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Smart Shopper Best Car for a new teenage driver
554 messages, Last post on Nov 08, 2009 at 7:33 PM
You are in the Smart Shopper Forum. Your Hosts are kirstie_h & tidester
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Late to the discussion, but Kiminar can you tell us what dealerships are available in your area? Or is it easy to find just about any brand? Judging from the area you're in, I assume lots of slippery dirtroads and ditches, especially after snow or rain. If it's true then you're right, AWD seems a must. You need to be more specific with your criterias, for example: 1) Do you need room or pickups are just fine? 2) What size do you expect, midsize, somewhat compact? She's 16 so I discourage getting her anything large like your Tahoe. 3) Does fuel economy matter much? 4) Who'll pay for gas and maintenance? 5) Depreciation. Are you planning to resale it anytime soon, or drive it till it drops? My assumption so far: she'll pay for gas at least. So gas guzzlers are out. Here's what I think: As a former Escape v6 driver I can say it's a decent AWD ride. Roomier than you might expect, and cheap maintenance. Downsides are few: crude sounding engine, CD player kept scratching my cds even after being replaced, and large amount of brakedust. However, please remember this: avoid the 4-cyl. models at all cost! The engine's prone to numerous problems includng misfiring, fuel economy barely any different from v6, plus you get a lot of clutch slipping as bonus. As a consideration a used 1yr old v6 model can be had for $15-16k around here. My top recommendation. Matrix-Vibe twin not a bad choice, but they're on the small side. Their AWD also meant for light duty, I wonder if your terrain condition allows that. Should you decide to choose this model I recommend the Vibe for it's higher ground clearance and lower price. Another suggested Suzuki SX4. This is a decent vehicle, but really small, and I doubt the AWD works for your case. If you prefer Japanese products I recommend Subaru or Nissan. The others are either too expensive or unreliable. Subaru has the most durable AWD I can think of. An older used one isn't that much of an issue as Subaru engines are known to last longer than the rest of the car itself. The only potential problem is it's a wagon thus stands closer to the ground. I don't know how bad the road gets in your are but I'd give it a try since Impreza and Outback survive dirt road better than most people think. Also, I don't think the CR-V and Rav4 are good ideas. No matter what they say those aren't meant for actual dirt-road. They'll get stuck way before the Subaru does, and they cost more thanks to ridiculously strong resale. A 2yr old Impreza wagon cost about $18-19k, whereas 2yr old CRVs and Rav4s can strangle you with the $22-25k price tag. Is resale a big consideration? If not you can take advantage of Subaru's AWD in the form of Saab 9-2x. Its basically a blatant Impreza wagon ripoff, but it depreciate so deeply you can get the same MY(model year) 92x as the Subaru for the same price or (sometimes even) less!!! The other model I dare recommend is Nissan's X-terra. Not the best model from Nissan nor the most fuel efficient, and it looks umm... macho, but it handles dirt and ditches with ease. I dare say that as I've seen those going up the Aspen. Nissan's not so great resale should put good value for your budget. Another potential product, though rarely (if ever) mentioned is Kia's Sorento. Reliability not so good, but on par with domestics. Midsize at compact price, strong AWD (I've seen a couple of those on the Aspen along w/ the X-terra) it's brother Hyundai doesn't have. Add generous warranty + horrific resale and you get huge value. A 1yr old top-end Sorento should cost no more than $14k loaded. This should offset dismal 18mpg fuel economy a bit. I dont suggest it if you plan on reselling it, but otherwise its a great value. Goodluck. |
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managed to roll 'her' suv over twice within 2 houses of leaving her driveway and hitting a small pickup truck. good news is the side airbags deployed and she suffered no physical injury. none of the emergency personnel had ever seen anything like it. |
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the suv rolled twice within 2 houses???????...... never seen nor heard anything like it either.  I wonder if its her driving or the SUV. What make-model-year is it? |
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Replying to: m4d_cow (Dec 15, 2008 1:06 am) What make-model-year is it? "was" it....... |
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LOL that's right, my mistake  But wait, I thought it's supposed to be "was" if the suv is history or she no longer drives it. "is" if she still has it.....  Oh well, either way it's still my mistake as there's no way any car can be in one piece after 2 consecutive rollovers. How did I pass english 101????
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Replying to: m4d_cow (Dec 15, 2008 1:06 am) basically it looks like drove up the side of a pickup truck parked on the street. best guess is she hit the gas instead of the brake pedal.
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Replying to: explorerx4 (Dec 20, 2008 3:36 pm) How was she let out on the highway with such poor driving skills?
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Replying to: oldfarmer50 (Dec 21, 2008 4:48 am) my explorer has had 3 accident repairs. 2 were the fault of an adult driver in another vehicle. |
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A reporter wants to interview anyone who recently bought a teenager's first car, or is planning to do so. If you have a story to share, please reply to jfallon edmunds.com no later than Monday, February 9, 2009 and include your daytime contact info and the makes/models involved.
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I'm looking for a new car, I would like to buy one within the next year. I'm 20, still in college and I don't want an expensive car. I love my current car but it's old and the previous owner didn't take great care of it. It's a 1997 Plymouth Breeze and I love that it gets great gas mileage so that is a issue for me also. I do prefer Chrysler cars my family loves them and almost all of them own one. Plus my grand pa is a mechanic but has strictly been working on Chrysler cars for 40 years, so I would like to have one because he prefers to work on them. Although I don't have to have Chrysler. I've also been interested in a Subaru Impreza, but any car would do. Here's what I would like it to have: -Good gas mileage -Sporty look, I like spoilers but not a necessity -Would like AWD but I'm fine with front -Reliable -I would prefer a car that if I needed to sell the price wouldn't drop drastically -Would like it to be used -$20k or less I had been looking at the 2009 Dodge Avenger, but after reading reviews it seems like it has a lot of issues. Although I love its sporty look and the spoiler on the R/T, but I don't know what to get. I would like every ones opinion, any car will do as long as it closely fits what I want. Thank You! |
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