Need quality used car for my Son.
06-13-2018, 11:45 PM
#17
Drifting
About 10 years ago I bought my oldest daughter a BMW 325Xi. Fast forward to today. It is now been through three children and my youngest is driving it. It’s still runs great, is super reliable, and it cost me a minimum out of money to maintain. In the entire time I have owned it I have only had to do front brakes twice, two sets of tires, rear struts and the water pump. Yes that’s right I am running the original rear brakes. Last year I bought new front brakes and the mechanic told me the rear brakes were still fine and not to replace them yet. Every time I go for a drive in it, I can’t believe how great the thing rides and handles. By the way it now has 125,000 miles on it. And of course I had to do oil changes. It even still looks pretty good except for the dings and scratches and bumper damage that my kids have done over the years. I recently considered upgrading to a newer SUV for her but I know she’s not really going to take care of it. For now I’m just going to stay with what I have for her. My hope is that last until she graduates college in about three years.
06-15-2018, 07:07 PM
#18
Rennlist Member
I got my son a 2006 (I think) Lexus ES330 with 90K miles for $7K. He has had it 1.5 years now. Spent about 2K on maintenance - its safe, reliable and not crazy fast. He did manage to get nailed doing 70 in a 35. The judge was generous to him, but I took the car away for a while...
So far the car has no dings or dents or worse and when he graduates and still needs a car for college I will upgrade him a bit to a 10-12K car.
So far the car has no dings or dents or worse and when he graduates and still needs a car for college I will upgrade him a bit to a 10-12K car.
06-15-2018, 07:18 PM
#19
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
I got my son a 2006 (I think) Lexus ES330 with 90K miles for $7K. He has had it 1.5 years now. Spent about 2K on maintenance - its safe, reliable and not crazy fast. He did manage to get nailed doing 70 in a 35. The judge was generous to him, but I took the car away for a while...
So far the car has no dings or dents or worse and when he graduates and still needs a car for college I will upgrade him a bit to a 10-12K car.
So far the car has no dings or dents or worse and when he graduates and still needs a car for college I will upgrade him a bit to a 10-12K car.
I'll keep everyone posted as to what car I get before the summer is over. Thanks again to everyone for all the suggestions.
Jay
06-15-2018, 07:51 PM
#20
Rennlist Member
I think Lexus/Toyota and Honda/Acura is a good way to go. I like reliable and safe for the kids. VW would have been the other mark and almost bought him a passat from a guy that seemed great, but day I went to pay and bring it home he couldn't get it started. LOL. I thought well thats a bad omen and continued my search. A lot of junk out there in the sub 10K market...
06-21-2018, 01:22 PM
#21
Rennlist Member
We leased a Honda Civic...total cost for 3 yrs was $7,700 including some protection for dents/chips/lost keys. Did this in March of 2017 and its worked out great. Any used car cheaper than that only looked like it was going to cost well more than that to maintain. Only complaint is from my son..."Dad, why couldn't you get me something with seat warmers"...kid you not.
06-22-2018, 04:15 PM
#24
Instructor
You folks must have remarkably mature and responsible sons . . . NO WAY would I head in the directions listed above (respectfully), my plan is a used Nissan Leaf. A Leaf can be bought for a song (WELL under the $20k ceiling), isn't fast, doesn't have a long range (50+ miles, but plenty for a high school-er), have NO requests for gas money and best of all . . . Oh, you forgot to plug it in? Well, I guess you will have to figure out how to get to xxx (ie decisions have consequences). Sure, I would have loved to have had a cool first car, but I worked my way up the food-chain and appreciated every step; not a criticism of others' paths, but this is the direction I plan on taking. If we want to walk on the wild side, how about an early 2000s Boxter? Also not remarkably fast, but a fun car nonetheless; this can also be bought for a song. JMO, hope this is helpful to some-- KH
06-22-2018, 05:22 PM
#25
Rennlist Member
Pretty hard to beat a used Jeep Rubicon for that purpose. It will hold its value, it's good all year round, cheap to run, maintain and insure and it's cool to boot...
06-23-2018, 09:00 PM
#26
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Thanks for all the help guys. Finally bought a car this afternoon that my son is excited for his first car. A 2014 Honda Accord LX, Silver, 80,000 miles with Dealer Warranty for $13, 000. Picking it up next week after they detail it.
One owner car with all the service records done at the same dealer of sale. Not bad. I test drove two other cars; one that was newer with less miles, a 2016, and the other a 2014 about the same miles with some added features, but it had a definite shimmy in the wheel alignment.
The 2016 was a lease car that wasn't cared for that well. And as for the car we purchased, the brakes are brand new, oil and filter changed recently, and the tires are at 50%. Pics next week. No just kidding. I'm sure it will service my son well in college.
Again I don't think I would have looked in the direction of a Honda Accord without some of the advice on this board. Many thanks to everyone.
Jay
One owner car with all the service records done at the same dealer of sale. Not bad. I test drove two other cars; one that was newer with less miles, a 2016, and the other a 2014 about the same miles with some added features, but it had a definite shimmy in the wheel alignment.
The 2016 was a lease car that wasn't cared for that well. And as for the car we purchased, the brakes are brand new, oil and filter changed recently, and the tires are at 50%. Pics next week. No just kidding. I'm sure it will service my son well in college.
Again I don't think I would have looked in the direction of a Honda Accord without some of the advice on this board. Many thanks to everyone.
Jay
06-24-2018, 10:34 AM
#27
Burning Brakes
Good choice I'd say...my two girls cut their driving teeth on the same car...we used to call it the "silver bullet"
....finally had to move it on...just a note they can have head gasket issues...good luckMay have had an older model year than yours...
07-02-2018, 01:28 AM
#28
Rennlist Member
Thanks for all the help guys. Finally bought a car this afternoon that my son is excited for his first car. A 2014 Honda Accord LX, Silver, 80,000 miles with Dealer Warranty for $13, 000. Picking it up next week after they detail it.
One owner car with all the service records done at the same dealer of sale. Not bad. I test drove two other cars; one that was newer with less miles, a 2016, and the other a 2014 about the same miles with some added features, but it had a definite shimmy in the wheel alignment.
The 2016 was a lease car that wasn't cared for that well. And as for the car we purchased, the brakes are brand new, oil and filter changed recently, and the tires are at 50%. Pics next week. No just kidding. I'm sure it will service my son well in college.
Again I don't think I would have looked in the direction of a Honda Accord without some of the advice on this board. Many thanks to everyone.
Jay
One owner car with all the service records done at the same dealer of sale. Not bad. I test drove two other cars; one that was newer with less miles, a 2016, and the other a 2014 about the same miles with some added features, but it had a definite shimmy in the wheel alignment.
The 2016 was a lease car that wasn't cared for that well. And as for the car we purchased, the brakes are brand new, oil and filter changed recently, and the tires are at 50%. Pics next week. No just kidding. I'm sure it will service my son well in college.
Again I don't think I would have looked in the direction of a Honda Accord without some of the advice on this board. Many thanks to everyone.
Jay
07-08-2018, 02:28 AM
#29
Toyota 4Runner. It'll last until you are grandpa and the grandson is driving it. My wife has an 2006 4Runner and it's a great car. 20k doesn't get you the best in the 4runner range as they hold their value extremely well. Her 2006 with 140k is worth about 5k less than my Cayenne S with 92k miles.. lol.. over 50k less than new.
you can check our stores
www.porschefresno.com
www.bmwfresno.com
not sure with shipping across the country I can get you to where you want, but at least you don't have to endure brain damage if you do see something you like. $2k from CA to CT on transport FYI.
Bests,
NB
you can check our stores
www.porschefresno.com
www.bmwfresno.com
not sure with shipping across the country I can get you to where you want, but at least you don't have to endure brain damage if you do see something you like. $2k from CA to CT on transport FYI.
Bests,
NB