Car For Son! Help Please!

[turtlecrxsi]

If you want to save on insurance, you should probably steer away from a brand new car for a brand new driver. Just my .02.

The Mazda Protoge5 is nice looking but isn't terribly fast... compare to new Kia Spectra5... same thing.

I keep hearing things about the Suzuki Aerio but I assume that they're not very fast either nor is there any after market support.

You may want to avoid turbo for insurance savings but a Subaru WRX wagon is a really nice car in stock form.

Honda Accord Wagons are nice but are more of a family car. Some people swap in H22 prelude vtec engines in them which is a good amount of work; and if you don't really know much about them and something goes wrong it could be bad.

The 2002-2004 honda Civic Si hatchback looks nice and is starting to gain after market support for it's K20 engine and it has decent gas mileage. I think the shifter set up is a bit weird for a newbie though.

[-Josh-]

Get him something that he'll be proud of. That's all i ask, even if it isn't the greatest car in the world. My dad got me a 1989 LeSabre T-Type, and to this day i still say it's one of the best cars anyone can own, they got pep, they look sharp, and they're rare, i'll own another someday. Point being it doesn't have to be the greatest thing in the world just something your son would love to own.

[shnailpower]

A good car on your list was the Toyota Matrix, the engine in the R was used in the Lotus Elise, a nice high revving engine. The Toyota already has the reliability and the gas mileage is nice, w/ it being a compact hatch. I don't know much about the toyota's aftermarket though it looks like it already has a good starting block for tuning.

[shnailpower]

By the way, why was this posted in the racing forum? If you are looking for a faster car than those already mentioned you might want to look into the SRT-4 (neon) a reliable package w/ decent mileage. (25-28 mpg). Plus that turbocharger,

[RACER D12]

What about a Mazda Miata? I almost bought one a while back. Their cheap to buy and on parts. Their RWD (which is much better performance wise) great on gas mileage and I don’t think insurance is that bad on them. And they have plenty of potential with the stock block. Plus I think the best thing about them is stock they aren’t that fast but they feel fast.

[Slowprocess]

Do like I wish my father would have done and just buy the little sucker an Fbody!!!!!! Screw mpg and insurance costs.....he will love you forever!

You could also fool him and get him a truck. He'll think you ended his racing dreams.....until the mods start to come. Then he'll be taking people's money and he can even do some hauling of various things in the bed for you(see everyone wins) My insurance is super cheap, but of course they have no idea what the truck has become.

[RedLightning]

How about an SVT Focus? Though I agree with Slowprocess, trucks=

[xXxRocker5150]

80's model 300zx turbo (although I'm a little biased)...

Get's decent mileage (if he knows how to drive it right), it's not too fast, but it's still got plenty of kick, and insurance isn't that bad... you can pick one up for cheap... ohh and you can mod the hell outa it for cheap too

I still say that if you're willing to spend the money though, a honda might be the way to go... I liked the 240sx idea, and you can most likely get more than 22 MPG city in it if you drive it right... *TatII where are you!!!???*

[-The Stig-]

Get him a Vette.

like an '88 C4 Corvette... can pick em up for less than $10,000 easy. He'll get so much poon that there's no chance he'll go gay... if that's your fear...

[PanteraFreak]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I'll definately check out the V6 Accords again, I was talking about the 4 Cylinder Accords earlier because of gas mileage.

I would love to get a Miata but insurance is probably going to hurt with a convertible. Plus, I don't think he likes the Miata, he says its a girls car. I think anyone that judges someone's sexuality by what car they drive deserves to get blown a new asshole...just my opinion.

I would also like the car to not be really older than 5 or so years old.

[drftk1d]

2nd gen rx7...

my first car. insurance is for sure higher on it (vs a 240sx, my current car). i saved $60 monthly when i switched from the rx7 to the 240sx. and the rx7 was a non turbo
mileage isnt very good on it but you can save a little if you get a safc (since the stock ecu has as much processing power as a game boy) and you can tune it and raise mpg. I love the car, its fun as hell to drive, im getting another one

[PanteraFreak]

What kind of gas mileage would you get for city driving? Also, how reliable was it? I've heard that people get the impression that they are unreliable, when they are in fact reliable, they just have some problems with over heating or something...

Edit: Also, what trucks do you have in mind? My wife isn't a huge fan of trucks because of their safety but I'm fine with it. Only reason I don't see getting one is because of gas mileage. Anyways, I know that trucks can be fast, friend has a Ford SVT Lightning running sub-14's, damn fast truck. Also gets like 15 MPG.

[DonSor]

Fast and good on gas seem contradicting. It's the horsepower to weight ratio. Your son initially indicated he wanted a wagon or a hatchback meaning he is somewhat on the domesticated side (you're lucky). Then there's the money factor as someone asked how much are you willing to dish out. Fast cars are known to cost more on insurance. Honda has good small sporty looking hatchbacks and so are VW and Toyota. Paramount is reliability. My four kids had the following cars. New Beemer 318, Used Chevrolet Nova, Used Camaro and Used Sunbird. Fairly good starting choices. Now grown ups , their choice of cars were not as good.

[clawhammer]

You still haven't answered the question on the budget. Are we talking $5000, $10000 or $25000?

[PanteraFreak]

Oh sorry, thought I touched on that, I can spend around $10,000 - $15,000.