@BunsenBurner I’ll ask, but the car looks to be in excellent shape and is garage kept. We do live in New England, so cars see a bunch of road salt and bad weather. Any exhaust system can get rusty in 12 years up here.
Just for consideration, the GS is A LOT of car for a 16 yo. Very fast…over 300 hp and sub 6 second 0-60. Also requires premium fuel and gets considerably fewer mpg than the other options.
Is this still the car for your son? If so, you should buy something now because the price keeps going up as the thread continues.
I know that last post was a joke about the price going up as the thread continued but… s/he’s not wrong. There is a definite seasonality to used car pricing and it’s directly tied to tax refunds. In the next few weeks as people start getting their refunds, the price of used cars will go up. Sometimes by thousands of dollars depending on the model of the car.
I think I’d go with car A.
@pishicaca I don’t disagree, but there’s a lot more car wrapped around him with a GS 350 than the is250. In the end 75mph+ is still 75mph+. I’d prefer the car he potentially crashes be more robust.
My vote is to keep looking for a used Camry, Accord, or ES 350. Safe and just unsexy enough to prevent racing. 
The insurance rates on a Subaru WRX indicate to me the insurance companies don’t view 75 mph as 75 mph.
Ultimately it seems to me you really want to get your son a luxury car. Which is fine. But at this point, it reminds me of Dave Ramsey. You are calling in to ask if its ok to get the luxury car. Dave (at least a lot of Dave’s here) are saying no. But you want to do it anyway. So why bother asking if you knew the answer and wanted to do the opposite? Good luck to you and your son.
I included a Camry.
Are you choosing the Camry?
Where I live a used Camry and a used Accord are essentially the same price as a used Lexus. Would you prefer an $8,000 Camry or an $8,000 Lexus, all things being equal?
If I were buying a brand new car a Lexus wouldn’t even be an option. If owners wouldn’t price a Camry like a Lexus I would buy a Camry.
I’d check insurance rates on all the cars you are considering. That can help you see some of the hidden costs.
He is 16. We cannot predict how good a driver he is going to be. And we cannot predict what other drivers he is going to encounter in the next few years.
If it was me, the goal would be an affordable car that is pretty safe and reliable.
Posted before but sons drive a Jeep Wrangler and Honda Accord. Both 4 cylinders. The Wrangler struggles to get to 65MPH. The Accord will go but not a speed machine.
One thing to consider about luxury cars and teenagers is image. My nephew got a nice BMW for his 16th birthday. Don’t ask. It’s sometimes awkward with other school kids and I’ve also thought it could make him a target for other kids or police. Just sayin.
I’ve driven a WRX. Very fun but no way would that be a consideration for a teenager. I’d look up the insurance rates before you buy anything. Sometimes it’s surprising what insurance thinks costs more vs what you think is important.
Having been a teenager years ago there’s no way I’d get my kid anything over 300HP, even 200HP is pushing it depending on size. Lost too many friends. JMHO. YMMV.
The safest car is one your kid knows how to drive…safely. You can buy an armored tank, but if your driver isn’t a very careful driver, he can injure himself and others.
Some of our driving schools offer a defensive driving course. Maybe consider that too?
The Lexus IS and GS are not an apples to apples comparison with the Toyota Camry. The Lexus ES is roughly similar to the Camry.
You may want to price insurance for each car before deciding.
Where I come from, you get a job and buy your own car. I paid about $4500 for my first car when I was 16. My sister paid about $6000 for hers, and my other sister paid about $7000 for hers, I think. It’s interesting because my boyfriend just bought his first car (his others were hand me downs from his family over the years) a few months ago. Funny how different families are.
Agree with checking the insurance costs.
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@saillakeerie So true, but a donation to the cause by my parents have shifted the budget slightly.
I bought my dad’s 79 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme when I was a senior in high school. Things have definitely changed. I had a job back then because I had the time to work. My son trains 4-5 nights per week and has 1 game on the weekend that could be up to 300+ miles away. He’s getting certified to ref next month so he’ll squeeze in 2-3 games on a weekend when he can and make $100-$150 to pay for gas.
When I was growing up (I’m 51 now) getting a car was a huge deal. These days so many kids don’t care at all about that. My guess is because they’re so connected to friends and everything electronically.
I had to make my son get a driver’s license. He would never have bothered to save up and buy for a car…and frankly, he really couldn’t have anyhow because where we live it’s very hard to have a job without a car. He would have depended on me driving him to and from work and I was fed up with being his personal chauffeur as it was. I had a much younger child at home and my son was in a lot of activities, one round trip to town was 40 minutes and I was sometime going 2-3 times a day! So, I bought him a car and told him he needed to get himself to all that stuff now. I even spring for a tank of gas a month even though he has a job now. Worth. Every. Penny.
Seems like parents providing 16 year old kid with a car is often for the parents’ convenience.
Bingo!!!
Once our son can drive himself I will automatically regain 14 hours per week back at a minimum, all between the hours of 6:00pm-10:00pm.