DaChef320

iTrader: (1)

98 Honda prelude 5 speed

DaChef320

iTrader: (1)

89 Crx Si 91 Integ 92 civic si hatch

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

Congratulations! your young one is getting out of your hair and into some freedom. I'm not a parent but this is how I would approach the situation.

1. Sit kid down and treat him like an adult, tell him this is a big occasion and you feel this decision should be made together instead of dad forcing something on him. The more you involve him now, the more excited he will be and it's a great life lesson for when he sets out to buy his first car on his own. I would start by agreeing on a mutual list of priorities that the vehicle should fill. Safety, reliability, fuel economy, insurance cost, maintenance cost, creature comforts, color etc. Both of you rank independently and compare, then compromise and set them together. He's going to have to do this when he's 30 with a wife an kid, no better time then now to pass on the old man's wisdom.

2. You said you have $5k to spend, teach him how to budget and the things to expect. Does this include TTL? Is he going to be responsible for paying insurance, fuel, or maintenance? set these expectations and goals now.

3. Shop around, online then go test drive together, make sure he drives the car too. If he doesn't like a particular vehicles on road characteristics it may sour the experience if you push that vehicle on him.

4. When you get to the wright car, show him what to look for. Does the tranny fluid smell burnt? Do all the tires match? are they wearing evenly? Any signs of paint overspray? What's the condition of the engine oil and coolant? All these things teach the 5W's.

5. Buy the car, but let him do the talking, just be there for support. Let the dealer try and sell him extended warranties, undercoating or whatever and guide him through the decision process of why or why not to opt for those add ons.

6. Go have a beer cause your a great parent.

umcp

Mazda 3!

Carraway

I can say from experience that it should not be a Plymouth Grand Fury ex-police car with a 440 ci engine. It was awesome, but I also had to discuss my driving with a judge at one point.

With that aside, my first thought was also an older, well cared for Accord. Of course the problem with those is finding one that's for sale at a reasonable price.

I agree with many that it'd be best to make the decision with him, so he feels proud of it and will take care of it. Also, when looking at older cars, I think that how one has been treated is going to be more important than who originally built it, so evaluating what kind of owner(s) the car had, maintenance records and mechanic inspections will be critical.

Saintor

Absurd.

We have a 2012 Civic for our teenagers and it fulfills its mission like a champ. They love it.

BTW, it is Canada's best selling car and USA best selling compact/sub-compact cars (july).

ttribe

Myron was recommending the Civic, not saying that it should be excluded. Stated differently, he was saying - "From your list of options, I would choose the Civic."

See how that works?

Sarlacc

SimonCL-S6

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

This was me.

My first car was a hand-me-down from my Grandma. It was a 1986 Mercury Cougar LS with the 5.0L engine. Although I didn't pay for it, I took great care of it (with the help of my dad of course). I guess a part of it was the pride in ownership that my Grandma had with it (she kept it immaculate and was always on top of maintenance/services) and with how well my parents took care of their cars. I suppose it also helped that it was in the family. My grandparents bought it new (I have the pictures my Grandma took of it when they brought it home from the dealer somewhere ). I knew it's history...I was a part of its history.

Sometimes I wish I still had it. It was a neat car.

Gfaze

My dad let me pick the car, he just helped me look it over before buying it. Before he paid for it though he told me that it was the only car he would ever buy me so I better take care of it. I took care of that 1986 Honda Accord until the day I sold it.

Street Spirit

Since you are the one putting up the money, I would say that YOU should choose 2-3 different cars and then have him help find those cars locally. I wouldn't give him infinite choices - you do the preliminary work. Test drive them together. See which one he leans towards based on what you've already narrowed down but provide helpful and real-life feedback.

Since 16 year olds are mostly good at instant gratification, if given the choice and without parameters, he will probably just go for the coolest looking, fastest running, most popular choice among his friends -- whichever car would be most admired by friends and girls. Image will probably win over all else. And gadgets. He'll probably want the fastest car with the most gadgets.

He might not consider things like insurance cost, maintenance cost, gas costs, reliability, longevity, safety, and longer-term needs. That's why I think you should ultimately have final say. If you will also be the one covering the cost of any major repairs, you should be the one to have that final judgement call, since again, he will likely focus on what is the coolest car to have right NOW. Even if he will be the one covering future costs, does he actually have a job and money saved to put towards that? If not, face it - you will likely be contributing to those costs, even if it's in the form of a loan.

Things like how the car handles and drives compared to other makes and models shouldn't have much play in this decision, IMO... A 16 year old wouldn't have extensive (or any) driving knowledge of how one car feels vs. the other --- in theory, they will/should just be happy having a car that moves and isn't falling apart. He will get used to driving whatever he has -- whether it's 115HP or 150HP, has tight steering or sucky handling, has good pedal feel or not. Don't let the little things sway you. It's his first car, he's not a 30 year old car enthusiast paying for his own car.

He should be thankful and appreciate that you are helping him with this stepping stone in life. If he is upset with any of your thoughts, then he also has the choice of working for a few years and saving up to buy his own instead. Really, he should be grateful. And the fact that you'd even include him is a bonus -- aside from those who work to pay off their first cards, other people just get whatever is handed down to them -- they don't get to shop around AT ALL.

Get the car, clean it up together, make it look great. Work into his ego and image. Eventually, it'll feel like his and whatever the car happens to be will matter less and less.

Street Spirit

I know a few parents who are also disabling the internet and text message ability on their new-drivers' cellphones.

jchan2

For me, in retrospect I was pretty happy with a 99 Civic. Maybe not the safest thing around (mine didn't have ABS) but I would probably step up to an EX (which has ABS) if I were buying it and it wasn't the car that just happened to be my parents' oldest.

I also like to think I took reasonable care of it, but that's easy to do when your parents very generously offer to foot the bill for gas, insurance, maintenance, and repairs for the car. That said, I was also in charge of maintenance and care for all of our family's cars, so I guess I had economies of scale?

Either way, I had lots of friends who bought CR-Vs, RAV4s, Civics, Corollas, Camrys and Accords. Solid picks all around. If you want a dark horse candidate though, try a Subaru Legacy/Outback/Forester.

parasitius

Okay stop right there a second...

...and your grandma had no problem at all driving a car called a Cougar? Seriously?

My mom, for example, wouldn't be caught dead driving a car called a Milf.

TylerT

iTrader: (1)

Typically, when you want to stay apart of something it's wise to make friends and be somewhat respectful.

Looks like you won't last long here .

ttribe

And the award for lamest post of the day (already) goes to....

macKdaddytran

My first car was an auto '97 integra LS. That's the car i wanted and my dad didn't mind because it wasn't expensive and it was good on gas.

It was reliable, slow, looked nice, and easily maintained. I actually liked it, so i began to modding it and actually took care of the car. It's a good way to show responsibility isntead of getting him something he doesn't like

05TLdcc

No shit she wouldn't be, you can't fit a 58 year old woman who weighs 296 pounds into a small two door convertible.

Do us a favor and forget how to breathe.

Hapa DC5

Now imagine all of this being said from this guy.. add gosh.

Need proof he sounds like Napoleon?
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/2cMNZypkCSU/
ten seconds in you hear him speaking Engrish.

GOSH!

Ken1997TL

Alright you dunce, no one knew the term 'cougar' in 1986.

Post in this thread again and you'll take a little vacation in Trollhattan

Gfaze

Dumbass.....

Aman

What happened to not feeding the troll?

komet

Since it seems like a lot of people have already suggested different model cars, I'll add my own two cents.

Try to get a car with a manual transmission. So long as you teach him the basics (if you can teach him at all), the MT will prove to be bullet proof. Besides getting better fuel economy than an equivalent automatic transmission, manual transmission require very little upkeep besides fluid changes and the occasional clutch.

In my opinion, I believe that driving a car with a manual transmission gives you a better idea of what's going behind the scenes - so to speak. Additionally the MT will help him focus more on his driving and perhaps make him have more respect for driving in the first place (as it seems many people, both teenage and adults, take driving for granted these days).

Regardless of what you get him jheck, I'm sure both of you will have some fun going through the basics of driving. Good luck!