Needing first car suggestions

Status
Not open for further replies.
Originally Posted By: Steve S
Originally Posted By: stumpypete
I'd be concerned about a 17 y.o. in a car with no airbags or modern crumple zones.
Makes you wonder why there are older people!


Seriously.

After proving my skills, I got a new truck when I was 17. Paid for half of it myself and had a stake in the game.

Havent wrecked it yet. Never seen a body shop.

If the kid is too immature, they should really get a set of Nikes, not an automobile.
 
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
That has bad idea written all over it for a 17 year old.

The best car for a kid is something new enough to have crumple zones, airbags, ABS, traction control, etc.

Kids are bad drivers, have no experience and do stupid things. All those electronic aids help to keep them on the road when there ability falls short.

I won't argue about the statistics for young drivers, especially males. When our first son got his license, we sent him to a 2 day advanced driving school at Skip Barber. Although there was more than a little "squealing tires are happy tires" from the instructors, nearly 10 years later, he still has a perfect record, having damaged zero cars in the process. Maybe we just got lucky.
 
Originally Posted By: renegade_987
SO, I'm helping a family member (17) look for his first car. He is not into newer stuff. He is actually looking at a fully restored 1978 Nova with only 29K. What do you guys think, or do you have any other suggestions? TIA


My suggestion for the lad is to rope his parents into buying a new car, while taking over the old family car. I understand that's a common method nowadays. With a little luck he may even be able to repeat that stunt after a couple years.
 
The commercial with the dad and the five year old daughter that turns into a teen in a Subaru comes to mind....
 
Originally Posted By: Bad_Robot
Originally Posted By: renegade_987
SO, I'm helping a family member (17) look for his first car. He is not into newer stuff. He is actually looking at a fully restored 1978 Nova with only 29K. What do you guys think, or do you have any other suggestions? TIA


My suggestion for the lad is to rope his parents into buying a new car, while taking over the old family car. I understand that's a common method nowadays. With a little luck he may even be able to repeat that stunt after a couple years.


He would love to, he would be taking over a Supercharged Grand Prix, but his parents hate to spend money on cars so that is out of the question.

Originally Posted By: MrCritical
The commercial with the dad and the five year old daughter that turns into a teen in a Subaru comes to mind....


No imports, he is very picky, lol
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: mcrn
used police interceptor ....crown vic


This.


He likes that idea, along with the Town Car. One more, he is also looking at this one: K20 I think it's cool, but not sure about the size of it
smile.gif
 
The best reliable transportation I ever owned were mid 90's Buicks and Pontiacs with the 3800 motor. I had a 92 Riviera that made it almost 300k miles before it died. Didnt rust out either. That thing knocked down 30mpg as well.

BTW.....my first car was a 1966 Ford Galaxie with a 390 in it. My second was a 70 Eldorado, and my third was my 70 Nova SS. Just because a kid is young dont make him a bad driver. His parents need to just take him out driving a bunch like my parents did. I have yet to have one accident.
 
Something that he doesn't have to spend too much time on. At 17 his priority should be school, girls, sports, road trips, internship, part time job, etc rather than getting stuck with a car he has to worry about buying parts and junk yard visit, and fuel cost. Unless he is going to major in mechanical engineering in college and will be doing some crazy modification to any car anyways.

I'd say something mid 2000s for domestic or mid 90s japanese.
 
Well a 305 is kind of a hard motor to kill, and should something break, the parts should be cheap as heck. I mean small block chevys, and I am guessing a TH350 transmision in that Nova should be easy to keep going.
 
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
The best reliable transportation I ever owned were mid 90's Buicks and Pontiacs with the 3800 motor. I had a 92 Riviera that made it almost 300k miles before it died. Didnt rust out either. That thing knocked down 30mpg as well....


This.
 
Originally Posted By: Steve S
Originally Posted By: stumpypete
I'd be concerned about a 17 y.o. in a car with no airbags or modern crumple zones.
Makes you wonder why there are older people!


Those older people can probably all name friends who died in car accidents that would have been survivable in today's cars.
 
Totally agree that a 17 year old needs little horsepower, and many safety features.

When I was 17 I tried to test the top speed and burnout ability of any car I could get my hands on.
 
i know when i was 18 years old, i was looking at a 5.0 Foxbody. the price for minimum coverage was going to cost me $2100 a year. I have never had a wreck or a ticket. I'd hate to think what a nova would cost on insurance for a 17 yr old.
 
Yeah the reality is insurance companies put the breaks on the kids more than anything.

JR wants a Mustang or Corvette, Allstate wants them on a bike or if they must drive in a Buick.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

brages
How good is the 2014-up Mazda3?
2
Replies
28
Views
3K
Urshurak776
A
New Car
2
Replies
38
Views
1K
Number_35
earlyre
vehicle suggestions for nephew's wife?
2 3 4
Replies
61
Views
2K
earlyre
rstcso
Small SUV needed; advice?
5 6 7
Replies
124
Views
3K
HemiBenny
F
Tell me why not to buy a 2025 Nissan Altima
2 3 4
Replies
64
Views
4K
GSCJR
Back
Top Bottom