First car for teenager

I vote for a Camry and an Accord first, with the 4 cyl. I think they're more reliable than the domestic sedans. Since she doesn't care about cars, just get her one in decent condition for cheap. I say stay away from the Mazda 3 or 6 since she's more likely to wreck it now, leaving us one less fun daily driver.

^^^^ That right there

The only thing I can say bad about the mazda is they tend to rust when you look at them wrong. Everything else said is true, though I disagree with the crash worthiness of the corollas- I've wrexked a few and I'm just fine.

My vote is early 2000's Toyota Avalon.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: I'm not sure a 2000-2004 Taurus is really that safe compared to it's foreign competition, especially once you factor in the rust belt and Ford steel of the era.

They are- my nephew rolled one when hitting an ice patch in Alaska. He was fine.

For me- any C/D sized car with 4 cyl will do. Camry, Accord, Fusion, Altima, etc. Whichever one they like the best. None of them will be stressed to do anything, all will return decent economy, and all of them will be boring enough to not notice it.

If you go with the '00-'04 Taurus/Sable, look for a 2001+ since they started putting better/larger brakes on the front that year.

+1 to a GM 3.8 car.

Okay, here is my recap:

16 yr old
Low cost of ownership / acquisition $5k- $6k
Automatic
Reliable
Look good - look cool
Mom: size matters. bigger = safer

Here are a few points that have come to play when also buying for "average consumers" and youth.
1) The princes is 16 so that means that she was born in 1999. Any car older than 1999 will be seen as being "from before the beginning of time." You will be best if you can keep the car under 10 years old. This would mean no older than 2005.
2) Mom also is likely to equate older with less reliable and I will bet that she sees 100k miles as "used up."

The two things combined may have you searching for '05 or newer with less than or right at 100k miles. This makes some of the otherwise solid recommendations given above harder to work into.

I feel like a broken record but to hit that requirement also, I recommend Saturn products.

My first recommendation is the Saturn Ion. Hopefully, mom will not see it as too small.
Keep to years '05-'07 since the earlier automatics has issues. This will get you a 2.2L ecotec with 4 speed auto (a reliable combination.)

If the Ion is seen as too small then consider '06 & '07 Saturn Vue. These years, the 4cyl versions run the same drive train as the Ion; 2.2L ecotec with 4 speed auto. Certainly not a speed demon but adequate acceleration for the princess.

As an additional benifit, both of these Saturns are the last of the plastic bodied Saturns.
I have never personally had to deal with PA inspections but I hear they are hard of surface rust and will fail car because of it. I suspect that the plastic panels will help keep the Saturn on the road longer for you (reduced cost of ownership.)

Now, I hate to make such recommendations without being able to find real world examples. I will admit, I found little in your hometown area but stretching out to the bigger cities, I could find immediate examples. This just means that you may need to shop longer in your home town area.

Ion:
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/4969641774.html
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/4996962661.html
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/4927698294.html
http://poconos.craigslist.org/cto/4927269968.html
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/5000900597.html

Vue:
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/4971744241.html

DaveEstey wrote: My vote is early 2000's Toyota Avalon.

Thist. Just different enough from the beige mobiles, but still super reliable.

Taurus

A Vue would certainly hit the cute/cool button.

curtis73 wrote:

mndsm wrote:

Woody wrote: Four cylinder Accord, as new as possible. My daughter and her passenger walked away from this after "swerving to avoid a raccoon" and hitting a bridge abutment. Prior to this event, it got her home every day for six years without a mechanical failure. It had over 100k miles on it when she started driving it.

This, Camry, Subaru.

I do like the accords, except for expensive (and more frequent than average) transmission failure. Subaru in that price range seems like a head gasket waiting to fail.

I have owned six Accords with automatic transmissions. All but one were purchased new and I generally keep them for 180,000 miles. I have never had a transmission issue. I may have changed the transmission fluid once each on two of them and never on the others. That 2004 V6 shown above was the most reliable car I've ever owned. I needed to change an o-ring on the power steering pump once and two door lock actuators. I did the timing belt around 110k. Aside from that, it was just oil changes until the big bridge night.

Also, I replaced that car with an 81k mile 2005 Subaru Legacy, which was subsequently replaced with a 2010 Accord four months later, after a timing belt, new head gaskets and a throttle body. I lost $3000 on the Subaru. No comparison between these two cars aside from the color. Subaru is dead to me.

Out here, the comparable Lexus ES300 in the same year, condition and miles will cost less than the equivalent Camry/Accord. Name recognition is powerful, Camry is typed into craigslist more often than "ES300"

I'm a big fan of my 06 mazda6 hatch.

It meets all of the required criteria, and should be able to be had in that price range. (I had mine for sale for 6000~ 1.5yrs ago, should have come down a bit since then)

DaveEstey wrote: My vote is early 2000's Toyota Avalon.

That's a smart choice right there.

Well, Curtis, you currently have my "teenager's first car" in your barn...

I have to say, from having coached a couple of Street Survival schools, stick to the 4 cylinder Camry if you recommend one. The V6s have enough power to very quickly write checks that the cushy road-couch suspension just can't cash - particularly in the hands of an inexperienced driver. All the scary incidents I've seen at Street Survival were in older V6 Camrys.

+1 to Accord/Camry/Altima 4 cylinder. I dislike Subarus because bad mileage, headgaskets, etc. Mazda = rust. GM = nothing with a good 4cyl/good gas mileage in that size/price range IIRC. Most of their 4cyl stuff is a bit smaller and "less safe".

John, I would not recommend the VUE. They have a high CG and feel unstable when compared to a much lower sedan. I could easily see a new driver make a mistake and turn one of these on its roof. Also those 4 cyl sedans return pretty good mileage, unlike the VUE.

curtis73 wrote: When someone says reliable, my experience with Toyotas (two tercels, three Siennas, one Corolla, one Tacoma, one Echo, and one Scion xB) have been so reliable that I find it hard to sway from them. Running transmission and general repair shops have backed that up.

I can't address the auto transmission question on any Honda. I've never owned or wanted one.

But we have had several stick shift Accords, Civics, a CRX Si, an Element, and none of them ever had a major mechanical failure of any kind during the 100K+ miles we owned each of them. One of our current cars is a Fit Sport and it's approaching the 100K mark now as well. Stick shift Hondas don't break if they have their oil changed about every 7,500 miles.

I can't imagine the automatic would be so repair prone to cancel out the savings based on the reliability of the rest of the car.

It doesn't really meet the criteria, but I bought my boy an XJ Cherokee as his first car, and he loves that thing so much I'm beginning to worry.

I'm thinking like a 2006ish Accord or Camry 4cyl with 100k mile.

Lotus Exige, hands down.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: Lotus Exige, hands down.

Show me a 5-10k exige. Please.

In reply to mndsm:

Toyta RAV 4. Toyota reliability, and enough storage to get you back and forth to college.