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Best Car for a new teenage driver

554 messages,  Last post on Nov 08, 2009 at 7:33 PM

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#412 of 554 Re: marys236 [m4d_cow] by marys236 Oct 14, 2008 (5:51 am)
Replying to: m4d_cow (Oct 13, 2008 10:51 pm) Can you tell us the climate of the area you live in? Snowy? Moderate? Sunny? If you define winter as 6in plus of snow, you might want to focus on AWD instead of ESC. Actually I'd still choose the convenience and stability of AWD over ESC, much safer imo. A Subaru Outback or Forester should be on your list too.   I'm in Oklahoma, so it's pretty moderate. We get some snow, more ice than snow, though. I like Subarus, but used ones are hard to find in this area, they are pretty rare.   He drove a used 2007 Sonata on Saturday, he liked it, and it's pretty reasonably priced (under $12k) and still under warranty. We may go that way.   I stand with my words that ESC is more a gimmick than a true savior.   Why do you say that? I've seen a lot of articles citing tests and studies concluding that ESC reduces the risk of a single vehicle accident significantly. Just wondering what you base that opinion on. I've never driven a car with ESC, so I really don't know. Replies to this message: fezo (Oct 14, 2008 3:17 pm)
#413 of 554 Re: marys236 [marys236] by fezo Oct 14, 2008 (3:17 pm)
Replying to: marys236 (Oct 14, 2008 5:51 am) I think you are right on the ESC. It's a valuable feature - especially in frozen conditions.   That 07 Sonata could be a pretty reasonable choice. I haven't looked up on the price.
#414 of 554 by m4d_cow Oct 15, 2008 (10:32 pm)
"Really, it's almost impossible to find a used Subaru in my area anyway. They are pretty rare around here, we don't even have a Subaru dealership in my city any more" Oops, sorry I missed this part of your post, forget my Subie recommendations then. For your budget there are tons of midsize cars out there. As for Sonata, as long as you're prepared for the resale sting, its a decent car thats also cheap to maintain and insure. Here are my concerns with ESC: Dont get me wrong, ESC helps somewhat. But you lost the sense of control when the ESC does all the thinking for you, so you'll have a hard time learning to be a better driver. ESC will save your son for now, but for the long term? This becomes a problem when the emergency situation is inevitable. Will he be able to save himself or left gripping the wheel and scream? Like someone said earlier, ESC doesnt make a better driver. Maybe 16 yr is too young for most, I'm not sure, so I suggest your son to at least maintain driving experience in a car w/o ESC once he's older. ESC helps prevent emergencies, but doesnt help when the emergency actually comes in. In fact, I find myself having less control of the car during such occasion, as the stability control's taking over and do all the thinking for me. My Acura comes standard with ESC and thats exactly what it did when the car suddenly lost traction on icy surface last winter. I was prepared to take emergency maneuvers when the system suddenly "stabilized" itself and left me guessing for controls. Fairly speaking each brand's esc setting is different, so this may not be your case afterall. This is the most important imo: many kids actually drive worse with ESC. No, its not ESC's fault, but knowing the system's there makes them think that ESC will save them no matter how sloppy their driving is. They become less aware, distract themselves with ease. This actually happens here, where a local newspaper studied this subject and even made a poll 2 years ago.   Just my 2 cents
#415 of 554 Re: Compact cars are not good for teenage drivers [supereagle] by jipster Oct 16, 2008 (5:40 am)
Replying to: supereagle (Oct 13, 2008 8:38 pm) It's best to have your child drive a car with a lot of "meat" around it   I agree. But, on the flip side of that argument, some will say you're putting an inexperienced driver behind the wheel of a big heavy SUV or full sized sedan...putting others in smaller cars needlessly at risk.
#416 of 554 Re: much more than 30k [carexpert08] by oldfarmer50 Oct 16, 2008 (6:20 am)
Replying to: carexpert08 (Oct 12, 2008 7:12 pm) "...The thinks (things) people on this forum are saying about teen drivers just makes them seem completely outdated and jealous..."   Me? Jealous of a 19 year old with a G35? YOU'RE DARN RIGHT I'M JEALOUS!   As to being outdated I'll have you know I have all the latest records by the Beatles and Elvis.   Seriously though, us old fogeys speak from experience of what we have seen and done in our youth. Some of us got lucky and are here to post, some weren't so lucky. So cut us some slack and take our comments for what their worth.   Odds are you won't. You'll just learn the hard way. Hope you are one of the lucky ones. Replies to this message: obyone (Oct 16, 2008 1:03 pm)
#417 of 554 Re: much more than 30k [oldfarmer50] by obyone Oct 16, 2008 (1:03 pm)
Replying to: oldfarmer50 (Oct 16, 2008 6:20 am) As to being outdated I'll have you know I have all the latest records by the Beatles and Elvis.   You still have a functioning turntable?   Odds are you won't. You'll just learn the hard way. Hope you are one of the lucky ones.   If I recall the G35 comes with ESC.
#418 of 554 I've been thinking. by tankbeans Oct 16, 2008 (1:09 pm)
I think that having a largish car which is not high in power would be the best compromise. That way you won't be a speed demon and there will be crunch space.   I'm think 03 Taurus, $6k maybe, and 160 hp to motivate 3500 lbs of car. It's old enough where it wouldn't be too expensive to insure and common enough where parts are easily found at a junkyard. My friend's brother got one that was torn up for $800. Replies to this message: explorerx4 (Oct 17, 2008 3:38 pm) tankbeans (Oct 17, 2008 5:07 pm)
#419 of 554 Re: Compact cars are not good for teenage drivers [tidester] by supereagle Oct 17, 2008 (11:34 am)
Replying to: tidester (Oct 14, 2008 12:35 am) I understand some of your concerns about putting teenagers in these large cars and suvs.   However, also keep in mind that a lot of teenagers get into single vehicle accidents. So that extra space would be a benefit to them.
#420 of 554 Re: I've been thinking. [tankbeans] by explorerx4 Oct 17, 2008 (3:38 pm)
Replying to: tankbeans (Oct 16, 2008 1:09 pm) that's the car i see a lot of kids driving. Replies to this message: tankbeans (Oct 17, 2008 5:07 pm)
#421 of 554 Re: I've been thinking. [explorerx4] by tankbeans Oct 17, 2008 (5:07 pm)
Replying to: explorerx4 (Oct 17, 2008 3:38 pm) Well, they're a dime a dozen. They're cheap and most kids are happy to get something newish. I know that you can get a good one used for around $5400 or thereabouts. I know this only because I used to go and look at how much things were worth.   I was always amazed that my car was the 2nd to oldest car in my family and yet it was worth more than all of the rest of the cars in my family. I look at kelly bluebook fairly often. I'm weird that way.   On a side note:   I disagree that a kid shouldn't have any say in the car that they get. If a person is going to spend the money on something that is going to be driven it needs to be something that the kid isn't going to purposely beat the snot out of. I know many kids, if they don't like a car, will beat the crap out of it and then you're back at square one. I think the wisest move is to do research on a number of different cars and narrow it down to 3 or 4 and let the kid pick. By all means don't say you can get anything you want as long as it's under $X. A lot of times a kid will go for all show and no go, meaning the car might be a pile of scrap, but it would look cool. If I'm confusing sorry.   I just know that I am very recently out of the age group being discussed. I'll chime in once in a while to give my perspective.

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