Vehicle for teenager

[Scramblin_Jim]

In a couple months my daughter gets her learner permit My wife and I have been discussing what to do concerning vehicle choices. She would be driving only on weekends about 25 miles one way to friends homes and to church functions. Don't think the Scrambler would be a good choice for her; Don't want my daughter trying to get up into a lifted Scrambler with a skirt on although she like the Scrambler. Thinks it cool but don't want to drive it because it is not reliable in her mind. (she sees me working on it all the time).

We currently have a new 4 door JK, the wife's Avalon, and my Scrambler. I've been leaning toward an '80's 240 series Volvo 4-door sedan simply due to the simplicity of the car and how solid they are. Before the Avalon, my wife had driven 4 Volvo's. She totaled 3 of them never being hurt. I have an independent Volvo mechanic friend who we have used for over 20 years and still does work on my Scrambler when I don't want to; so I trust him.

My wife want's a newer car so it will have air bags and will be more reliable. I'm against it because of the cost of the vehicles. She wants a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla about a year or two old.

I thought it would be fun to see what you guys did when you were going down this road with your teen driver. What advice do you have? Anything to avoid?

 

[revho]

Hi Jim,

I say go with what you know. If that is older volvo's then stick with it. When we went looking for a car for our daughter a couple years ago I used the go with what you know philosophy. Found a 1992 buick regal, 3.8 motor with 86,000 miles on it. Still running today with something like 135,000 miles on it. I told her it's not a new car so routine things will need to be fixed now and then. A couple sensors, brake lines, struts, and alternator/serpentine belt so far if I remember right. Those things come with getting an older car though.

Kevin

 

[Mike Z]

Standard tranny

Two words- Stick Shift. Saw a girl texting in stop and go traffic the other day- makes me crazy. Probably less likely to attempt cell phone ops if both hands and feet are occupied keeping the vehicle on the road and moving forward. Just a thought.

You can get good reliability and modern airbag safety by going back 10 years or more, and most 2000 era cars have depreciated quite a bit at this point.

I had a CJ when I was 16- Lots of fun, but lots of trouble. With repairs, with the Po-lice, with the ranchers....

Good luck. The thought of my girls operating anything other than a barbie Jeep terrifies me.

 

[kohldad]

For vehicles, when learning to drive it's safe, old then reliable. Stephanie just went to Clemson and she was allowed to take a 96 Camry with 235K miles. We bought it two years ago from my sister who owned it for 10 years. In the two years we've had it, only did maintenance so I consider more reliable than a new vehicle. Biggest advantage to her is it gets great gas mileage which she really appreciates since she now buys all of the gas.

Before they could drive by themselves, they had to know how to jump start the vehicle and change a flat tire. They actually had to use the jack on the vehicle to raise the vehicle enough to have the tire off the ground.

In regard to distractactions, when both my daughters received their license some simple rules were laid down.

1. No friends in the vehicle.
2. No radio was to be on.
3. No phone calls while driving. If they needed to answer the phone, they were to pull into a parking lot.

Bet you are thinking they did it anyhow but I know they obeyed the rules. Since I always knew where they were going, the vehicle was always subject to being examined. They also knew that if they were caught, they would lose access for a long time with no hope of Linda coming to their rescue.

After they had been driving for one year, I allowed them to listen to the radio but they couldn't change the station unless they were at a red light. Being able to change the radio took another 6 months.

Friends were limited to 1 and they had to call to get permission each time before hand. I also always knew where they were going and when they got there since they had to call before leaving and arriving.

I sent Stephanie off to college worried about numerous things, but her being a responsible driver isn't one of them.

 

[rustycrawler]

I'd probably feel better if my daughter were driving one of these:

The Green one, not the Blue one.

 

[breckwrecking]

I was wondering where you going with that one...

 

[Bugman]

We live where it snows in the winter. The vehicle of choice for the teen is an XJ. It has all the safety items as airbags and such and a great safety rating. The "go with what you know" theory I like. Never really put it into words but that's what I tend to follow. As far as knowing where they are, I've got Ham radios in every Jeep with trackable GPS. When I call them I know whether they're trying to pull one over on Dad or not. I've got boys...I don't know if my nerves could handle having daughters. I would have the shotgun loaded up & ready to go I think.

 

[Will_Texas]

Thinks it cool but don't want to drive it because it is not reliable in her mind. (she sees me working on it all the time).

Most female minds just don't understand.....

Bet you are thinking they did it anyhow but I know they obeyed the rules. Since I always knew where they were going, the vehicle was always subject to being examined. They also knew that if they were caught, they would lose access for a long time with no hope of Linda coming to their rescue.

After they had been driving for one year, I allowed them to listen to the radio but they couldn't change the station unless they were at a red light. Being able to change the radio took another 6 months.

You were a pretty strict dad. I can understand it though, being its your daughter and all.
My old man gave me a 1000 dollar cj7 and said "have at it".
Its been my only form of transportation ever since
Still looking for a project scrambler though

 

[jeepdreamer]

X2

We live where it snows in the winter. The vehicle of choice for the teen is an XJ. It has all the safety items as airbags and such and a great safety rating. The "go with what you know" theory I like. Never really put it into words but that's what I tend to follow. As far as knowing where they are, I've got Ham radios in every Jeep with trackable GPS. When I call them I know whether they're trying to pull one over on Dad or not. I've got boys...I don't know if my nerves could handle having daughters. I would have the shotgun loaded up & ready to go I think.

I couldn't agree with this more. Though I have no kids of my own I have a good handful of Nephs/neicessss and a couple of them just hit that age. My sisters of course started to bombard me with the same question since I am the "mechanical" one in the family.
Dollar for dollar I don't think you can do much better than a good used XJ. Low buy in, low to operate..and decent enough MPG considering she won't be going on any long trips by themselves.
Only real "issue" is the lack of cool factor...To them at least!

 

[Robert Slone]

When we bought my daughter a car we went with a '98 Camry. Has airbags, gets 30 mpg and best of all it was ony $3000 (book value was $4000). My wife works with the original owner who took good care of it. It had 125000 miles when we got it. Now it has about 210000. We've had it 5 years and only replaced tires and struts, and some little plug frayed and shorted but that was a very cheap repair.

When I was in college (35 years ago ) I bought a 1970 Volvo 145. It was a station wagon. I usually left the rear seat folded down so my dog had tons of room. I slept back there more than once too. I loved that car. It plowed it's way through 3' deep snow with no trouble. Seems like the gas mileage was better than 20. I still look for them here and there but doubt I'd buy another one at this point in my life.

Go with what you know and like.

 

[Truck]

If you need 4 wheel drive, then XJ or ZJ is the way to go. If not I would by a honda civic then maybe a toyota corolla or camry. All can be reliable high mileage vehicles if taken care of and can be bought relatively cheep (ie. $500-$2000), which almost make them throw away cars.

Truck