First car for nephew

Did you see that sweet Lexus SC400?

66K miles for $6K???

In Fchat Ads

 

^^This^^

 

Sorry $8K....

Damn fine looking car.

My son had the LS430 sedan.....lasted eight days in Houston traffic, until destruction....it was that color, those wheels.
He was SO upset...and had sore knees.

Some Saint Arnolds Pumpkinator exploded in the back seat too....gave it an odd smell, as it went off to the crusher....

Now, that engine is a hand built power monster...he will need some maturity.

 

There is a nice 2008 honda Fit with some good upgrades on the s2k GA Facebook page. I even think it is in Tennessee. Send me a PM if interested. I think the guy is asking $7,000 so it could probably get bought for around $6500. The s2k ga ad links to a CL ad here, http://knoxville.craigslist.org/cto/4639749193.html

 

Those little Japanese coupes aren't very good in wrecks

What about a Porsche 944?

 

Don't you have a lawn you'd like to tell someone to get off of?

 

Based on budget, 1st gen Mini Cooper? Lots of airbags, stick or auto, not a lot of hp, but still fun to drive. Reliable, features like AC, power everything, good stereo, optional sunroof. Cousin to small BMW's.

I put my kids in a JGC for the first 2 years before they graduated to smaller cars. Older ones were tough built trucks, like a Timex, could take a licking and keep on ticking ( I am old too!!!).Kept them plenty safe until they got enough seat time to become good drivers.

Regards,
Jerry

 

The Subaru Impreza I bought last year has been a fabulous teenager car, rock solid and reliable, not enough power to get in trouble, cheap to insure. If you can find one, I highly recommend it.

My brother put my niece into a Jeep Cherokee for her first car, amazingly tough machine that survived a couple of hits and kept going. He actually used a block & tackle around a tree in his front yard to straighten it the second time! Was dirt cheap to keep on the road, still going in the hands of one of his neighbors.

 

Without knowing local pricing or insurance issues I'd pick the best Honda Accord coupe that fits in the budget. Big enough and with mid size car safety gear to placate his folks, it's the opposite of the fit (which are awesome cars -good suggestion up above), and most importantly it's available in a standard. They're flat out great cars, fun to drive and a good launching point for an enthusiast. If he doesn't like threaten him with a Camry.

And...for the love of God and country make sure his first car is a manual, teach him, pay for lessons if you have to. Then once he's competent you can let him drive the 308 and bring him over to the dark side.

I'd also think that an E46 325/8i would fit the bill for them (other than not being Japanese). Pretty reliable, good economy and easy to find sensible independents to service. An even stronger one way ticket to being a life long car geek....

 

Jeeps crand c's are the best-that straight 6 will never die. I gave my nephew mine about 6 mos ago

 

My sons first car was/is a 67 Mustang. Easy to work on, cheap and fun. Someday he'll do a full resto on it.

Perry

 

The one cool thing about Japanese cars is he will have lots of room to play around and upgrade stuff. Plus they are really easy to work on and will give him some hands on too. Hopefully just for upgrades
It depends on how much performance you really want him to have.
WRX is a great car not so good on mileage. Civic's and Accords are good too. Accords maybe a little boring and geared for older crowds.
Gone are the days of picking up a older mustang or something along those lines to restore.
You might even be able to find some BMW 3 series in that price range.

That is amazing you still own your first car. And a GTO. Nice.
Mine was a lonely ole 280ZX. I do wish i had that car still too.

 

I just bought a new 2015 Honda Fit EX-L with NAVI for my 17 year old daughter and it is an incredible car that gets over 40 mpg and is incredibly versatile. The car has a ton of safety features, including a right rear blind spot camera. I know he isn't fond of the Fit, but maybe leasing a new one may change his mind. They should at least look at it.
You can pack a small army in the thing.
Good Luck!

 

Hi everyone, I'd love to chime in here....my beloved daily driver is a Hellrot red 1997 BMW E36 318i convertible. ******* bulletproof car, gets 31 mpg and will not break. I've put nearly 50,000 miles on it in 18 months and it just runs great and is seriously overbuilt. VERY solid. I also have a 944 but its a Turbo, super fast, reliable, good looks and I LOVE it.

 

Everything is for sale, for the right price! Insurance might be a bit of a problem though. My Subaru costs $110/month for my 17 year old daughter, and it's just about the cheapest thing to insure we've found. Can't imagine what a 400hp Corvette would run, scares me to even think about it.

 

Bought my son a car last year to take to college, my insurance agents only advice was 'buy a 4 door and no Mazda's'. I didn't even look at 2 doors.

 

Have them talk to a Lexus mechanic about that, the engines are bulletproof.

The A/C is expensive to fix...true.

Insurance would perk up like on the ZR1, maybe.....