appear

This might be helpful - Jeremy Clarkson on his daughters first car!
http://www.topgear.com/uk/jeremy-cla...sta-2012-01-06

996scott

Get her a used Honda Civic. You can get 2 or 4 door, stick or auto. Very reliably, great gas milage, safe, etc...I have had 2 preludes and 1 civic and loved them all.

4X4SCHE

To the original poster: You suggested vehicles that are the worst possible choices. Please question your motivation for this Is this for her, or is this an extra car you would like to have?

Ford Focus.... Toyota Tercel...

skl

Have had a version of each of those over the years and my "kids" drove them all, and they were all sticks. You don't need quattro in FL- they are all good cars, but a decent A4 or BMW 3 for under10?
I'd go with the Mini. Easy to park, not real fast, not a lot of room to take other kids in car, where most trouble starts...

Falcondrivr

Please keep the comments and discussion going. I welcome all opinions.

For those questioning the 10K figure, there are 10 + of each car on cars.com within 50 miles of my house for that, so I'm pretty sure that at least one would have to be decent...

As far as the other cars listed, here's where my head goes; a good Civic, Jetta (non-tdi) or Corolla is close to 10K also. So why not get something that doesn't feel like a tin can? The Mini has 4 or 5 star safety ratings in all catagories...I guess my question is really this: Everyone told me how expensive my Porsche was going to be. However, I have found it to be the most reliable car I've owned. The hype was way more than the reality. Can I find a 10K car above where I'll have a similar experience?
FWIW, my daughter wants an old P38 Range Rover...I can easily get one of those for 7K. Tampa is the only city where this would make sense by the way, as we have the equivalent of LA Porsche Dismantlers here for parts .10 on the dollar...

@ Brian; Don't think I didn't think of getting her a $3500 NA 944...

UserA

Big and Slow. The smartest 16 yo is still an idiot.

TheBen

P38 Range Rover????

That's the most unreliable vehicle anybody's mentioned. Range Rover has gotten massively better since then but that one is going to leak like nobody's business! You can easily get one for 7K and that's because they're crap. Enjoy the suspension faults if you do or be prepared to replace the air suspension with conventional springs.

Makmov

Porsche are reliable, consistantly in the top 3 of its class.

I never said you couldn't find one of those cars in that price range, you can, but buy it like you would a Porsche: service records, PPI if you have too, and don't shocked when there is a $2000.00 repair bill two months of owning it. and then another in three months and another


As far as the other cars listed, here's where my head goes; a good Civic, Jetta (non-tdi) or Corolla is close to 10K also. So why not get something that doesn't feel like a tin can? The Mini has 4 or 5 star safety ratings in all catagories...I guess my question is really this: Everyone told me how expensive my Porsche was going to be. However, I have found it to be the most reliable car I've owned. The hype was way more than the reality. Can I find a 10K car above where I'll have a similar experience?

Here is the failed logic in that.

Now you are talking about 8 or 9 year old cars.

The annual maint and repair bill on a Civic, Corolla is about $1000-1500,

And they do get all the money for good well kept up Hondas and Toyotas. Although, Toyota has gone clearly out of their way to make simply the most boring car on the planet, and Honda is not that far behind.

On a Audi, BMW, Mini its more like $5000.

I guess that is if you actually take care of it... the way you are supposed to.

944 wouldn't be bad only if you could find a nice one, and there are no nice $3500 944s out there.

I have someone that I have been looking for a long time and everyone I found needed 10K or more worth a work.

I have to agree with the Range Rover, they are pretty crappy and they did really stupid stuff like you cannot service any part of the diff. You just replace the whole thing when something like a bearing goes out. A radiator hose, Dealer Only item $200.

The nice thing about Porsches, 911s in particular they were largely taken care of fanatically, and that there my friend is the whole key to success. A used car is always a gamble. Sometimes you win, sometimes you loose: it's how you play the game.

autobonrun

I wrestled with this in December in getting a car for my 17 year old son. It's my own personal hangup I know, but I had a problem giving my son a BMW, Audi, or Porsche as a first car even though I found some with prices compatible with Honda's and Toyota's.

I had to work my way up to these cars so I decided I'd let him buy his first BMW or Porsche with his own money. I did want a German car so I bought him 2005 VW GLI. It has excellent saftey ratings, is sporty and seems straight forward to work on. He contributed about a quarter of the purchase price from money he earned working last summer.

Good luck in your search. I know what you're going through.

P-daddy

I'm all for German cars but when it comes to cheap reliable and easy to fix cars for a teenagers, you simply cannot go wrong with a Honda, Toyota, or Subie. New teen drivers could careless about handling IMHO. My first car was a Ford Granada Wagon but it was free

fixedgame

Yes, this is a no brainer.

993/907

Consider how much faster she will be going when she wrecks a car that handles well.

skl

Actually a Jetta would be a good choice too- have a GLI now, a great little car. You wouldn't need a GLI for a kid, the 5 cylinder or TDI would be fine. Maybe not a TDI because they might put the wrong fuel in it!

justin-in-athens

volvo 240

blake

I think the Audi or BMW are fine choices.... My only issue with the Mini is that the back seat IS the crumple zone... I would be quite concerned about a rear-end collision with any of her friends back there...

My $0.02,
-B