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I will be in the market for an inexpensive used car for my teenage daughter.
Personally, I love Hondas. I lease and have had Hondas for my last 5 vehicles. (CRV & Pilot). I also own a Fit that I bought brand new for my young adult daughter.
This daughter will not be driving out of town much, just local, to school/work. She will be going away to college after another year, and not able to take the car to school.
I'm thinking I'd like to spend around $5,000.00. Any suggestions of what type car, year/mileage I should be looking for? Specific issues I should be watching for in this age of vehicles?
You should seek out a one owner car with all maintenance records.
No accidents (do a Carfax).
Take to local mechanic shop and have checked out.
Seek a used car from no pets, no children, no smokers.
There should be nothing wrong with car at time of sale.
No rust.
Stick to 4 cylinder engines. With a timing chain (not a timing belt).
For safety sake buy her an older American car with some iron in it! The little butt beaters so common today are mostly crumple city in a real accident.
I started all 4 of our boys out in old fords / mercurys that had lots of iron around them and were all throw aways. There are millions of old GM cars ,as well as ford, to select from that offer the weight to protect your daughter.
Practical: Lincoln Towne Car. (Cheap, durable, comfortable, very safe, decent MPG (26 hwy) lots of room for her friends. Honda Fit. Vibe/Matrix. Maybe Ranger.
Status: Mustang, BMW (if you have a big budget for maintenance)
If you are a good mechanic: MG; Serbring Convertable
Girly: VW, Miata, Pink Jeep;
Kiddie: Juke; Cube; Subaru WRX
If she does not need to go over 35 MP maybe a GEM.
For safety sake buy her an older American car with some iron in it! The little butt beaters so common today are mostly crumple city in a real accident.
That's because crumpling in an accident dissipates the energy instead of transferring it to the occupant. that's why cars are safer in accidents today than those older cars "with iron in them." It still amazes me how few people realize this even at this late date.
Compact two door pickup. Can't load up a bunch of kids (distractions) into the vehicle since it seats two. Comes in useful when they go to college for moving stuff. 6 cylinders have decent mpg. Most are ok in crash tests. Tires (assuming you re using factory sizes) are a very common size, plentiful, and relatively inexpensive. The two door versions tend to be cheaper than crew/extend cabs.
I had a 93 Jeep YJ. It was configured like a mini-pickup complete with my own trailer. MPG sucked though. That Jeep got me through college and made the trip from TX to NJ in 1998. Even made money helping people move stuff. Jeeps today are way over priced.
I'd get a manual transmission Volvo for her, like an older well-maintained 240 wagon. Or a manual transmission Civic. Having a manual transmission means that she can't be on her cellphone while she drives. And her friends won't want to borrow her car either.
And teach her how to check the air pressure in her tires and the fluid levels every week. She should also know how to change a tire on her own. And with any car, she should know to listen and feel how her car drives, also how it smells... just to know if there is a problem developing.
Cars should not be viewed as a magic carpet ride that never needs any maintenances.
Personally, I love Hondas. I lease and have had Hondas for my last 5 vehicles.
Civic.
Any made in the last 20 years are great cars (avoid a SI to Type R for a teenager though [not that your gonna find a CTR for $5k] )
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[not that your gonna find a CTR for $5k] )
