Apparently, my kid doesn't want to drive.... After a conversation with her about being tired of driving her everywhere, I think she is going to extend a little effort to get her permit.
I'd like to purchase a *cute* car for a Christmas present. None of my family knows about this purchase (not even the wife; I figure that she has never known anything I have dragged home yet, so I will not start now).
A few things I am thinking about:
1. Safe
2. Cute- she told me that she likes the Kia Soul and the Fiat 500 but I prefer something with no/tiny backsteat area (so no freinds can ride with her, nor on her).
3. Automatic. I will teach her how to drive a manual car but I would like to get her started with an auto.
3. Lower-mileage- I prefer to spend a *little* more for a lower-mileage car.
4. I have about $8K to spend (no financing, so buying from an owner is open as well). I would prefer to spend less, but I may spend a little more.
5. I would like to have something with a transferable warranty. Obviously, at this price point I cannot afford a new car.
6. I am open to any of your cars and suggestions.
7. Mopars and Mitsubishis are a plus for me.
This is a big deal to me and I am really excited. Thoughts?
Yes, I know there are two number 3's.
With 7) I'd definitely get a transferrable warranty.
In reply to captdownshift :
I was told that some of the awesome warranties are not transferable? Kia and Hyundai, for instance?
The 500 has little back seat room. If you can stand the reliability of them, 8k will get you into one pretty easy.
Bonus is since it something that she says she likes it may be easier to get her to drive that way.
In reply to bmw88rider :
You are probably right on that. I like reliability, too. I have seen many under 30K that can be had cheap. Have you dealt with any problems with the car?
Mazda 3 wagon? For some reason, all of my son's friends think his Protege5 is pretty cool. $8K would buy you a pretty solid 3. We went Protege5 because our budget was smaller. Kids also seem to like mini utes (CRV/Rav4), but personally, I'm not a fan of a high CG vehicle for a new driver.
On an unrelated thought line, Honda Del Sol's meet pretty much any kid's definition of cute/cool and are a 2 passenger vehicle. They may be on the small side of your "safe" requirement. $8k will buy you the nicest one out there.
fastasleep said:
In reply to captdownshift :
I was told that some of the awesome warranties are not transferable? Kia and Hyundai, for instance?
The Koreans are 100k miles to the new car buyer but on 60k to the used car buyer
I'll look at the Mazda 3, but that is a little more room than I would like. But I agree on avoiding a high CG.
Thanks, John Welsh. I needed clarification.
I am not a Nissan fan, really (although I DO want a GTR). The iQ is a little on the "too damned little" side for me...kinda the size of a Smart. I thought about a Miata. I am looking at those now, too, although I think she liked the Soul and the 500 because it looked like the diver sat more upright.
Brian
MegaDork
9/30/18 6:36 p.m.
2.5(back seat) is hard. I know with the 500 I had more room than the Dart I also looked at. I’m about 6’ tall and set the drivers seat for myself then got in back. Anything with a hatch and a folding rear seat should be removable. Jerry(?) did that with his Abarth.
Honda CR-Z?
$8k will get you a '12 with about 70k miles.
Two seater, cute, reasonably safe and reliable.
My daughter turns 16 on 12/15/18 and my wife and I driver newer vehicles so we are not crazy about loaning our cars to her to drive when she turns 16 in Chicago at the beginning of winter. I will be watching this thread closely.
1. Safe - Totally agree.
2. Cute- she told me that she likes the Kia Soul and the Fiat 500 but I prefer something with no/tiny backsteat area (so no freinds can ride with her, nor on her). I don't really care but she didn't like the Miata I pointed out to her the other day. Another child I failed at raising.
3. Automatic. I will teach her how to drive a manual car but I would like to get her started with an auto. Same here plus there is a stereotype on her culture on not being good drivers.
3. Lower-mileage- I prefer to spend a *little* more for a lower-mileage car. This is tough to find right now -
4. I have about $8K to spend (no financing, so buying from an owner is open as well). I would prefer to spend less, but I may spend a little more. I would like to spend less - $2500 but then again I don't want her driving a POS and her calling me at 11:00pm from some parking lot with a car that won't start.
5. I would like to have something with a transferable warranty. Obviously, at this price point I cannot afford a new car. Probably not in my price range
6. I am open to any of your cars and suggestions. I will be watching this closely
7. Mopars and Mitsubishis are a plus for me. I can do Nissan, Honda, Chevrolet, or a Corolla. I even think of a hatchback since she does a lot of music type events and might be moving drums or a xylophone around - I never know with this kid.
My daughter is 13, so I've given this sort of topic some thought. I'd probably go with a 4-5 year old Civic with a manual.
Personally, I think it's important to start with a manual. IME you can teach someone the basics of a manual in about 2 hours, but after that they need to drive it every day for 3 months to practice. After that the muscle memory is permanent, and they'll never forget how. The problem with the "learn it later" idea is that once someone gets used to driving an automatic, switching to a manual turns them from a functional driver into a seemingly hopeless newbie all over again, and that requires mental energy to push through.
So the model I intend to follow is this: learn the "driving" part in an automatic, take the test, get the permit, then switch her to a manual for 3-4 months. We'll see how well it works in about 3 years. :)
Hate to say it: Newer Prius.
If not a lot of highway miles then a Smart fortwo.
Minis are probably too expensive.
Mitsubishi Mirage
I think she needs a 2016 Scion iA. Manual trans.
You know your kid but I think maybe involving her in the buying could help rather than hurt. My parents"surprised" me with the least wanted car they could have given me. A mid size sedan. It was even a color I didn't like. I used it and was thankful but curious why they asked me a few months early what car I would like and ignored everything I said I liked. My daughter was just saying what she liked from looks or friend's comments. Based on weird "facts" she picked up that were usually not correct.
Generally I'm with codrus on this one. I've got a bench-build civic coupe in mind for my nephew... not that I'll get the chance to do it, my sister won't let me be the uncle I want to be.
but, for fastasleep, I'd suggest a non-turbo veloster, they fit the size/mileage/budget/miles thing:
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/cto/d/2012-hyundai-veloster-gray-int/6696108004.html
yanking the rear seat out should be pretty easy. I dunno if it's "cute" enough? Maybe throw some white Motegi MR139's on?
she probably wants a MINI cooper... but I'm not actually recommending it.
You're going to have to decide which way you want to go. If you buy a car that has a back seat, they're going to find a way to fit back there. Period. iQ, MINI, Fiat, etc... As small as the back seats are, they have them and teens are limber. They'll find a way back there. Would you really feel good having teens riding in the back seat of an iQ? I'd be too worried what would happen if it got rear ended by the high school boy in his brodozer trying to play games with them.
On the other hand, anything that's a true two seater is going to be really small, such as Miata. You'll have to decide if that's what you want.
My recommendation is something like the Soul, Elantra, Civic, Corolla, Versa, Sentra, Fit, etc... Still a small car, but not clown car small. Reliable, efficient, slow. Don't go SUV...just don't.
It's at the upper end of your range, but the first gen Volt is one hell of a car. I taught my daughter to drive in ours and it's so cheap to operate and good to drive that my wife has adopted it as her daily.
As a note on the back seat, if you think removing 10 square feet of space will control poor decisions, having a teenage daughter is going to be tough. I'm not saying to buy a conversion van with a convertible bed in back, but if Jeff Goldblum taught us anything, it's that if there's a way,it will be found, and there's always a way.
mazdeuce - Seth said:
It's at the upper end of your range, but the first gen Volt is one hell of a car. I taught my daughter to drive in ours and it's so cheap to operate and good to drive that my wife has adopted it as her daily.
As a note on the back seat, if you think removing 10 square feet of space will control poor decisions, having a teenage daughter is going to be tough. I'm not saying to buy a conversion van with a convertible bed in back, but if Jeff Goldblum taught us anything, it's that if there's a way,it will be found, and there's always a way.
Yes, totally agree...and that's my point. Don't fret too much over the back seat thing (outside of the above mentioned van with moonroof and airbrushed murals). When I was a teen, my buddy had an '87 Escort Pony 2 door and we stuffed 3 into the back of it routinely.
Buy a car you don't care about. That way when she destroys it, you don't have any interest in the car.
