<p>I’m of the “give the kid the old family car and buy a new car for the adult” school of thought.</p>
<p>My S is currently driving a 2000 Buick LeSabre with 80,000 miles that we got from his grandfather a few years ago. D will likely get the family minivan (2003 Toyota Sienna). Driving a minivan doesn’t thrill her, but it beats the alternative.</p>
<p>Since teens are much more likely to have accidents, I’d much rather they be in relatively large, heavy cars like the LeSabre or a minivan. Older cars are cheaper to insure, and if, heaven forbid, they wreck it, well, it was an old car anyway.</p>
<p>Our third car that my kids use is a Honda CRV. It was bought new in 2007 and it was the first Honda we have ever owned. I did extensive research at the time driving every model that I thought fit the bill. It has been a solid car with very little maintenance. An oil change now and then but nothing major. It is certainly nothing snazzy but roomy enough to be comfortable. I had no concerns getting my kids an SUV, in fact, I looked pretty much exclusively at SUV’s. I live in the Northeast and my son went to school out of town so he had to drive the highway back and forth to get there. I wanted something that handled the road well and was good in snow and ice and the CRV has been great. Now my daughter will be driving it. The CRV is a perfect size SUV, not so large that you feel you are driving a tank but big enough to feel you won’t get blown off the highway should a truck pass you by. It is pretty decent on gas also. Good solid car.<br>
FYI, I love Acura’s (that is what I drive) and would have loved to have bought one for my kids if the price tag wasn’t so high. If you could find a good price on a used one I would highly recommend one. I have owned lots of cars through the years and this has been, by far, the best make I have ever owned.</p>
<p>We got a 10 year old Audi for our son. It’s a big, solid car and has served him well. I just hope it lasts another few years until he can afford his own wheels. I know somebody indicated their distaste about preferring bigger cars for kids…Just want him to be safe. Smaller cars don’t fare as well in collisions…</p>
<p>We bought our oldest son a 2000 Volvo V70 Wagon with 98K miles on it to get him to and from school, 32 miles from home. It’s a TANK from a safety persepctive, and handles well in the snow. It also flies under the radar - posing as a family car - perfect for NOT drawing attention of troopers who may be looking for trouble on the highway. I think it afforded him one of the best insurance rates we could find, as well. He plays sports 3 seasons, so he always has room for his gear/equipment, a change of clothes, books … even a sleeping bag. It’s been perfect for him.</p>
<p>I would not recommend a minivan for a teenager. They have huge blind spots, big enough to hide a full sized SUV. This is a significant problem when changing lanes on a freeway, if a kid is not diligent about checking. The minivans are just not particularly agile or responsive, and I think they need an experienced driver.</p>
<p>In the strange noises department: I took my son’s car for grocery shopping and when I returned I left 36 cans of soda in the trunk for my husband to unload. It was the middle of a very cold January in Chicago. My husband forgot to unload the soda, and when I discovered the cans two weeks later, they had frozen solid, which made the soda expand and blow off all the tops!</p>
<p>I asked my 16 year old son if he had heard anything unusual, and he said he kept hearing this exploding noise from the trunk, but the car was driving fine, so he ignored it!</p>
<p>Iglooo–One of our kids drives a used 2006 Ford Fusion (4 door). It’s a fabulous car–mechanically very well made, looks good, safe, and good on gas. A used Fusion will cost well under $20,000. Whenever it gets dropped off to the garage for a thorough check-up, the mechanic always comments on the excellent mechanics of this model.</p>
<p>We are also looking for a car for the use of one of my kids. I would warn anyone who thinks that NHSTA or IIHS crash ratings are the final word,that while each is valuable info to have, they are each only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to safety. NHSTA (The government) tests do not include measures of head injury on the side crash tests. IIHS does not include rollover testing, although it does now give a score for roof integrity, which is linked to the surviveablity of a rollover. Neither test factors in the impact of weight or statistical likelihood of one type of crash versus another. IMO you have to combine everything to get the real picture, which is not so easy or convenient. This site is very helpful in that regard:</p>
<p>While it may not be a one size fits all ranking (kind of like US News college rankings in that sense), and while I do question the rank of a couple of the cars on the list, it is a great place to find all the information in one place and compare one model to another, across model years. The main thing this site does differently is to factor in the vehicle weight with the likelihood of various type of fatal accidents and combine those things with the crash test results and the presence of side curtain airbags, electronic stability control etc. </p>
<p>Another good article on cars for teen drivers:</p>
<p>Around the time my son started driving (several years ago), I had read in an AAA magazine that when considering safety, in addition to the usual things (air bags, ratings, rollover issues, blind spots), also consider (1) maneuverability/accident avoidance; (2) acceleration, for merging onto highways; and (3) stopping distance. This led us to trade our 4 Runner for an Accord and that is what my son primarily drove for his first few years of driving. We were very happy with the choice.</p>
<p>Were I to buy a new car now, I probably wouldn’t get one without stability control (which goes by different names in different brands). And this would exclude some base models. I think Honda is stingy and doesn’t include it in base cars, at least not in the Civic, but I think Toyota includes it in base Corollas. Not sure of other brands.</p>
<p>nysmile, my kid would love a Ford Fusion. I read all the links roshke posted. No small cars. odyssey, Edmond article recommends an Accord. Maybe i should give up my 4 year old mid size, 70K miles, that’s loaded with safety features, side, curtain airbags, ABS, stability control, excellent breaking distance, AWD. Already baptised by my kid with dings and scratches. What do you recommend to an old lady soon to be poor after paying a private college tuition?</p>
<p>^^ Whatever you want (that you can afford)! If the financial hit is too big then consider not getting him a car at all and he can get one himself when he really needs one and/or earns enough money to buy one. Or you can compromise and you can pay for part of one and he can contribute via an on-campus or off-campus part time job. since the Accord would be a fine car for him to inherit maybe you can upgrade for yourself by buying a 2-3 year old higher level, lower mileage car (or new if that’s what you want and it’s not a big deal for you financially) for yourself.</p>
<p>We just bought D a 2009 Ford Fusion with a 4 cyl engine a few weeks ago. It seems to be getting almost 38 mpg and the trunk is huge. 5 star safety rating, no blind spots and a mazda 5 sp automatic transmission. We almost want to keep it for ourselves…</p>
<p>My 2 started with my old Passat, then when that was going to be a big darn deal to repair, we sold it and bought a 2006 Kia Optima used in 2008 from one of the rental car companies. It doesn’t have the bells and whistles the Passat had, but it’s relatively sturdy and gets decent mileage.
It has been in one accident (D was hit in a roundabout by an elderly woman in a Buick). We thought it would be totalled, but insurance repaired it and it has been fine ever since.</p>
<p>I agree with Feb158–the trunk is huge! Son fits everything in there (back seats fold down for even more room) when he packs up for college. It holds all of his college stuff plus a 76-key electric keyboard. It’s great that he can fit everything in there and drive himself back to college in the fall. At the end of the academic year, he packs it up and drives himself home.</p>
<p>His 2006 Used Fusion was purchased almost 2 years ago for about $11,000 (only had 22,000 miles on it). It’s a V6 engine and gets very good gas mileage without sacrificing power.</p>
<p>I don’t know how much more you’ve decided (only read the first page of this one) so apologies if this is unnecessary. I drove an 04 Toyota Corolla until I got broadsided by a Suburban (I was totally fine! It kept me really safe! Great car) and replaced it with an 01 Honda Accord (another great car, and except for needing a new transmission (!!!) at around 95k mi, it was great). I recently totaled my Accord (bad driving conditions, spun out on a highway, high speed head on collision with the concrete median) and walked away from it–another very safe, very reliable bet in my opinion.</p>
<p>My new car is an 08 Mazda3 and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. It got great ratings, has tons of airbags, and is a blast to drive–it’s got some zip to it, that’s for sure. It also just recently was awarded something for having the highest projected resale value three years down the road. My best friend’s dad has been a car dealer (Ford Lincoln Mercury Mazda) so his kids (my friends) typically drive whatever he thinks is the best and safest cars that are still “hip” enough to fit with college kids. His son drives an 09 Ford Fusion and his daughter drives an 09 Mazda3–son usually sticks with Ford (on his second Fusion–the other one sold) or Mercury (Milan), daughter usually sticks with Mazda (3 or Tribute).</p>
<p>My daughter has a VW Jetta with all of the air bags, electronic safety control and other safety stuff I can’t remember. It is heavy and because of its size we use it for the family a lot.</p>
<p>Do you KNOW a dealer? We have friends that own a small car lot. We told them what our S wanted and about what we were willing to pay and they ran across it at their monthly car auction. (Where dealers buy/trade/sell their trade in stuff). We got a great deal under blue book price. </p>
<p>Sometimes, if you talk to one of the salesmen, they’ll look at auction for you.</p>