Opinions on car for a kid?

[John Larkin]

Taurus. High rating in crash survival, can't rice it easily, gets 19.5 mpg (I had one a few years ago with 3.8v6), good trunk, nice ride, not likely to get stolen, fwd for a young driver in snow. Hard to beat IMO. '95 or older (2nd gen) can be found for under $2K easily. Probably some granny has one in the paper.

 

[BOOSTD]

My first car was an '87 Mercury Cougar ($2500). It had the 5.0 STANDARD OUTPUT engine in it (150 hp). It looked nice and had a set of cheap 5 spoke rims on it. The best part about it was the engine. It was a 302, so ALL the parts that would fit on the mustangs would fit on my car which made replacement parts VERY cheap. I was a pizza dilevery guy and I drove it about 25k in two years with now problems. It currently has 145k on it and still runs well.

Just my .02

BOOSTD

P.S. I graduated last year and untill I rolled into the lot with my GN, the cougar was regarded as a pretty sweet ride. It definatly has a "cool factor."

 

[BOOSTD]

Heres a link to a Cougar website... http://www.coolcats.net/
Very sweet cars!

BOOSTD

 

[Lhorn]

I've always been of the mind that a kids first car shouldn't have much power and shouldn't be too nice. There's a good chance they'll get into some fender benders etc. You want a car with such low horse power that there's no chance he'll race it. Just sold a fairly low mile 4 cylinder 87 Mustang. Under $1500, excellant condition inside and out (so it's not embarrassing to drive), and it's a Mustang so it's not very quick Basically the perfect first car for half the price. Look hard, there are great inexpensive cars out there.

 

[87GN_ponykillr]

My first car when I was in HS, was a 87 Mustang LX 4 banger 5 speed, It looked great the interior was great the car was a gem and it only cost us $3,500, This was years ago so Im sure that you could pick one up now for 2K. The only bad thing is, It was the slowest car I have ever been in.

 

[turbota633]

car for hs kid

just a few years ago i started out with a 91 v6 firebird,not quite the power of the 3rd gen v8's which by now,after 12+ years will most likely be a little worn out, but personally im glad i didnt start with a v8, i learned my lessons with a cool car,but kept out of trouble since i didnt have all that much power,although i will say the 3.1 wasnt a slug by no means(at least not mine), it was quite "peppy"(for lack of beter terms).i also like the k5 idea,high school teens will be beating the **** out of their vehicles anyway,so may as well give them somethin that can take it and that wont be as big a deal to be a little beaten up rather than a nice sports car. hope my opinion is helpful,id think it would be since im only 20,probly younger than majority of the people around here by at least a few years, plus its only been a few years since i was there.
-joe

 

[turbota633]

car for hs kid

we all have our great 1st car stories...before i talked pops into lettin me get a new(old) car,then i worked on him some more to let me get a firebird, my first car was an 81 AMC spirit, drove it for 4 mmonths- problems included rear wheel came off and went flyin by me while i was goin down the road,pass. side seat broke and reclined all the way,my seat was barely adjustable,fuel filter, lug nuts kept on comin loose on mag wheels so we switched them, radio may as well have not been there,and about 3-5 times a week it stalled on me ,and a couple of those times it just died,didnt even turn over, then i sold it with a spare engine to someone with no money but in need of any sort of transportation for 400-500 bucks i believe.
-joe

 

[broke1]

84-85 TR. Theyre cheap.A guy on here blueta has one for $3200 obo and its got alot done to it for a hot air and its fast for a hot air.

 

[TurboJunky]

Why are you buying him a car? Why can't he work and buy his own?

 

[Tom Tom Turbo]

HERE WE GO: Lincoln Mark 7

my first car was a white 89 Mark 7, it had 87K miles and I paid $3200 with title fees. I thought I was the coolest, it had leather, power seats, sunroof, JBL system, ride control, and the 5.0 V8. The car was full sized, had airbags, 4 wheel disc ABS, but was still a coupe and had some rumble to it. My insurance wasn't more than $350 every 6 mo. It got decent mileage too, around 18 or so.

 

[BlackBuick84]

I like the 4x4 idea, such as an S10, Sonoma, K5...blaa blaa. Theyre obviously bigger than a car so you cant go tearing around town in them as much. plus the 4x4 is always a good idea.

 

[tjthorson]

My daughter will not be ready for a car until 2009. What will she be driving?


A Fiero.

Fiero, you say? Ultimate kids car. Small and economical. Awesome in every crash test it was ever in. Easy to fix and parts are plentiful (84-87s).

The big draw for me? They cant load it up with friends and go partying. They can take 1 friend and there is no back seat for her to get into trouble in. I know she's gonna do it with some guy, but I am sure going to make it as hard as possible....

Just my opinion.

 

[GN One Day...]

There's a lot to be said for buying a cheap econo car for the first car, or small truck.

But

My Granddad had money in the bank for years for me for my first car. I got lucky with that, but it wasn't just a lot of money. It was enough for my to buy a '66 Mustang that needed a little help, but it was fairly reliable. Had a little left over for reserves to get it more up to snuff. I had $5000, bought the car for $1750, so that was a great rerve (this is 1986). I took a LOT of pride in that car, did as much work as I could myself and treated that car like it was worth a million bucks. I did have some fun in driving it, but I was proud and took great care. Something like that, especially on the first car a kid has, teaches them something that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. I don't know, maybe it doesn't matter, but I think it made an impact on me and taught me a lot since it was a car that I really wanted, sought out and took pride in once I had it. I don't think I would've been the same in a car I wasn't passionate about.

 

[kenny]

1G AWD DSM

That is, if you don't consider that "rice".

 

[Little6pack]

Originally posted by TT/A1233
Why are you buying him a car? Why can't he work and buy his own?

Well the car can take him to school & work to make $$

 

[stickybones]

An old Jeep Wrangler (YJ) or CJ. 4WD for the snow and off-road, convertible in the summer, fairly cheap, cool factor, somewhat indestructible, and he'll get plenty of experience working on a car to keep it running right. Ask me how I know.

 

[Seankanzig1]

how about the thunderbird turbocoupe from around 86-88?

Cool cars, a nice one will run you around 2000-3000 without any trouble.

I'm sure that since it is a turbo car you could do some detuning (pull some of the boost out of it) to limit the horsepower lower then the stock 200.

Just my .02

Sean

 

[turbota633]

car

if you're gonna get somethin like that, get a merkur xr4ti, ..same motor as turbo coupes, my friend is to merkurs as we are to buicks, so he knows about em and he tells me stock they werent as fast as the heavier turbo coupes,meaning theres room for improvemnt and he claims they're cheap as far s parts go, they're a sporty little car with some power and some potential....though i dont know much else about them....but from the ones ive seen and the ones my friend has bought you can get one for less than the t-bird turbo coupe but for cheaper.

 

[Robes87GN]

My first vehicle was a '93 Jeep Laredo 4x4 (got it in '01) from my parents to drive. Loved that thing. My next car was a '96 Grand Marquis (great high schoolers vehicle, I pulled over about six of my friends a month just trailing them through town.) I loved that car, too. (Queen-sized backseat ) If I were to get him something cheap, good gas mileage, safe, I would go with the Thunderbird SuperCoupe. My brother had one and it was really nice. Problem was he'd race it everywhere. Another good car would be an early 90's grand prix or grand am. My '96 sunfire is very good for gas. It is a 5spd. I am not really sure of the retail on them though, because I got it on a rebuilt title because some druggie got pulled over in it and the place they towed it to was able to get a new title on it after the waiting period (still needles and spoons in it!!!!). It is completely bone stock and I have beaten an '01 monte carlo SS, an '02 ecotech cavalier, and some other cars (almost a v6 mustang from a 45 roll.) To show your son how much you really love him, buy him a stationwagon with all the trimmings, wood trimmings that is. The K5 sounds like a really cool idea for him. I wish I would have had one of those.

 

[Sandman_GN85]

We were just talking about this in my house the other day. I'm 18 years old and graduated from HS last June, so I am fairly able to see what happens from the kid's standpoint. I myself had a GN for my first vehicle, but then again I also bought it myself. This being said, all the fears of speed and too many friends etc are really kinda pointless. No matter how fast the car is, the kid will speed. You all remember highschool don't you? My buddy had a neon, slowest thing on earth, but he drove way faster then I did most of the time, and I had the car able to do it better. I'm not saying I didn't race and speed, but so did everyone else in every other type of car or truck, its the highschool mentality. Then the point of too many friends or back seat or something? If they can't fit in his car, they will just take the other car that can fit, or worse try and squish until they do fit illegaly. And if they can't use the backseat, they will just find somewhere else to use.
This is why I've come to the conclusion my kid can have whatever car he wants, as long as he buys it and he gets only one chance with it. He screws up and its over for him. Figure since they are goin to do it all anyway might as well let your kid enjoy his years and have fond memories.