Best car for 16 year old girl?

[whiteworks]

I still have a bit of time, she’ll be 16 and driving in June, but I’m starting to think about what type of car to put her in. A couple schools of thought cross my mind. I’m not gonna run out and buy her a brand new car, she can buy her own brand new car when she gets her shit together and has a career. That being said I figure whatever I buy her should last her long enough to get her to that position in life. Aswell I don’t want to be dealing with maintenance issues now or when she goes away to college, or pretty much ever. Something that is safe, you put gas in and can have basic service done by any decent mechanic.

The baby beemers and baby Benz’s might not be a bad way to go, find a low mile creampuff she can run hard for the next 75k miles, safe solid German cars are never a bad way to go.

So what’s the move here? Obviously some UJV (universal Japanese vehicle) is most likely a solid move aswell, but god damn you only live once and those cars just suck the will to live out of a person, I believe cars need to be sexy, and make you feel good, when you get out of your car and are walking away from it, if you don’t look back at it, you’re driving the wrong car.

 

[Angler]

1st car, Camry or Corolla.

 

[RitcheyRch]

Camry, Corolla, Civic or Accord.

 

[Sportin' Wood]

A tank

 

[Cdog]

We went with Mazda. They seem to be the forgotten value amongst the jap cars & I’ve seen Miata’s barrel roll at the race track & finish a race.

Don’t spend a lot. Girls treat cars as disposable items

 

[Your ad here]

Mini Cooper

 

[Cdog]

Mini Cooper

Maintenance nightmares

 

[Jay Dub]

VW Jetta ?

 

[Cdog]

VW Jetta ?

Maintenance nightmares

 

[Wedgy]

Used low mile V6 Ram 1500
Regular cab short bed.
Low maintenance, clean oil, run forever. Like a Japanese car. But Hencho en Mexico.

She's cool, safe, but no party bus and no back seat. !°°!

https://www.copart.com/lot/61652714/clean-title-2014-ram-1500-st-tx-amarillo

Here ya go. My Mexican Dodge Shorty. 68K miles. Babied loved and maintained last vehicle I was ever going to buy. Going across the auction at Co-Part in Amarillo

Hail fix at my body guy Ironwood Paint and Body, 5K.

The hood and roof skin are the only R&R panels. 68K miles 2014.

I took the money to cover the storm damage to the house that wasn't covered.

Somebody’s getting a great Shorty. No more Shorty's from Ram. No more Classic 1500's either. These used V6 Rams are great value IMO.

I got my boy a 97 Dakota.

Airbags came in handy.!°°!
Put him in a Nissan Altima. He drove the wheels off that car all through college.

Buying his own cars now. I'd take him to the dealer back when with me lots. I guess the Chevy rubbed off a little.

Now he's a sensible store manager in a Chevy Malibu from Carmax. Lol. Dominate!

Good luck Dad!

 

[welldigger00]

Jeep Tj 4.0, with a stick shift, and hard top. Stick shift for two reasons: difficult to text and drive, and so the dip shit boys can’t drive it.

 

[Ricks raft]

I believe the consensus here is you don’t own a German car without a warranty. Friend has an older 07 Benz 560, been a descent car but parts are expensive as hell and a lot of parts can’t be replaced without the computer being updated, and they get $235 hr. I’m sure Japanese is the best way to go but I only buy American. I bought a 17 Buick regal with a bad engine cheap put a 40k junk yard engine and now a rebuilt trans wife drives it till my girls turn 16 in may. It’s a little small but new enough for a lot of safety items. If they go to the city they can drive my f150.

 

[Sleek-Jet]

Someone is selling an Acura TSX in the classifieds, so it has a little more cache but is essentially an accord with a better interior. That'd be on my short list.

 

[Angler]

Maintenance nightmares

My Son has 60k on his, never had a problem.

 

[82daytona]

Porsche

 

[DrunkenSailor]

3 door jeep. Fun easy to drive easy to fix basic. Lots of aftermarket upgrades available make easy Christmas gifts.

 

[paradise]

Chevy Colorado. Small enough to be easy to drive. Large enough to be somewhat safe.

 

[Cdog]

My Son has 60k on his, never had a problem.

It starts right about then. Between 80k-100k you'll be hit with a repair 25% of the cars value.

 

[Taboma]

One son found a real clean, low mileage 2008 Chevy Malibu for his 16 yo daughter that she's really happy with. The prices on those is far more reasonable than the high-demand Jap cars for a car with way less miles on it. She actually got that on a dealer trade-back deal after the 100,000 + mile Jetta self-destructed within a month of him purchasing it for her. That dealer was real good about making that deal whole and gave her a nice warranty on the Malibu.

 

[Angler]

It starts right about then. Between 80k-100k you'll be hit with a repair 25% of the cars value.

What problems have you seen at 80-100k?

He does the maintenance himself.

 

[Sportin' Wood]

Jeep Tj 4.0, with a stick shift, and hard top. Stick shift for two reasons: difficult to text and drive, and so the dip shit boys can’t drive it.

Solid advice. Put a full cage in it.

 

[Cdog]

What problems have you seen at 80-100k?

He does the maintenance himself.

Things like oil filled engine mounts. Who and why in TF does an engine mount need to oil filled? My experience was with Audi but their parent company is Volks and they repurpose everything like GM does to other brands. 5k LED headlight bulbs, PCV valves buried under the intake manifold.

On his little engine the plastic timing chain tensioners. Great ideas poorly executed In the most expensive way to fix possible. I dont know where you're located but German cars dent seem to do well in the desert. All the plastic gets brittle and the AC systems are a little undersized.

 

[NicPaus]

Lexus smaller Suv. Safe and fuel efficient.

 

[Angler]

Things like oil filled engine mounts. Who and why in TF does an engine mount need to oil filled? My experience was with Audi but their parent company is Volks and they repurpose everything like GM does to other brands. 5k LED headlight bulbs, PCV valves buried under the intake manifold.

On his little engine the plastic timing chain tensioners. Great ideas poorly executed In the most expensive way to fix possible

I'll give him a heads up.

 

[81Sprint]

I'm in the same situation, daughter starts driving first of the year. Started looking at small 5-6 year old BMWs for the safety factor, Germans build solid and safe cars and my wife's 530 has been a good car. Same thing though I won't own one without a bumper to bumper warranty. I researched what cars are cheapest to insure and it was the small jap cars, and american sedans. I really want to get her a manual transmission for the simple fact is there will be more concentration on driving than having a phone in one hand, and the obvious fact none of her friends will be able to drive it! Jeep is also a good option, since you can outfit them like a tank

 

[EBT531]

Toyota Tacoma, 4cyl, regular cab, stick shift. Can only take 1 friend in the truck, shick shift so she learns a disappearing art and most others wont drive it. PLus harder to text and drive a stick

 

[endobear]

Picked up an 03 Toyota Solara 5 speed from a client for the twins. Only has 14k miles. They want to make a TRD clone out of it. May just dial it in and let them learn to drive a manual with it and dump it to grab a couple awd Subarus.

 

[Socalx09]

I have had an infiniti g35, bmw, jeep and a mini cooper. Every girl goes through a jeep phase that I know. Cool cars especially for a 16 year old. Mini cooper was fun, but sucked on long drives.

For bmws- the 3 series line is pretty solid and safe. Cheap to fix if you have a good mechanic. I never had any serious problems in my 328s.

My favorite car was my Chevy volt. It’s not a sexy car, but it’s reliable and cheap to own. You won’t have any of the boys trying to drive her car and speed. I look back and my dad would have been pissed knowing how hard he worked to let other people drive my car the way they did. CarPlay was nice. Pretty easy maintenance, had good range and surprisingly it did very well with being in an accident with a semi. I wish I still had that car, seriously.

 

[Albert]

Older Lexus easy to drive smooth and it’s a Toyota

 

[throttle]

F150 duh. Or a ford ranger

 

[rush1]

Get her a 1974 dodge dart with a 225 slant six , indestructible !

 

[dirtslinger2]

Get a cool project car for the two of you to work on. I'm pretty partial to old VW's so this was a natural choice.
I built this over the course of a year for my daughters first car. It was fun, and she didn't drive a cookie cutter car around.

My sons GTI in front, turned out to be a total nightmare BTW.

While we built the Squareback, her daily driver was that old C-10 Pre-runner in the background.

 

[bonesfab]

An old van of coarse.

 

[Xring01]

Highly recommend Toyota or Honda, especially if they are in college. However the 2024 Toyotas have major issues with the newer turbo motors… dont get any of them.

German cars- only if it under warranty, after that…

My daughters first car was a Scion 2 door sporty car, bought it with 110,000 miles, ran it for a few years without one issue.
When she left for college, she needed a SUV…Sold the Scion to a neighbor for more than what we paid for it…Bought a 2004/5 Toyota Highlander. Literally one owner car - older asian couple, 100% dealer maintained. Bought it with 140K miles. Only problem it had was the little electric motor to roll down the passenger window failed. Bought a replacement on Amazon for like $60, replaced it myself… Sold it with 175,000 miles for what we paid for it…

Rolled that $$$ into a 2006 Toyota Rav 4, with 120,000miles… that car has 175,000 today and she is still running it. She did have a problem with steering arm, ball joint. The AC has had to have freon added twice. We did upgrade the stereo for her to one with Apple Car play, my son and I did that install. We did do preventative maintenance for the radiator hoses /belt at the 150K mark. Did that due to age, not due to anything else. She literally just drove from the Sacramento area to the Camarillo area a few days ago. But the clear coat is starting to fail on the roof. She got tired of buffing out the plastic headlights and bought off brand ones on Amazon and replaced them herself, With my guidance off course.

The funny thing… as RN, making damn good $$$, with Zero debt… She has no desire to get a newer used car. She is planning to run that Rav 4 until it dies. She love that thing.

Saying all of that, she has never been broken down on the side of the rode. Note… When she was in college, we lived in SoCal, and she went to Chico State.

Best thing of all… I think we paid $6500 for it right before Covid,,,, probably sell it for $4000 today… LOL, and its been an awesome car for her for 4-5 years now. If it was an AWD model, I would buy it from her and make it my airport car. LOL


My son drives a 2006 ish Tundra 4x4 with 175,000, his wife drives 2006ish Camry with 130,000miles (looks like shit, paint is shot, drives like a cream puff), they paid $2500 for it 2 years ago.

 

[Wedgy]

Toyota Tacoma, 4cyl, regular cab, stick shift. Can only take 1 friend in the truck, shick shift so she learns a disappearing art and most others wont drive it. PLus harder to text and drive a stick

Exactly what my Mechanic neighbor did with his Son. Totally, "Toyota 4banger, 4 speed, big tires, he's not going anywhere fast." Lol!

The Kid is in his 30's now. Still driving that same truck.!

 

[Gelcoater]

I bought a 17 Buick regal with a bad engine cheap put a 40k junk yard engine and now a rebuilt trans wife drives it till my

Wife drove a Regal for several years.
Grandma owned it so it was pampered.
Rode like a cloud.
Engine ran fine, went through a couple 02 sensors, and eventually all 4 window motors over the years along with other various damnits. Had the hood repainted as the clear started falling off.
Fuck silver cars, by the way.

We went with Mazda. They seem to be the forgotten value amongst the jap cars & I’ve seen Miata’s barrel roll at the race track & finish a race.

Don’t spend a lot. Girls treat cars as disposable items

This!
Daughter is driving a 3 for years now and I’ve had to work on it or pay people to WAY! less than the Buick.
Had 102k or so when she got it and has another 100k since.
Is fun to drive and when she turns around and looks at it as she walks away? It isn’t a grandma car and was fun to drive getting there.

 

[attitude]

I'm in the same situation, daughter starts driving first of the year. Started looking at small 5-6 year old BMWs for the safety factor, Germans build solid and safe cars and my wife's 530 has been a good car. Same thing though I won't own one without a bumper to bumper warranty. I researched what cars are cheapest to insure and it was the small jap cars, and american sedans. I really want to get her a manual transmission for the simple fact is there will be more concentration on driving than having a phone in one hand, and the obvious fact none of her friends will be able to drive it! Jeep is also a good option, since you can outfit them like a tank

If safety is a concern Jeep would be pretty low on the list, very bad crash test/roll over rating.

 

[Gelcoater]

Get her a 1974 dodge dart with a 225 slant six , indestructible !

Is actually not a horrible idea

 

[wallnutz]

Tacoma, put some nice wheels on it, set up a maintenance account and let her rip. My daughter thought she didn’t want a truck until she got one. She traded it in after college for $3000 less than we paid for it.

 

[Cdog]

Wife drove a Regal for several years.
Grandma owned it so it was pampered.
Rode like a cloud.
Engine ran fine, went through a couple 02 sensors, and eventually all 4 window motors over the years along with other various damnits. Had the hood repainted as the clear started falling off.
Fuck silver cars, by the way.


This!
Daughter is driving a 3 for years now and I’ve had to work on it or pay people to WAY! less than the Buick.
Had 102k or so when she got it and has another 100k since.
Is fun to drive and when she turns around and looks at it as she walks away? It isn’t a grandma car and was fun to drive getting there.

Oddly enough my daughter’s mx3 was her grandmas car. lol! Bought with my scca discount for the same reason I gave above. I’ve seen amazing wreaks with Miata’s at the track and they finish the race.

None the less. This car will probably end up with our youngest eventually and our oldest will probably get a suv version if I’m paying for it.

Cheers!

 

[Xring01]

Wife drove a Regal for several years.
Grandma owned it so it was pampered.
Rode like a cloud.
Engine ran fine, went through a couple 02 sensors, and eventually all 4 window motors over the years along with other various damnits. Had the hood repainted as the clear started falling off.
Fuck silver cars, by the way.


This!
Daughter is driving a 3 for years now and I’ve had to work on it or pay people to WAY! less than the Buick.
Had 102k or so when she got it and has another 100k since.
Is fun to drive and when she turns around and looks at it as she walks away? It isn’t a grandma car and was fun to drive getting there.

I am not a fan of the Mazda transmissions at all…
One of my very good friends bought one brand new and at 60,000 miles, outside of Palm Springs… failed on the side of the road on a 115 degree day…

He literally just traded that one in, while it was bring repaired (not under warranty), for a brand new one… guess what happened to that one at 50,000 miles… saame fuckign thing, but he was about 50 miles out side of Mohave …..

He finally listened and bought a Camry… That was 7 years ago ish… Pretty sure that Camry is still rolling.

 

[Gelcoater]

I am not a fan of the Mazda transmissions at all…
One of my very good friends bought one brand new and at 60,000 miles, outside of Palm Springs… failed on the side of the road on a 115 degree day…

He literally just traded that one in, while it was bring repaired (not under warranty), for a brand new one… guess what happened to that one at 50,000 miles… saame fuckign thing, but he was about 50 miles out side of Mohave …..

He finally listened and bought a Camry… That was 7 years ago ish… Pretty sure that Camry is still rolling.

Knocking on wood here as I say no trans issues and she’s had it years now

 

[COCA COLA COWBOY]

A car with a frame and bumpers. I would get her a truck. A good used F-150 or Chevy 1500 is not a bad option. Also, if it's single cab, she won't have room for a bunch of friends that are going to use her for rides.

 

[coolchange]

63 Catalina

 

[Big B Hova]

2017 ford fusion 4 cyl with a audiophile stereo is the best option. I happen to have one that I might sell......

 

[CLdrinker]

I’m shopping right now as well.

Corolla is the way to go but damn. The knew body style 2014 and up are 10k+

Tacomas are great but they are priced like gold nuggets with 4 tires attached.

 

[whiteworks]

A car with a frame and bumpers. I would get her a truck. A good used F-150 or Chevy 1500 is not a bad option. Also, if it's single cab, she won't have room for a bunch of friends that are going to use her for rides.

I have this old Tahoe sitting out behind my barn, it was my dads for the last few years of his driving days, it’s ready for a trans and has some little dents here and there from him hitting shit. Was thinking about throwing her in this for the reminder of highschool and then seeing if she needs a car for college or not. This car is on my list of things to get rid of, anybody want a smoking deal on it without the trans repair hit me up, high mile LTZ that had a new engine put in it with some dingers here and there, front and rear buckets, interior is Sano.

 

[3queens]

I have this old Tahoe sitting out behind my barn, it was my dads for the last few years of his driving days, it’s ready for a trans and has some little dents here and there from him hitting shit. Was thinking about throwing her in this for the reminder of highschool and then seeing if she needs a car for college or not. This car is on my list of things to get rid of, anybody want a smoking deal on it without the trans repair hit me up, high mile LTZ that had a new engine put in it with some dingers here and there, front and rear buckets, interior is Sano. View attachment 1425688

This is the way to go imop
We started are girls on a 07 suburban gets them better driving skills and slower speeds not trying to race all the dipshits to the next stop sign
Chino hills transmission hit up Greg
Happy hunting

 

[yz450mm]

With the way people are driving today, I'm only half joking with this post.

 

[Mike Honcho]

Maybe first start with asking the daughter what her thoughts are not that it’ll be a final decision, but you may be surprised as she may want something different.
I bought my daughter a used three series convertible Beamer as her first car ended up being a big mistake. Lotta issues with the car a lot of expense and I don’t really give a shit attitude came from her which came out of nowhere.
She ended up totaling the car and we bought her a scion TC afterwards young girls don’t seem to make taking care of cars of priority. Keep that in mind.

I bought a 750 a few years later that turned into being the biggest POS I lemon la it got my money back after having multiple problems that BMW cannot fix, but that’s a different story.

I’m the same mind applying them civic accord something cheap remember it’s a first car if they get a few dings dents or bruises in it it’s not gonna piss you off but if you buy relatively new or newer, and it comes with a scratching, who’s gonna be mad you or her just things to think about.

Whatever you decide, it’s an exciting part of being a dad and I wish you all the best. Good luck, dad