Wanted 17 year old needs her first car :-)

For teenage drivers, I recommend manual transmissions, as I have done for both my daughters. We are super happy with the 2022 Nissan Versa we bought a year ago…..a new one was $19k out the door but confident a 2 or 3 year old one could get to $15k.

The other car we looked at that was less expensive was the Mitsubishi Mirage. Our eldest daughter bought a 2016 Kia Soul and they have since discontinued the MTs but used ones are out there.

 

Much easier to be a lazy and distracted driver…..do not recommend.

 

A 2017+ Honda Civic. Great car, comfy and plenty of power to be safe. My wife had one back when she had to commute 160 miles a day.

 

I made my daughter learn on a three pedal. She was really unhappy until she got the hang of a clutch, and then was really happy she had been forced to learn how to shift.

 

Dude is just trying to buy his daughter a car and he is getting his balls busted as to whether he should get a manual transmission or not.

poor guy!

My daughter is learning to drive right now and will be 16 soon as well. Going through the same search for her right now. We old guys love sticks but this new generation likes automatic.

Either way, let HER pick the car that she feels safe, comfortable and confident in.

 

Mike,
When the time comes with my daughter that you're going through, i can tell you my criteria will be the safest and most airbag model...she can pick the color and other options. God bless. Hope she has fun and stays safe. Miss ya brother...

 

Just went through this with my daughter. Ended up getting her a 2016 Honda CRV.

 

Greg- Yup, because 17 year old females are real car experts.

 

Same experience my girls had, their goofy friends were always amazed watching them drive a “real” car. My eldest has had her MT Kia Soul for 7 years and 29,000 miles.

 

Yeah, well her generation likes lots of stupid things…..sometimes it is up to parents to make the important decisions. A MT keeps the focus on driving, not distractions.

 

LOL……so much truth

And once they learn how to do it, they love the cars…….and MT cars today are so easy to modulate…..light clutches with good feel, hill holding, little high revving engines, no CVT rubber band transmissions.

My youngest has temporarily lost her car privileges to drive to school for a disciplinary reason so I get to take her car and have fun a couple of days a week.

 

That is YOUR opinion. The data does not support this and in fact in every study performed has found no difference in safety between a MT and AT. The counter argument is you are much safer with both hands on the wheel at all times and by having to shift and engage the clutch you become distracted. The bottom line is this has nothing to do what the OP is looking for. Unless you are the persons parent your opinion, or anyone else’s is not relevant. Now let’s get back on track and find mikes friend a car.

 

I somewhat disagree. My 17-year old son has a 87 Alfa Spider as his "fun" car, and a 2022 BOLT EV as his daily car. He is the same teenage driver in both vehicles, and the lack of road-experience and simply years and years behind the wheel is what makes him dangerous -- not the specific type of transmission. When he drives the Alfa, no matter how much he drives it, the anxiety of shifting, starting on an incline, being gentle with the clutch, moving his heel, etc etc.... it all adds to the cognitive load that he probably shouldn't deal with so early in his driving career. In his Bolt, he uses 1-pedal driving and regenerative braking. As a passenger in that car with him, I'm much more relaxed too. Riding in the Alfa with him, scares the crap out of me.

We all (I'm speaking for the majority of Fchatters) learned to drive on manual gearboxes -- because that was WAY more common when we reached the point of driving. I learned on an old 911, my brother started on a VW Rabbit, my sister started on a 70's Jeep. But none of their children learned on a manual box, nor did my son. It's just not necessary when they're learning to drive on the public roads. Want to go row the gears on a gearbox or closed circuit? Have at it.

I think he was 15 (unlicensed) when we took our first drive:




p.s. @Yellow Compass get a Subaru. I have driven one for years, and love it. Rock solid. Economical. Safe.

 

Yes it is my opinion, backed up with personal experience, not some set of obscure unknown statistics. And it is very relevant.

 

As I said, the modern manual transmissions are MUCH better for younger drivers than a 35 year old small car made of tissue paper like body panels, crappy brakes and no safety systems……yeah, I would be scared too.

 

Sorry but I would much rather trust the statistics from professionals than your opinion. The insurance industry has done extensive studies on this and they are far from obscure. If there was a once of benefit from one vs the other you can bet you would be offered a discount from your auto insurance.

 

Experience, not opinion……LOL, unknown “professionals”

 

https://www.statefarm.com/simple-insights/auto-and-vehicles/manual-vs-automatic-transmissions

again your opinion. I’ve been in the industry for 30 years and my professional opinion from experience is the opposite of yours. I’ve litigated hundreds of cases caused by 16-18 year olds driving a manual transmission in which the cause of the accident was being distracted by the manual transmission. Safest bet is to preclude any cell phone use while driving and drive an automatic transmission. If you’d like to continue To compare experiences I’m happy to do so.

 

BTW, agree with Subaru recommendation probably would have bought their MT model had it been available, but they were hit very hard in the pandemic and had not a single one in the country at the time.

 

Sigh….you are obviously one of “those” people. I’ll stick with my real experiences as a concerned Father of two wonderful daughters that appreciated being taught to drive on a manual transmission.

Literally the only downside is knowing they could drive the Ford GT and Lamborghini if they were in a Ferris Bueller mood.

 

mazda cx5 has been great for my 17 yr old

 

Will be getting my son his first car this summer.
SAFETY FIRST
And For safety's sake...I would look into the heaviest weight of a car...real iron chassis types..American.
There are so many cars and SUV's out there of monster proportions that survival in a crash really depends on your ability to hold your own ground.
Civics and toyotas weight numbers start a 2500lbs. while a tesla is at 5500 lbs.
A Rivian weighs 8500 lbs.
If you weigh 175lbs. and a 350 lb. guy knocks into you....who goes down.
in a collision...??????????????

 

Calling George Jetson