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Car for me?(Turning 16 soon)

I would say do not get a 15K+ value car as a your first car. You are 2 new of a driver and chances are really good you WILL get in a wreck. Hell between my sister my brother and me all 3 of us where involved in a wreck that was our fault between 16 and 18. My sister was 8 months after she turn 16 my brother was about the same and I was 17.5 when I got in my wreck. Noticed a pattern there. We where all very inexperienced.

You WILL be an VERY VERY crappy driver for at least the first year and maybe a few years after that. Do not forget that when you get your DL you will be one of the WORSE drivers on the road and it does not matter how you cut it. You just do not have the experience to be up to par with the average driver. Their are a lot of just built in habits and automatic action in driving you just will not be doing and it just takes time

That being said the biggest cars to avoid are any car that has a beefed up engine and is more of the "sports" car of that model because it is just to much power for a new driver. Examples. Civic Si, Sentra SE-R or SE-R Spec V, any of the madza Speeds, any car with a turbo charger ect. A V-8 Truck or SUV and so on. You just do not have the skill yet to handle that amount of power. Also add the Scoin TC to that list. It to powerful for a 16 year old now for part of it target of college age it is a great car just you need a few years on the road under you belt before you try driving one of these cars as your daily driver.
 
the boy neeeds a ride...he must grow up...and he cant grow up in a corolla the best car for 20 G is a honda probably or a dodge....im 18 and ive never been in one single accident.....he will be okay probably and it just depends where you live....for example if you live in an area where it snows in the winter then you better drive well..but if not ..not a big deal... i pass people on I-75 everyday and cars go flying by me and im doing 80 and they are usually middle aged people.... women doing there make up....or just some jack @$$ that thinks he can go 100 mph..... and then somehow just because he is 16 he isnt gonna be a good driver..maybe he already IS a decent driver..maybe hes careful..maybe not... but bu ya motorcycle it way more fun:p i have been riding for a year now and ill never go back..you get 70 mpg its fast and you get a more rich experience..but maybe his mommy and daddy wont let him.. i hope they do and for 20 G you can get one hell of a motorcycle
 
Personally, for a first car for a 16 year old -- I'd look at a decent used car that can take some abuse and also has a decent reliability rating.

Lots of nice 2-3 year old vehicles that have depreciated like a rock, and have decent insurance ratings also -- ooops, sorry those are all Buicks. And a teenager is a geriatric car would be like sending them to the vet to be castrated. :p
 
MACDRIVE said:
16 years old and a budget of $20,000 for a new car. Life must be fricking sweet.
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Seriously. Being loaded must be nice.


To echo others, anything around $20k is a ridiculous amount to spend for a new car for a 16 year old or so as their first one. There's plenty of other far more useful things that amount of money can do for your age but hey, its not mine and I'm not the one spending it.

You're 16 and just in the first stages of learning to drive. You're doing to get it dinged up one way or the other. Aim for something with cheap insurance for that reason (among others). Tricking it out is the absolute last thing you should be thinking of doing with your car at this time. Yeah its great to show off to your friends but you're 16. The most you're going to be driving it is to and from school.

For a first car the priorities should be as follows:

Fuel effeciency
Cost of insurance
Cost of car itself
Reliability
Cost and frequency of maintenance
Safety

Something you can joyride and pimp out or whatever shouldn't be a deciding factor in your eventual purchase.
 
I'll support your Element idea, they are fantastic vehicles and safe too! I have a 2003 CRV which is basically an Element with a different body and I havne't had a single problem with mine. I would strongly urge you not to buy a domestic vehicle due to the fact all of my friends with domestic cars are constantly dealing with stupid small (and major) problems....

EDIT: If you want to see my CRV go to this thread
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/114245/

macmama said:
Find yourself a used VW GTI from the mid 90s. They're fast, great-driving, good-looking, and will be a lot easier to finance than a $20K car.
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But you will have to finance the repair bills for it. Trust me do NOT buy a VW. I'll never buy another myself... Three people where I work have had their VWs LEMONED!!!! :eek:
 
G5Unit said:
I will be turning 16 soon(later this year) and I don't know what the best "lifestyle" car is under $20,000. I have been looking at the honda element and it seems to have everything I need, I was just looking for some user end reports. Like wether I would get the LX, EX, or SC. I was also planning on buying a car so I can trick it out and add upgrade without penalty.

So suggestions?
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Ford crown victoria

Big engine
can fit a ton of people
gets pretty good gas milage for me (25/27 for me)
low maintiance
and be modded to hell
can carry a ton of people
cheap
and safe

Insurance is cheap too
 
$299 buys you this 1986 work of Automobile history Link

Low miles, under 100k, 30-40MPG!

Lots of money to spare for modifications!

(I was rather impressed that it only took 3 posts for the magical default "buy a civic" to appear in this thread)

Ed
 
With $20,000 as your budget, I'd grab yourself a classic for around $5-$10,000 and spend the rest fixing it up the way you'd like. You could grab an early 68-82 Corvette, toss some side pipes on it, and have yourself a kick ass little ride. I'd spend around 8 grand on an old corvette(c3 style) and drop in a crate stroker, but that's just me :) Insurance wouldn't be horrible. My old turbo Eclipse was actually rated higher, so no biggy there. It would be a good investment as long as you don't wreck it ;)

Honda Element at 16? I wouldn't, but I'm more into looks and fun factor...as I was back when I was 16...:p
 
Airforce said:
With $20,000 as your budget, I'd grab yourself a classic for around $5-$10,000 and spend the rest fixing it up the way you'd like. You could grab an early 68-82 Corvette, toss some side pipes on it, and have yourself a kick ass little ride. I'd spend around 8 grand on an old corvette(c3 style) and drop in a crate stroker, but that's just me :) Insurance wouldn't be horrible. My old turbo Eclipse was actually rated higher, so no biggy there. It would be a good investment as long as you don't wreck it ;)

Honda Element at 16? I wouldn't, but I'm more into looks and fun factor...as I was back when I was 16...:p
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As far as some used up older might people think... it might be a better investment if he does wreck it.

"Get a nice fast sports car for the dumb kid, and have them sign the organ donor card. I need me some fresh, barely used, replacement parts"

;)

Edit: A sports car for a 16 year old is an investment is life for others ...
 
techshellmacbook said:
Ford crown victoria

Big engine
can fit a ton of people
gets pretty good gas milage for me (25/27 for me)
low maintiance
and be modded to hell
can carry a ton of people
cheap
and safe

Insurance is cheap too
Click to expand...
The Grand Marquis and Buicks tend to run a bit less on insurance, though the Buicks tend to run slightly more on maintenance.

The Grand Marquis might be the better choice, depending on the area you live they may be a little less than the Crown Vic.

But it the Ford/Mercury is generally the best car for the money used, considering how few miles they come with at 2-3 years and how many miles you can get out of them.

A Japanese car would be 75-100k for the same dollars as a used Grand Marq/Crown Vic with 25-36k miles.

The parts are dirt cheap, blow up an engine or tranny from youthful stupidity and the supply of $1-1.5k engines and trannies are everywhere.
 
vniow said:
Seriously. Being loaded must be nice.
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*Cough*. To give some of you younger kids some perspective, my first car was my Dad's 4-year old Civic...which I had the "privelege" of buying from him at a good price as my College graduation present. And FYI, my Parents only paid 50% of my college expenses...I worked and took out loans to cover my half.


To echo others, anything around $20k is a ridiculous amount to spend for a new car for a 16 year old or so as their first one. There's plenty of other far more useful things that amount of money can do for your age but hey, its not mine and I'm not the one spending it.
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Assuming it is their money and not the parents. Even so, I have to agree with what follows next:


You're 16 and just in the first stages of learning to drive. You're doing to get it dinged up one way or the other. Aim for something with cheap insurance for that reason (among others). Tricking it out is the absolute last thing you should be thinking of doing with your car at this time. Yeah its great to show off to your friends but you're 16. The most you're going to be driving it is to and from school.
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The statistic that I had heard when turning of driving age was that the odds of a teen having an accident in their first year of driving was 180%. Yes, this effectively means that "Everyone has one and many have two". As such, I'd make my priority list rank safety a bit higher than others might:

As such, my first car priority list is:

Safety (features, not based on its size)
Cost of the Car
Reliability
Cost of Insurance
Fuel Efficiency
Ability to not attract police & speeding tickets
Practicality aspects
Cost/frequency of maintenance
"Go Fast" ability
Ability to Pimp
Difficulty to add Performance Mods

- -

Basically, what I'm saying in the above is that you don't want to make too large of an investment, because the odds are too high that you're going to ding something up (or worse), which means that you want something that has safety features -- which DOESN'T mean "big", since at your skill level, you're more likely to ram a tree or overpass, where mass actually works against you (especially SUV's and trucks, since they're often not required to be built to passenger car safety standards) -- and something that you'll be able to recover from the financial hit on your wallet in terms of both acquiring repairs or a new ride, plus the jump in insurance that will occur.

What this also means is that you want to avoid a "hot" ride that's going to tempt you to go drive stupidly. This means no red sports car. And to avoid speeding tickets, avoid black too...all of the cliches. Besides, this class of "fun" vehicles (Mustangs, Camaros, Integras, 300ZXs etc) generally aren't all that practical - - they're hard to put a dozen boxes in it to move into the dorms at college or whatever, which is something that you'll eventually need to do.


Something you can joyride and pimp out or whatever shouldn't be a deciding factor in your eventual purchase.
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Exactly. Overall, what you need at this point is basic transportation, which while that usually means "boring" to most people, as novice driver, that's the best thing for you at this point, since the biggest favor you can do for yourself is to get ahead of the power curve when it comes to the lifetime expense of affording personal transportation.

Overall, you can do yourself a big favor if you resist the temptation to make your basic transportation needs get confused with self-gratification and/or as a form of entertainment. If you're smart, you'll recognize that these aren't necessities of life, which means that their proper time & place is IMO only after you're well enough off to own a second car.

...and then you'll have the financial freedom to choose what you want for your totally impractical "Toy" car:

carrera-hh2.jpg

(the rewards of keeping the same old boring daily driver for 11 years)

FWIW, if you want to go to the next level of vehicle selection attributes, I'd look for something that is what I'd refer to as "engine limited" instead of "chasis limited" - - a car whose basic handling is superior to the horsepower of the motor ... the basic philosophy is that you want something that can get you OUT of any trouble that the motor could get you into, rather than to have a motor that gets you into trouble and then a suspension that can't save your bacon. These days, that means that for any vehicle which offers a choice of engines, buy the *smallest* one. A 0-60mph time of 10-12 seconds is slow by today's standards, but its still plenty fast for a novice's first car.

BTW, my 911 (above) is not the turbo model, so it is an example of being "engine limited".

-hh
 
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