public. No one doesn't like them.

This. Buy the nicest one you can find in your price range.

BTD wrote:

John Welsh wrote: Rav4 or CRV. The two easiest vehicles to recommend to the general public. No one doesn't like them.

This. Buy the nicest one you can find in your price range.

/thread

I would have said "Honda" as well, a few years ago. These days, Hyundai gets you a lot more bang for the buck at the $10k price point. As cheap as they're giving away new Elantras, you can get a 3-year-old model at this price point.

Yeah, I suggested an Elantra as the best bang for the buck, myself. Especially with that 100k warranty and Hyundai's pretty good quality and decent style.

I'm going to say prius. Had one as a rental, and going up pikes peak and the top of the rocky mountain national park i never felt it lacking for power.

And these kids dont think hybrids are dorky.

I hate, hate, hate the idea of leasing a car, but the case of the sixteen year old daughter is one of the few times where it almost makes sense.

It's unlikely that she'll drive more than 5k a year before she hits the age of 20 and she probably doesn't even know what she wants from a car yet. Find a low mileage, no money down, 48 month lease on a Honda HRV, CRV or a RAV4, and their little girl has a shiny new vehicle with no surprises, modern safety equipment and a warranty, that will reliably get her home every single night.

Put that ten grand in a supervised bank account and teach her how to responsibly manage structured payments.

Add snow tires.

Leasing for a kid also can mean the highest insurance rates while you insure the full value of the car.

Though you are making payments on only a portion of the cars full $25k vaLue you have to carry insurance for the replacement of the full $25k.

I'll also add this advice... Before they buy (or lease) anything, recommend they call their insurance agent first and say, "we're considering a Model ABC, how much would that add to our premium?"
Don't make the assumption that similar models have similar rates. Insurance, especially for younger drivers, is not that linear.
They should be able to get an answer while they wait on the phone. At worst, a call back by the end of the day.