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To keep distractions down, limited seating may be ideal. A small truck like S10, Ranger, Dakota or even an El Camino or a smaller coupe. A Firebird, Mustang, or whatever could be fine as long as it is a V6 unless you can trust them with a V8. Also a manual would be good too, so they're already paying more attention to driving.
That's a good point about the need for safety and rollover protection. If memory serves me right, around 2007 or 2008 the government significantly upgraded the safety standards for cars and light trucks. That's probably why Chevy stopped making the S-10.
You can check the safety rating of any vehicle on the IIHS website.
It's hard to find a newer, affordable car at that price point. Browsing Craigslist today, for $3000-$4000 you can get a 2005 or 2006 Taurus. You can also get a 2007 Crown Victoria -- there's some ex-cabs listed that look awful, but a couple former police/municipal vehicles that look very well taken care of. There's a 2005 Grand Marquis listed too.
Your other choice might be to put $1000 down on a new, or nearly new car of your son's choice. Shop around and see if you can get a $200 to $300 per month lease deal. Have your son eventually chip in for part of the payment. The advantage of that is that you'd have a safe car, no unexpected repair costs, and some of the dealers are currently providing complimentary maintenance.
I'd stick with something Japanese in the $3000 range as they age better than similar size American cars.
As an example something like this would be worth a look. 1995 Honda Accord, Reliable**Gas Efficient**
You seem to be overly obsessed with these side curtain air bags, your company make em?
The op has $3K to spend on a used car, which one with these side curtain airbags would you suggest?
I do not work for an airbag company. The OP stated they WANT to spend $3k on a used car.
Overly obsessed? They reduce risk of death in a side impact crash by 52 percent. If anyone needs side curtain airbags, it's the teen, not the parent, because teens are less experienced drivers and get into crashes more frequently.
The 2008-present Ford Focus has them standard, the 2006-present Honda Civic has them standard, the 2005-2008 Toyota Corolla has them available as options (and 2009-present Corollas have them standard), the 2007-present Hyundai Elantra has them standard... the list goes on and on.
Not to mention, these cars will last your kid longer.
$3,000 for a car / 3 years of ownership = $1,000 per year
$8,000 for a car / 6 years of ownership = $1,333 per year, but he'll enjoy the car a lot more and so will you.
Looking for car recommendations for a 19 year old boy. I'm thinking a Honda beater but don't know much about cars. Has anyone had to purchase an around town vehicle for their kid? If so, what would you recommend? Honestly, he lives in a college town and I hope to keep the cost under $3000. Thanks for your advice.
my advice is to forget brand period. there are many cars out there for under $3k that will suit your needs well.
the second thing to forget is looks. you can have teh best looking car out there, but if it is constantly breaking down on you, then you just have a $3k sculpture.
third, take any car that you are thinking about buying to a mechanic and pay them the $100 or so to do a pre buy inspection. concentrate on how good the mechanicals of the car are. you want a car that is stone cold reliable.
a few cars to look at are the 96-99 ford taurus/sable, early 90s honda accords, early to mid 90s toyota corollas/chevy prisms. and dont forget cars like the ford crown vic/grand marquis, 68-80 chevy nova clones(nova, ventura, phoenix, apollo, omega), late 80s camaro/firebird, late 80s mustangs, in fact any of the ford fox body cars(fairmont, zepher, tbird, cougar, etc.).
A light pick up truck might be better. Tougher than a car and you can't do much to girls in one, if you catch the drift.
I like the thought of a little pick-up like a ranger. You can get them cheap and they could make some money moving things and helping pay for insurance/gas. Very smart idea. Warren
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