What's a Good First Car?

[Nightrage]

Alright, my girlfriend has been 16 since May and her parents are going to take her to get her permit......some day.... Anyhow, we're trying to figure out what she should get as he first car. She loves the Pontiac Grand Am GT and the 2000+ Eclipse's (she has a morbid fascination with the "ripples" on the sides). The problem is that she wants something with a manual tranny and i think only the base model Grand Am is available with the 5 speed. I don't think her parents will even consider getting her an Eclipse either. I'm thinking a Volkswagen Jetta. From what i hear, they're really safe cars. They're also FWD which she'll need and there are countless 5 speed Jetta's out there. To top it off with a cherry, they get really good gas mileage which is useful since we're a fair distance from each other. Her insurance should be dirt cheap too, especially since she'll be going under her parents policy. If she didn't want the 5 speed then i'd just suggest she got the Grand Am GT or a Grand Prix (more preferably a Buick Regal but it's going to be HER first car and she should have something SHE likes). Any suggestions guys? I think her parents just want her in something safe and reliable and her dad is one of those guys that really believes that American cars suck. Him and his stupid Infinity with blue headlights . He can't argue with the 3.8 Liter though as it's an award winning motor . ANY suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[SFC AL]

MY daughters first car will be a Cavalier or something along that line.. and a beater one at that.. no use buying her something nice.. you should see how she takes care of her ROOM.. LOL

[beachbum86]

as much as she wont like it... tell her to get a POS for her FIRST car. so if she wrecks it she wont be TOO upset. and her parents will be happy. My bro get him self some little POS dodge ragtop for $500 and put a new top on it. Like $1000 total for the car and new top and he just totalled it. but hes not too mad. if she gets something new and wrecks it, more expensive to fix, higher insurance (even if under poppa-dukes), and extreme depression if she totals it. Its just better for every one if she gets something old and used and Not pretty so she can learn then road and gain experience. Then move on to nicer things. But if parents have money and she wont be paying anything out of her pocket, well hell, get something nice. Its not her money right

Have fun man!!!

[hotwhip9]

I agree with al. Cavalier would be good, or something like that. small a neon, or a civic. A sport edition, like the GT probably would not be the best idea, since it does have a little more power, but also higher insurance. It's a nicer car but not necessary for a first car. The POS is always a good idea. It gets wrecked, who cares!

[ryan34]

Well my first car was a 92 eclipse 5 speed. Base model of course. Nice cars, insurance shouldn't really be that bad and great mpg. The clutch is pretty forgiving, which i noticed wasn't the case on all cars...cough..saturn..cough. By forgiving i mean it doesn't just POP into gear. Its a nice easy transaction. Also, since its called "eclipse" it could satisfy that need for one. Well goodluck with what ever she gets.

[Nightrage]

She really should just get a 97 Crown Victoria. If an H2 hit her, it might scratch the paint or something. My friends mom's got a Grand Marquis and my grandpa just bought a 99 Grand Marquis. Not so great on gas but they'll take a hit like it's nothing. I really don't think she should get a Civic. If something hits her in that, she's dead. Those things must be simple as hell to flip. I really like the Civic for it's unbelievable gas mileage but i can't imagine them being too safe. My brother's friend has a Neon and he smashed it up. Held up pretty good but her dad would look at it, say it's too small and that would be then end of that. She (like me) has overprotective parents. She sits there and allows it but i get pissed off over it. My dad wanted me in an 80's 4 door Buick but no way in hell. I got my Monte Carlo and luckily, i never got into an accident. I'll teach her the ways- Always do the speed limit (or very close to it), never cut people off, never tailgate, If someone wants to get over, just let them, use your seat belts, full stops for stop signs, etc. Most importantly, NO STREET RACING!!! This has prevented me from ever getting into an accident or even pulled over. My dad on the other hand....well, we all know how that turned out lol. Thanks guys and you are right. She should get a POS for her first car but her dad wants her in something with a lot of airbags and such. Jetta's aren't all that expensive which is another plus about them. Maybe a '95 or '96. Keep the suggestions going, i'll definitely take them into consideration.

P.S.- I forgot to mention that my father's girlfriend's dad own's a body shop so he'll help us out if anyone gets in an accident.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

State farm did an investigation on what cause teenage accidents. If a teen has 1 person in the car besides themselves, it raises the chances of them having an accident by something like ~30%. 2 other people it went up like ~70%. 3 people it went up ~130%. 4 people went up over 200%.

I'm buying my daughter a small pickup truck. She won't be able to drive many people keeping her chances of being in an accident down. And kids tend to move a lot starting with college. The truck will come in handy.

[Nightrage]

State farm did an investigation on what cause teenage accidents. If a teen has 1 person in the car besides themselves, it raises the chances of them having an accident by something like ~30%. 2 other people it went up like ~70%. 3 people it went up ~130%. 4 people went up over 200%.

I'm buying my daughter a small pickup truck. She won't be able to drive many people keeping her chances of being in an accident down. And kids tend to move a lot starting with college. The truck will come in handy.

I'd believe that. Kids are always trying to show off in front of their friends or they're distracted. Sometimes both.

[ONLNTM5]

State farm did an investigation on what cause teenage accidents. If a teen has 1 person in the car besides themselves, it raises the chances of them having an accident by something like ~30%. 2 other people it went up like ~70%. 3 people it went up ~130%. 4 people went up over 200%.

I'm buying my daughter a small pickup truck. She won't be able to drive many people keeping her chances of being in an accident down. And kids tend to move a lot starting with college. The truck will come in handy.

First of all, get something that’s easy to change the spark plugs in! Seriously though, what Jeff said is right. That’s one of the reasons why I am trying to talk my son into letting me take the back seats out of his 97 Firebird, and build a nice speaker enclosure to replace them with. He doesn't know it is because I want to limit the number of friends he has in the car.
Getting some kind of POS, is definitely a good idea for a first car. My daughter, got lucky and bought a mechanically well maintained, 92 Toyota (loaded) Camry, for her first car. She only paid $2,000.00 for it, and had enough money left from her car budget to get a brand new set of 85,000 mile Goodyear radials put on it, and a brand new battery. It has a nice interior, but needs a paint job, though. When she first started driving it, she managed to bottom out the front end, and took out the radiator. I fixed that, and then she backed into someone, and scrubbed up the rear bumper. Then she nailed another car pulling into a parking space, and scrubbed it up some more. We talked about getting a new paint job, but she said that she’s not even worried about that now, because she felt like she would just mess it up. She feels like, as long as she has a good dependable car, with a decent stereo, then she’s good to go. The other day, she’s like “Its time to change the oil, daddy” “its been 3,000 miles!”. I love it.
My son has tried to destroy his Firebird, I think. It used to mine, and it makes me sick whenever I see a scratch on it, even though it does need a paint job, as well. Plus the $500.00 set of 65,000 mile BF Goodrich tires, that were brand new, back in May, are about shot now, only 5 months later. That’s alright though, because he’s buying the next set.
Anyway, an older, mechanically well maintained car, preferably with air bags, but not necessarily the best paint job ( because you can buy it cheaper, and its just going to get scratched up anyway), is a good choice for a first car or truck. Eventually, they will get used to driving and then you can get all of the exterior damage fixed and get a new paint job.
Most important:

Well maintained, before and after you buy the car.
Regular oil changes, with an engine flush beforehand.
Note: If no record of recent radiator flush, and coolant replacement, then do that right away!-VERY important, because most people will do regular oil changes and things like that, but won’t think to do radiator flushes. If neglected, you will end up with a build up of rust and gunk in the cooling system, and will stifle the cooling of your engine heads. Then you end up with an expensive repair job (I learned that one the hard way, with a 95 Lumina)
Transmission service, but if it has over 100,00 miles on the car, a lot of places won’t guarantee that an automatic transmission will still work, afterwards. This is supposedly because if it hasn’t been serviced in a while, the build up in the transmission actually becomes part of the moving parts, or something along those lines (sounds like mumbo jumbo to me).

Excellent tires, for maximum safety, either before or after you buy the car.
New battery, for reliability, either before or after you buy the car.
Clean engine, either before or after you buy the car, runs cooler for better gas mileage and extends the life of the engine.
Clean air filter, for better gas mileage, either before of after you buy the car.

[Jay 02 TA ws6]

She really should just get a 97 Crown Victoria.

Yeah, bro... think about all the room in the backseat!!!!!!

[alenstein]

I second the Corwn Vic, hehe. Hell of a car we have one it has amost 160k still runs strong, Few years back i was involved in a rear end collision (my fault) Hit a Honda CRV, the ass was grass, I lost my blinker and dented the hood a little.

[Benm109]

I think a Crown Vic or a Grand Marquis would definetely be a good first car, except for one exception, they're long! It's just a little harder to back in and stuff like that. There's 2 Grand Marq.'s in my family and 1 Crown Vic and all of them are over 100,000 miles and have needed little work done over the years. Just change the oil regularly and do scheduled tune-ups and they're good to go. But there are 2 problems that are common with these cars, one is oil consumption from the V8s (these cars DRINK oil for some reason) and peeling paint on the hood, roof, trunk, and tops of the fenders.

Also, if she's hesitant about a Crown Vic. or Grand Marquis, just tell her it's got a "Mustang" engine in it . My sister thinks that's "so cool." It's kinda like the guys that sell F-Bodies and can't tell you what motors in it, except that it's a Corvette engine

[1sickbird]

try that new chevy cobalt

[RocKin1967]

have u thought about a kia spectra?(i think thats the name) its pretty dependable my friend has one and its got 120k on it and all it needs now is a brake job but as long as u service it good (and dont floor it lol) it lasts and their cheap not bad 4 1st car