And btw, @chmcmn , here’s the dream car, lol.
He’s got a pic of one on his dorm wall. Such a boy.
Back in the early 1980s, The Dukes of Hazzard TV show bought hundreds of those cars, sprayed them orange, and used most of them for stunts (many of which caused enough damage to make the cars unusable afterward).
[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Lee_(car)]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Lee_(car)[/url]
When son #1 inherited my 2003 Accord a few years ago he asked if he could at least get “cool wheels for it.” We bought them for his birthday. He ended up loving that car. He called it The Silver Bullet.
I’ve also been researching cars for one that can be shared between our kids as needed. Youngest daughter will be 16 soon and her older sibs will need something in the summers. I’m thinking a Mazda3 hatchback is a good fit for them. Seems they are good on mileage and look a bit sporty. If given my D’s choice it would be a Jeep or a convertible Bug; but it’s s no as they are not known to be reliable. And, Jeeps are awful on gas/environment. In the meanwhile they will share the 2003 Odyssey with its 320k miles!
The newest design is the one with poor rear outward visibility.
See the pages linked from reply #125: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/22541899/#Comment_22541899
@ucbalumnus we would definitely be looking at a much older one. Probably around 2012 where there’s lots of visibility, but yikes there’s barely any rear glass on that newer model.
UPDATE
I never went to look at the Audi, it’s out of the running.
I was going to take my father along for the ride because there’s a great independent outdoor/fishing store up there, near where the Audi is, that he loves but rarely makes the trip to. I figured we could kill two birds with one stone. When I stopped by my parents’ house to pick him up he told me he wanted to give my son a little money to help buy his car. He wanted to make sure his car would last at least through college. With the extra funds we can now afford a lower mileage car.
Fast forward to today…I found a 2004 Toyota Corolla Sport. It sure doesn’t have the cachet of an Audi, and it’s slightly older than I’d prefer, but it was a 75 year old woman’s car with only 39,000 miles on it. The fact that it’s a “Sport” made me think of this post…
The @BunsenBurner double no-no…not only is it a “Sport,” it also has a Toyota TRD turbo that was installed originally, at the factory, as a special option. An older woman driving a turbo Corolla?
I talked to the daughter that is selling the car. Her mom bought it out of the dealership showroom as a leftover year end model back in 04. The person that originally ordered it with the turbo and a special interior package never completed the purchase, which is how she ended up with it. She has lived with her daughter the whole time which is why she put less than 3,000 miles per year on the vehicle.
It’s another car that’s an hour away so I don’t know when I’ll get to inspect it. For the price, with the extra funds from my parents, we can also afford to update the radio with a nice new unit with backup camera functionality.
? ? ? You get a pass for a Corolla! It is a dang Corolla!! Run, not walk to test drive that gem!!! 
Be careful if the driving pattern was mostly cold start short trips. Also check to see if anything that deteriorates by time needs replacing (e.g. it may have original tires with plenty of tread, but questionable due to age, especially if parked outside).
@ucbalumnus The ad specifies new tires and a recent oil change. I would definitely take it to the nearest Toyota dealership for a pre-purchase inspection.
New good (brand and model) tires, or cheapest possible ones of dubious quality?
I’d get to it sooner than later or it may be taken if it’s a decent car it sounds like. Tomorrow is MLK day and holiday for many. I’m sure the seller will want to get it to the 1st good offer.
Glad you’re having dealer look it over.
That’s not just a unicorn…that’s a Princess Unicorn! “My Horn Can Pierce the Sky!”
Both my kids inherited an old car from my parents with very low mileage that had been mostly driven for short trips. My D got my mom’s 1998 Altima with about 60K miles and my S got my dad’s 2002 Ford escort with about 50K miles. Both were great cars with no issues and lasted til they had accidents and weren’t worth fixing. I also bought a 2014 Corolla with 11k miles for my son 2 years ago, great car also. The only issue we had was with the Altima we needed a replacement sun visor and we couldn’t get the part. My S said every time he brought the escort in for service the mechanics would ask him if he wanted to sell it to them.
She has it priced about $1,200 over KBB value at $7,000, though KBB doesn’t allow to adjust for the TDR turbo installed at the factory. I’d prefer to get it down to $6,250 - $6,500. That would allow me to add the new stereo with Bluetooth phone connection and backup camera.
Is it turbo or a supercharger? Not a big difference but I think TRD used superchargers. Turbo would be an aftermarket kit probably. You might be able to remove the supercharger and sell it for $ but not sure it’s worth much today.
I’ve bought things including cars off Craigslist/Marketplace/Ebay. JMHO but if it’s a great deal it will sell in a day or less. A good deal will sell within a week. Anything else will sit. Sometimes the best deal you make is the one you don’t. Maybe let it sit a week and see.
For my two sons I’ve put or will put a new stereo with iphone connection, backup camera and remote starter on their cars. It’s cold where we live. Well worth it. S1 got a Jeep as a gift from an aunt and S2 got my FIL’s Accord when he couldn’t drive anymore. Blessing and a curse (insurance costs). Never owned a Jeep but I really like them now. Simple to work on, 4WD and will climb anything, hard to get above 65mph, and has some size if in a crash, and FUN.
I agree, it has to be a supercharger now that you mention it. The ad says “factory installed TRD turbo.” That’s a simple mistake for a person listing a car to make.
@BunsenBurner Try Googling “TRD supercharged Corolla” and check out the YouTube videos.
After some research it appears the factory installed TRD supercharger was probably a $2,500 - $3,000 option. Just the supercharger alone costs $1,600.
An unfortunate wrinkle, after some research, is the necessity to use 91/93 octane gas with the supercharger. I run 93 octane in my 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser and, with 18-20mpg, it can really add up. I’m sure the Corolla would get 28-30mpg so that would ease the pain a bit. We’re less than 2 miles from his high school but he’s 25+ miles each way to practice. During soccer season, with 5 practices and 1 game per week, he’ll put 320-350 miles on the car.
S has a co worker whose D drives his mom’s old 2013 Hyundai Sonata. She just started driving in last year. They’ve been happy with it and haven’t had any problems. Might be a car to check out.
When we were looking for a car for my son when he was 17 he didn’t like any of the safe cars we suggested. One day we were driving back from being out of town and he asked if we could stop at the Subaru dealer on our way home. We were so surprised but thought he is finally agreeing to look at a good safe car. The laugh was on us when he asked the salesman if they had any used WRXs on the lot. We knew nothing about the car and the salesman had a good laugh and proceeded to educate us that that car was a sure fire way for a teenage boy to end up wrapped around a tree. We eventually agreed on the used Volvo S60. To our surprise that car was fast. At 28 he bought himself a used BMW, at almost 31 he is over the fast car and the repair costs and is considering sealing it and buying a Crosstrek.