One automotive dream that’s surprisingly relatable is buying your parents a car. Whether it’s the dream of reuniting your Dad with his old Corvette or simply gifting your parents a nicer daily driver, that aspiration of handing over a set of keys goes far and beyond the reach of automotive nerdery. I’d like to think many of us who have good relationships with our parents hold a dream to work hard enough that one day, we can give back.
But what to give? Let’s assume you’ve got a blank check for this, all the funds will appear out of the ether, no strings attached. In other words, pick anything you like.
My parents have a decade-old Hyundai Sonata and although it served its purpose well at the time of purchase, it’s worn out its welcome. Between the blind spots and awkward entry and egress, something a little more upright would be a quality-of-life improvement. At the same time, fuel economy matters, and a hybrid sounds ideal for their situation. I know my parents well enough to know that they wouldn’t put up with German complexity, so that’s several marques I can cross off the list right away. My parents also like red cars and airy interiors, so a Lexus RX 350h in red would be a solid pick– but there’s a problem. In Canada, Lexus won’t sell you one in Matador Red with a light interior. It’s the same deal with the NX 350h, so it looks like Lexus’ nice but sensible crossovers aren’t going to work here. Oh well.
Maybe it’s for the best. For the longest time, my mum has wanted a small pickup truck. An old Ranger, original Tacoma, or Nissan Hardbody would be brilliant for my parents’ renovations and hobbies, but old small trucks give up a lot of safety, fuel economy, and comfort over what’s currently out there. Since I have a blank check in today’s Autopian Asks scenario, my choice would be a 2024 Ford Maverick XLT Hybrid in Hot Pepper Red with the Luxury package, the tri-fold tonneau cover, and a set of floor liners.
So, if you had a blank check, what car would you buy your parents? Whether it’s a weekend getaway car or a new daily driver, leave your answers in the comments below.
(Photo credits: Lexus, Ford)
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
-
What Car Are You Convinced Is Great Even Though You’ve Never Driven It?
-
How Many Cars Is Too Many?
-
Which Cars Have You Owned Refused To Die, Even When You Wished They Would? Autopian Asks
Got a hot tip? Send it to us here. Or check out the stories on our homepage.
I wouldn’t. Took the keys away from my father a couple years ago. The heck if I’m giving them back now.
Downside is that I have to drive him everywhere, but there have been no more instances of driving in the ditch or collisions with other vehicles or trees.
CR-V
1989 Brown Lebaron with wood sides and a chewed up pencil in the glovebox.
Toyota Hybrid since they dont want to mess with new technologies like EVs. A Toyota Prius is the perfect car for them.
Any new-ish Toyota or Honda hybrid…that’s the correct answer.
Why?
Do you really want to deal with your parents having issues with the car you recommended?
Mom: Hyundai Ioniq5
Dad: Maserati Quattroporte
Stepdad: Datsun 260Z 2+2
Uncle: Bentley Conti GT
Brother: Audi RS6
A Kia Soul to replace their excelent 2012 Focus.
Roomy, not too low, not too tall, not too wide (they have a narrow garage), undeniably cool and comfortable enough for them to travel and eventually scoot my niece/nephews around. Very usable for my dad’s renovating/building tasks after getting retired.
And will be cheaper to operate than any low end crossover, and more stable too.
Or, as my brother once suggested, their first car, a ´68 Valiant IV, duly restored.
I’d buy my dad an Austin Champ if I could find one in good working order on the East Coast of the US. My doesn’t need a project, but he would love to drive a Champ again.
In my household we always had one big American luxury sedan and one van, usually a Lincoln Town car and a VW Vanagon or Dodge window van.
I think my parents would have been very satisfied with a Cadillac CT5 and a Kia Carnival Hi-Limousine.
Probably something hybrid Toyota, Venza or hybrid Corolla Cross, for my mother/when they go somewhere together – efficient and comfortable but not too big. Lincoln’s advertising for the massaging seat did imprint very strongly on her but she says “I don’t want a Navigator, just the seat” so maybe something else along those lines. I mean even an Outlander offers it, but not as many adjustments.
A hybrid Maverick would have easily been an ideal pick for my dad when he commuted more, but I don’t think he’ll be doing as as much things around the house or yard that having an open bed for the occasional little project is much value. He had a couple A/G-body Cutlasses in his early 20s so maybe another one they can cruise in, with T-tops to leave off and be a little easier to get in/out of.
The last time my parents went car shopping, they bought exactly what I told them to buy, and they love it. So I’d tell them to just buy another Toyota Avalon.
I’ve told this story before, but in 2018 I bought my dad an ‘08 Jeep Liberty. It was a friend’s, it was 4×4, and it was cheap. Nobody particularly likes it, but it’s a good chore vehicle on the farm and has enough cargo space to haul a reasonable amount of fence equipment.
My parents are not car people so they dont really get excited about vehicles. My in-laws however…my MIL wants a Challenger and I’d buy one for her if I could. My FIL is a diehard Ford man, and I think the car he regrets selling the most is a Thunderbird Turbo Coupe…would love to be able to find a decent one for him.
I picked out Chevy Spark EV for my grandmother to go to the library, and a Volvo XC90 T8 for my parents to use as an around-town car that also goes for 1200 mile trips 12 times a year. They love them.
I’d buy my dad a half ton of his choosing, or a muscle car of his choosing if he wants to keep his van.
If I have to pick? Either an F150 or a 70 Challenger.
Mom gets a ’78 Power Wagon, in the same colour scheme as the one she drove as a teen. But resto-modded with a modern powertrain and comforts.
Lately, they’re complaining that their Camry is too hard to get in and out of, and the seats are too uncomfortable for long trips, they also hate how much road noise they get inside, so, I guess, they’d need a crossover of some sort, hybrid for good fuel economy, but the usual safe choice of Toyota is suspect due to possible comfort issues, so this is a tough one. I think they rented a Santa Fe in Florida they both seemed to like?
For what it’s worth, I’m in this exact spot with 15 400 mile road trips a year over 36 hours each(college sports). I’ve been in everything that might be more comfortable than my 22′ XSE camry that is the beater. I think I’ve settled on leasing or planning to buy an RDX or maybe the MDX as there’s two issues with the current models. No touchscreen and no hybrid. Think I’m going to lease (for the first time ever) because I’ll just swap it out when honda/acura addresses these two thing I assume in the next few years. I didn’t care for the seats on the honda versions otherwise they were not bad wither. Didn’t like the NX or RX from Lexus or the Venza or Rav from Toy. Highlander was ok nut the acuras and hondas were far better driving experiences than the highlander.
They’re kind of Toyota loyalists, but are really disappointed in the current Camrys, seats are too hard, suspension too firm, too much road noise, and that’s besides just sort of aging out of lower cars.
I’d figured the RAV4 wouldn’t be much of an upgrade in comfort, but maybe they should look at some bigger models, the Highlander hybrid gets in the 30s, that’s a lot worse than the Camry, but not too terrible in the scheme of things.
They should maybe test the Crown, big sedan but up on stilts like an SUV, and still in the 40s for mpg. A butter face, but you don’t see that from inside, though it may well have the same type of seats as the Camry. Problem is a short test drive is going to give different impressions from a 2,000 mile round trip to Florida
We have a camry se and rav4 limited hybrid. The seats are more comfortable and ride is softer in the rav. We’ve road tripped several times with no issues. The camry feels like a skateboard to me but my college age son loves it. It’s his. We keep the rav.
The highlander is a much larger upgrade in seat and ride comfort from the rav and venza but it should be for the price/weight etc. I still might bite on a highlander. Driving a few different RDXs in a couple days to try to narrow it down just a bit more. I drove a 23′ highlander hybrid platinum last weekend and think the XLE and Limited are more comfortable which could just be the wheels and tires of course but it was noticeable. Not a lot of pull from that drivetrain compared to the v6 but huge increase in MPG of course. Unfortunately every time we go south for a game it’s over I5 at the grapevine in CA so relatively big up for a solid 45 minutes. That’s my only concern with that hybrid.
Maybe the signia with the hybrid max option will be a perfect fit but like you mentioned, the crown didn’t feel like a big upgrade in comfort from my current XSE (plus the XSE v6 is really more fun to drive than it has any right to be). The crown was also kind of cramped for me. 5’11” 195lbs, 33″ inseam but pretty big shoulders. Also… what’s with all the high side window lines these days!?
Good luck helping them! I’d love to hear what they wind up with if it happens in the next month or so. That’s my timeline (before practice camps, season and all that). Hoping things with the different trim RDXs works out this weekend and I can look for the colors/trim I want.
My dad was always a car guy, but oddly, I’m struggling to come up with something for him. He talks about his teen exploits in a 53 Mercury, so maybe that.
Surprisingly, my mom is easier to choose for – she has always wanted a baby blue portal-window 1st gen T-bird. Since Dad is 80 and doesn’t really wrench any more, I would prolly go with a modern reliable reproduction rather than a running original.
I think their favorite car together was their red 2003 Monte Carlo SS, non-supercharged. They hated letting that one go, but it was just having too many reliability issues after 300,000 miles. If money and sense were no object, I would love to get them another one of those, rebuilt and rewired from the bearings up.
If my kids come across this, my dream car is a 68-69 Pontiac GTO convertible. Not 67, not 70. LeMans/Tempest OK too; I can make a tribute car. And unless it’s a Ram Air, I’m gonna do an LS swap anyway so the engine does not matter.
What about a baby blue Thunderbird from the 2000s?
I pointed one out to her once in a mall parking lot, and she just said “Meh. Looks like it is made out of jello and they took it out of the mold too soon.” And Mom knows her jello. (I actually kinda dig them.)
That’s reasonable. Definitely isn’t the crispest design. It’s aged pretty well, though, especially compared to other cars from that retro boom (pt cruiser, hhr, and beetle most notably).
My mother doesn’t drive, never has. She’s always wanted an original Thunderbird, though.
My folks are both gone, so this is 100 percent thoretical.
They lived in the country, so an SUV would likely be useful. My dad liked Fords, but my mom liked Mazdas. My dad also would use their Mazda more than his Country Squire.
Money no object, I would probably go Lexus RX, but they would probably find it a bit ostentatious. So then my next choice would be a CX-5, which would fit them perfectly in their later years. With a good set of snows for the winter.
unusually, I have already have done this a while ago and might be helping them again this year, They had bought my mom a new Kia Spectra in 07 (it was a crunch as her prev car died suddenly) but that quickly started to fall apart.
with the recession and other stuff effecting them by 09, I had been fortunate and more stability and was going to start helping them and paying for the car, but I didn’t want to be paying for something she hated and was also falling apart.
so I went to my friend at Toyota and we got her a new 2010 Scion xD in her favorite color purple of all the lucky things, it’s been her daily driver since and she still loves it, but it is showing it’s age and mileage by now, she really wants a corolla hatchback and my dad has been actively looking, but they are hard to find.
If I had a blank check, then it would probably be a Terrain/Acadia Denali, because she also likes that trim from GMC, but doesn’t like the cost or really need that much car lol.
My dad had to give up his truck when my brother was born so I’d get him back into a Silverado. My mum is a Honda lady and was a performance nut in her youth so I’d be tempted to buy her a Civic Type R
My folks are in their mid 70’s but still have pretty nice cars. They still have a 1960 MGA that they have had for over 30 years. I helped them put a new clutch in it a few years back. They also have a CT6 PHEV (bought on my recommendation) and an F150 King Ranch. My son is still driving the STS they had before they got the CT6 and it’s still going strong, even after 6 years of teens driving it.
If I was handing them something, it would probably be a late 60’s Jag XKE. They had a ’69 2+2 many years ago. I know that was his dream car, but the one they had was going to take a lot of work due to a rusty frame, so they sold it after about 5 years. Probably not a convertible though, because my mom doesn’t care much to ride in the MG anymore.
Thor’s chariot, complete with Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr.
Barring that, a Delorean.
Rav4 Prime would serve my mom great. She mostly drives under 40 miles a day, and wants AWD. She does a ton of things with her church, so she is always putting things in the hatch.
My dad lives in Mexico, but in rural Mexico, so the new Ranger would be a good fit for their needs.
Dad has always wanted a ‘Vette, and a convertible. I think he really wants a C1 or C2, but it needs to have room for golf clubs given his current schedule. So maybe newer would be the way to go.
Mom would probably be happy with a RX350h like the picture. She used to push back on the idea we needed something that didn’t have crank windows, but has slowly accepted that nicer cars are indeed nice.
My dad is a long time EV fan and my mom used to drive an MG, so I’d get an EV conversion kit and a dead British roadster. My dad would have a ball putting the mechanicals together and my mom would reupholster it to perfection.
The process would be so fun and take so long they’d hardly notice that I’d tricked them into working on a car instead of driving one.