Mind child, Delmar (not his real name) is turning 8 weeks soon, so naturally I’ve already started shopping for his first car. It’s hard! All the cars my single self thought would be great options to teach my kid that “there’s no such thing as a free lunch” and that “hard work is how you get anywhere in life” are vehicles I can’t get myself to consider anymore. Maybe I’ve gone soft?
Upon my wife birthing Delmar, various wires in my brain either got crossed, or they un-crossed themselves and are now functioning properly, because my plans to daily-drive my family in old cars have pretty much gone out the window. And while I myself still feel OK driving old junkers, don’t think there’s not part of me that isn’t constantly thinking that I need to not die for at least 18 years, at least.
Naturally, my hunt for my son’s first car has taken a sharp turn from 1965 Plymouth Valiant to post-2010 machines. This is a large departure from where I stood about a year ago, which was: “Just get the child the cheapest crap-can possible and make him wrench on it to keep it running” and also “I drove an unsafe old Jeep in high school/college, so my kid can handle one, too!”
In my defense, I don’t think this is me going soft, I think it’s just reality that the safety innovations in the past 20 years have been absolutely tremendous, and I’d be a fool to ignore them. Take Electronic Stability Control, which helps keep your car under control in emergency-maneuver situations. From NHTSA:
In 2015 an estimated 1,949 lives were saved by electronic stability control (ESC) among passenger vehicle (PV) occupants. These lives saved consisted of 857 passenger car (PC) occupants and 1,0911 light-truck and van (LTV) occupants. The estimated 1,949 lives saved in 2015 is an increase over the estimated number of lives saved in previous years; 1,575 lives saved in 2014, 1,380 lives saved in 2013, 1,225 lives saved in 2012, and 896 lives saved in 2011. Added together ESC has saved more than 7,000 lives during the 5-year period from 2011 to 2015. NHTSA’s estimates of effectiveness for ESC have been updated in the report, Updated Estimates of Fatality Reduction by Electronic Stability Control (Kahane, 2014), discussed in the Background section of this Research Not
From IIHS:
IIHS studies indicate that ESC reduces fatal single-vehicle crash risk by about half and fatal multiple-vehicle crash risk by 20 percent for cars and SUVs. Many single-vehicle crashes involve rolling over, and ESC’s effectiveness in preventing rollovers is even more dramatic. It reduces the risk of fatal single-vehicle rollovers by 75 percent for SUVs and by 72 percent for cars.
Did you read that?! “It reduces the risk of fatal single-vehicle rollovers by 75 percent for SUVs and by 72 percent for cars.”
That is insane. There’s no chance I’m ignoring that. My kid’s car is getting ESC, period.
And you know what, he’s also getting side airbags and a good overall IIHS rating, especially on the Small Overlap Rigid Barrier (SORB) test. I realize in the future there will be more stringent tests, so the car won’t be the safest, but it’ll probably be safe enough.
I would love to get my kid something with a manual transmission, but it all depends on what fuel prices look like in the future. There’s a decent chance he’ll be driving something electric. Maybe I could get him an EREV so he can still do some oil changes, which we can all agree, are good for the soul.
Maybe he’ll inherit my BMW i3? The Mazda3 hatch above with a stickshift could also be a decent option, and it is included in IIHS’s “Safe Vehicles for Teens” list:
That list is pretty boring though, and though safety is paramount, I’d like my child to drive something at least somewhat interesting. Is the i3 too small for a road filled with SUVs and trucks? I don’t know; it’s hard, and I only have about 16 years to figure it out!
What car you buy your kid/have them save up to buy themselves?
My 16 year old has access to the family fleet, but the car he’s allowed to drive without special permission is the family Alfa Romeo Giulia.
I find just letting him drive one of the existing cars in the fleet is easier than buying, insuring, and helping to maintain some shit box. However, I told him that this also frees him up to buy his own car when he’s ready for which I told him to buy something fun because a family car will always be at his disposal as long as he lives with us.
It depends. if your kid is a car guy/girl then it makes it different than if your kid is couldn’t care less. in both situations it has to have safety features like crumple zones, seat belts, air bags, decent crash test rating of its time, ABS, traction control would be ok too. that unfortunately will get my 88 E28 off due to safety concerns.
but again, going back to the point: if the kid likes cars then i would get something like 1,2,3-series BMW… or Mazda 3, even Golf, not too new, about 10-15 years old would be acceptable with good condition. there is aftermarket he/she can enjoy modding, fairly good community to learn from, endless ways to socialize and become part of the car culture.
if not, i would just get my kid a Corolla Cross or Mazda CX-3 or something like this and just tell them to call daddy if anything comes up in the dash….
I have two in mind now. The Honda CR-Z seems like a great first car. Hybrid, so its cheap to run, especially the way fuel prices are going. But more importantly, manual, because its a life skill that they must know! The other is a Hyundai Veloster, again you can get a manual. I want my son to have something a bit fun, but not too fun.
For my daughter I reckon she’d love a second-gen new Beetle… but I doubt I’d ever find a manual one of those here!
Probably not their very first car, but I’d love to get a manual Corolla hatchback to teach my kids how to drive a stick in 7 or 8 years.
I agree on a Mazda 3, but I’d also consider a CPO Civic, Jetta, Impreza or a current gen Sentra which seems to have improved on the CVT reliability.
Bottomline: a C segment, sub 180hp compact car with a Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ would be the ticket for me
I agree on the Mazda3. I love mine. As an alternative, how about an unmodified Civic Si?
As this is strictly hypothetical, I understand a first car is likely going to see some unfortunate incidents. Nissan Versa Note. They may hate it, but I’ll be clear it’s a starting point and if that survives for a couple of years, we’ll discuss something more to their taste for the 2nd car.
Pretty good chance my 15 year old will end up driving our 2020 Chevy Bolt. It’s modern, cheap to run, small enough to maneuver safely, a little dinged up already, and – crucially for an electric – slow enough to be easy to handle, but fast enough to be safe on the highway and give her some sense of the joy of driving.
First gen volvo xc90. They made a million of ’em so parts are easy to get, they’re inexpensive, they’re quite reliable, dont really rust and and routinely go more than 200k, can move someone between apartments, and incredibly safe.
So I am actually working on that as well. My daughter is getting a 97 CRV that has 180K miles that I am dailying to very what breaks before she starts with it. It was a family hand me down that has sat for a while so I am trying to make sure there are no unintended surprises.
Luckily, I have 12 more years, but I really would like to give my daughters ND Miatas. Modern safety, good gas mileage, only enough space to take one other person with them, stick shift, and great dynamics. My oldest loves taking turns quickly, so I’m hoping that will continue and she wants to join dad competing in autocross when she’s old enough. The first car I bought with my own money was a beat to death NA Miata, and as a broke college student it ruled. I’d love for my daughters to have that same experience, just not in a crap can.
I had the same conversion as you and ended up getting lightly used Mazda CX-5s for both kids. Reliable, safe and new enough to have most modern safety features.
1. Jeep TJ. (Bonus if you can find an LJ).
2. A Slate for when the TJ is on the Fritz.