What car would you buy for your kid?

[pabster]

My kids are really small, so I've got more than a decade before I think about them driving... but I'm curious. What would you or have you bought for your kid's first car, or helped them buy?

My choice if I was looking today? Probably the Swedish tank, the Volvo 240. Not fast enough to get into much trouble, safe as all hell, cheap to buy. Cons- not cheap to repair.

Looking forward to hearing your tales of getting the tykes on the road...

 

[Budnicks]

something they like & want, that "they can afford & take care of", if I'm buying it & maintaining it, for them, it will be old American Muscle or a Pick-Up & not anything foreign made.... well maybe a couple of German makes...LOL...

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Also no brands "that are no longer being made/built", or that have gone out of business, especially over-seas/foreign makes, of course unless it's old American Muscle too like ... Olds, Pontiac, Plymouth etc.

 

[satman72]

Basically what they like and they can afford.

 

[Budnicks]

depends on budget 1st

:iamwithstupid: It depends on how responsible of a kid they are 1st & foremost, where you live, what is needed to fill their specific needs/wants activities/hobbies etc., what either you or they can afford... IMHFO a car cheap to insure, a car with decent fuel mileage, a car with inexpensive & readily available parts, a brand that is cheap enough to run & drive or maintain, easy to work on or cheap to have someone else works on at least, if you can't do your own work & up keep, that eliminates a ton of cars out there... unless they contribute to the purchase, then it will be my choice not there's, if they want to buy it with there own money guide them, steer them in the correct directions, then let them make their own mistakes, that's how they will ultimately learn...

 

[daredevil]

Daughter got a beautiful Grand Am GT with low miles when she turned 16. Paid 6k cash. Thought what the hell,why pay full coverage on a paid off car. It lasted 5 days. She pulled out in front of somebody and it was totalled. Fastest 6k I ever went thru. Noone hurt just banged around. Put her in my 1500 quad cab till I felt she was more experienced. Bought her a new focus when she graduated.

 

[WP29440SE]

demographics also play a role. around here i would put them in a XJ or ZJ cherokee

 

[Budnicks]

if I lived in SF or any other large city, I would say take the public transit & start saving your money, for your own damn car...LOL...

 

[bigredbird]

Something with decent gas mileage. They're working minimal wage jobs or minimal hours for a decent wage, and gas pumps are the enemy of that. My son insisted on a Jeep Cherokee, found and bought one for a grand, and THEN realized that it got about 9mpg on a six-cylinder. His affection turned to hate real quick when his whole paycheck went into the tank.

 

[WP29440SE]

Something with decent gas mileage. They're working minimal wage jobs or minimal hours for a decent wage, and gas pumps are the enemy of that. My son insisted on a Jeep Cherokee, found and bought one for a grand, and THEN realized that it got about 9mpg on a six-cylinder. His affection turned to hate real quick when his whole paycheck went into the tank.

wow , there was something really wrong with it. all of my 4.0 litre's have gotten 15+

 

[Propwash]

Hmmmm....Guess i'm old school. I got the whole "you want a car, earn it and buy it", so that's what I did. $1000 bucks for a '72 Dodge Dart that I loved and respected because it was me that made it happen and I respect my dad for that. My kid will be the same. Work ethic, resposibility and lazy Sundays under the hood, learning from pops.
We'll see what the future brings, but no matter what it is I would want my kid to have the same pride I did by towing the line and making it happen for themselves. Having a kid respect and have pride in their car as well as knowing the work and responsibility it takes to buy and maintain one makes a mountain of difference down the road when they're out in the real world dealing with other aspects in life. It did for me anyways.

Good luck on your hunt...Those Volvo's are battle tanks.

 

[kb67mopar]

Hmmmm....Guess i'm old school. I got the whole "you want a car, earn it and buy it", so that's what I did.

Best thing my parents ever did was made me buy my own car! If you don't have to pay for it you don't have the same respect for it. I had to fix it, buy it, pay for it, put gas in it and the only thing they paid for was insurance and some parts I couldn't afford.

My first was a 1983 AMC Eagle SX/4. (this was in 2000 (yeah thats right, I'm 28))

Whatever you do, make them have a stake in the car, if you pay for the car make them maintain and put fuel in it, but if at all possible make them pay for the whole value of the car.

And as previously mentioned fuel efficiency is huge, today in this market it would be a 90's Honda Civic (no fart cans here) or a reg cab Dodge Dakota with v6 and a stick. Thats about all that was worth a crap back in the 90's the GM cars were CRAP, the chrysler cars were falling apart and had terrible fit and finish and Ford well they have all rusted away now.

 

[jessipup]

When mine was old enough I tried to give him a 73 Delta 88
Dam that car was ugly BUT it was 4200 pounds of detroit steel.
He couldnot get hurt and with the mileageit got he could not hotrod or go far. It was perfect. But noooooooo gramps had to give him a geo-metric. what a piece of crap. Hell the oldmobile would sleep 5 comfortably 1 in front, 1 in back & 1 each on the hood roof and trunk.

 

[pabster]

My father helped out with buying me a car, which was super cool of him. Luckily, having my own car was the greatest thing that had ever happened to me up to that point, so I took relatively good care of it, paid for my own gas, insurance, maintenance. Looking back, I certainly wouldn't help my kids buy what I had- a 1989 Honda CRX. What a deathtrap that car was! Plastic panels, light as a feather, low to the ground, 1500cc engine, stick shift. 30-40mpg. That little go kart hauled ***! God, I loved that car. Amazing I didn't die in it.

 

[Propwash]

Pabster....that's three points of your Man Card when you've owned a car that had an engine measured in CC's...LOL

 

[pistol_grip_polara]

I plan on doing what my dad did. We all got a car givin to us, we had to fix it. My first one was a 56 dodge stepside. was in the process of stripping the frame and putting a volare front clip in it with a 383. took a p/u load of parts to a local junkyard and came across a plum crazy 70 coronet sittin on blocks with no motor, tranny, or wheels. bought it for $200 and pushed the 56 out of the shop. Probably give the 56 to my son. Find a dart or a duster for my daughter. Course he is 6 and she is 2 so there is a ways to go... but if they work on em and fix em, they can drive em, or there's a bus

 

[kb67mopar]

Pabster....that's three points of your Man Card when you've owned a car that had an engine measured in CC's...LOL

I give him 2 points back for having the stones to admit it on a mopar forum.

 

[Moparsmitty]

I see a lot of ten year old Volvos, Bimmers, Saabs and other foreign cars for sale around here. Most of them have 100K+ on them and are in need of some help. Most need brakes, valve job, clutch/trans work etc. etc. The reason they seem so reasonably priced is because they need thousands of dollars worth of expensive parts and labor. Be careful.

 

[Propwash]

I give him 2 points back for having the stones to admit it on a mopar forum.

LOL! Good Call.

 

[arsinist01]

I would get them a car the exact same way I got my car. What they could afford, they could buy. I noticed that kids that have to pay for their own cars, their own insurance, and their own repairs tend to have a bit more respect for the car. Also as a plus side, all that time I spent helping my dad work on cars came in handy when I had my own.

 

[Budnicks]

My father helped out with buying me a car, which was super cool of him. Luckily, having my own car was the greatest thing that had ever happened to me up to that point, so I took relatively good care of it, paid for my own gas, insurance, maintenance. Looking back, I certainly wouldn't help my kids buy what I had- a 1989 Honda CRX. What a deathtrap that car was! Plastic panels, light as a feather, low to the ground, 1500cc engine, stick shift. 30-40mpg. That little go kart hauled ***! God, I loved that car. Amazing I didn't die in it.

That explains allot, right there....LOL... sorry Pabster