Perfect car for a 16yr Girl

[5Z S13]

Originally posted by Parry
You know she's gonna flog the thing, and as a begining driver odds of a crash are about 80%.

just to add to that, most crashes with new drivers occur within their first 3 months.

[su_maverick]

so buy her a volvo. I saw an old 80's turbo volvo pull of some sick drifts last month at US Drift.
"They're boxy but thy're good"

[Drift For Food]

Anybody's first car should be a piece of crap. Serious, how many of you guys actually DIDN'T beat the tar out of your first car? Anyone?

For a first car, it should have certain "desirable" characteristics:

First, it needs some reliability. Honda and Toyota fit the bill nicely, a couple of the most reliable brands made. There's also Subaru, Mazda, and the Honda/Toyota variants of Acura and Lexus. You can find the reliability of any car you want online. MSN autos has a nice rundown of reliability for pretty much any make and year. Consumer reports is also an excelent source for checking reliability.

Second, it needs to be safe. It's her first car. If she gets in an accident, that thing better keep her alive. Think big cars here or very crash worthy cars. The Volvo mentioned above is a good choice. I've crashed a couple Buicks in my day(note: not my fault, lol), and they can take a good pounding without much harm to the driver. GM doesn't seem to do too bad with crashes. Just look online for crash ratings and see which ones pass with flying colors and which don't.

Third, it should be slow, yep a turtle of a car. It's her first car, and when you're not around, she'll have that throttle punched to the floor as much as she can. Getting something without much power will keep her slow enough to be relatively safe.

It's her first car. This is what she'll learn on. She should have no thought of racing or drifting at this point in her driving life. That comes down the road AFTER you've masted the basics. Let her learn to drive like a normal human being first. A couple years down the line, she can get her dream car and start working on some advanced stuff. Until then, a rwd little pocket rocket is a big no no.

[su_maverick]

'89 Honda Accord here. I would recommend a mid 90's accord. You can get them pretty cheap and though they are far from fast, they can be a fun car for everyday driving. Great gas millage and cheap to fix. I think that would be my top pick for a new driver.
IMO

[Wickdmarz]

Re: Perfect car for a 16yr Girl

Originally posted by VertigoEpidemic
Well my little cuz' birthday is coming up soon, and I want to get her a tight little drifting car. Shes not totally into drifting yet, but she just now entering the world of street racing.

She wants a "mid sized car thats not to heavy, but has enough weight to keep it on the ground." After getting her to give me a couple examples (ex. light - Civic, mid - Eclipse, heavy - Supra) She said something like an Eclipse but worthy to be driven. I was thining she might like a 240, but I'm not sure.

Anyone have any ideas? I'd love some input. Especial from any girls on the forums.

- Thanks

Well shes 16 and a girl...well a sports car shouldn't be the first even a sports coupe. Does she want a auto or stick? Can she drive stick?

I would say get a low powered car first and get her used to driving...I know quite a few girls who daddy bought a nice car and they literally, I mean literally, that next day totalled it.

Every teenager wants to show off, so an eclipse is a bad idea. S13, is a bad of idea cuz of the hype. FC bad idea...cuz she won't understand....

Oh the biggest thing, I think don't get her a rwd car...she'll spin in the rain...Ecspeically if she really haven't driven for that long. First tine I drove in the rain with my 240 I almost spun out going on the on-ramp to a freeway, but I already knew how to counter so I saved myself (I also have been driving for almost 4 years already) . So fwd should be a first..

I agree with some others with Jettas or Accords or Volvos... comfty cars and easy to learn stick in.

Plus I think a car with good gas econo would be better for her age...240s don't get good gas milage. She'll want to drive every where so get her something with more bang for her buck.

[Weapon X]

I'm going to have to disagree with all of you. I say get her a RWD car.

Teach her to be humble about driving it and work her way up. RWD teaches you throttle control and puts you in certain situations that differ greatly from FWD, and NO ONE likes understeer.

If she jumps to FR after FF she might be overconfident and not know how to handle the rear end coming out in the rain or something of that nature. If she really does want to get into drifting I think it's a better idea, but if she's just a typical girl (no offense marz, I said TYPICAL GIRL) then my guess is in the long run she couldn't really give a rats *Censored**Censored**Censored* about how the car drives...as long as it looks sporty and racer-ish.

She's 16, she shouldnt be getting into the world of street racing without knowing how to control a car. If she's serious about drifting, get her a RWD car and let her learn on that. My first car was my 95 240 that I'm still paying off, and I couldnt think of a better car for me to learn on. Every time I'm in the car I'm glad I didnt settle for a FWD car. Anyway, before I go off on a tangent let me just sum it all up real quick: Get her RWD, teach her to respect it and work her way up. Watch her turn out to be a much better driver for starting on a RWD platform. Send her out to DriftXtreem to train her...actually, don't do that...16 years old is the age of consent in Japan.

Peace

[ToplessFC3Sman]

My first car was an 88 S12 200SX, which I think was a great car to learn on. Yes, i was the typical teenage driver, doing a few donuts here and there, pushing it on the highway, and overall being very dumb with the car (which caused me to wreck it... first 4 months)

I agree with weapon X, FR cars are better balanced, less prone to heavily understeer, and teach more of the control and balance that goes with driving. FF cars, for all the effort that's being put into them to make them handle well, are flawed by design, having all the weight sitting right over the front wheels, and using those wheels for accelerating, turning and braking. Understeer does suck... its safer than oversteer, especially for a new driver, but in a RWD car of the type that you seem to be looking for, enducing oversteer in normal driving conditions, even in the rain, requires a conscious effort.

Basically, get her a lower powered FR car, so she can learn the dynamics of the layout. Under 150 hp would be best, so an 89 or 90 S13, an older miata, or if you can find one, an AE86 or S12 would be ideal. newer 240sx's (S13, post 1990, and S14's) with the KA24DE have about 155 hp stock, new, so they would also be right around that range.

[su_maverick]

Thank god Im not, but if I was a parent, I wouldnt be getting a car for my 16 year old to 'train in'. Trust me, there will be enough events in the first two years of driving to get her used to it and how a car in general handles, not when to accelerate through a corner . If she wants sporty, get her a solara or accord coupe and she will be just dandy. You are raising a human being, not a race car driver.

....:::::::The more you know!

[ToplessFC3Sman]

Actually, on second thought, dont buy her a car. If she really wants it, make her work to earn it, and then you can give suggestions as to which to buy, or even help her out buying it a little. If she has to work to pay for the car, like to buy it, pay for gas, repairs and insurance, that will make her respect the car, whatever it turns out to be, much more than if you just hand her the keys with a little bow on them, everything paid for. She will be much more cautious about doing dumb stuff in it that could break it, raise insurance premiums, or damage other people's stuff. Hell, it wasnt until about a year after my first accident that I finished paying everything off, and my insurance is still higher than it would normally be. (completely wrecked my car, ran it completely thru a telephone pole, and screwed up someones lawn/bushes etc) I sure learned not to take cars lightly after that.

[su_maverick]

I agree with making her work for it. But dont put her in complete control after that, she is still only 16. I still say go safe until she has the basics down. Which will be a couple years
A 17 year old did this to me because he didnt want to wait to get on an on ramp. FF/FR didnt matter.

[CounterLock]

VW Golf GTi

[5Z S13]

ill give some advice from my standpoint. Im 16 going on 17 soon and i feel the way my parents handled it worked well. They gave me a hand-me-down, a 91 mazda protege, all in all worth no more than 1 grand. The car was safe enough and only pushed out about 100 hp to the wheels. During the time i was learning to drive, it was a stick, i decided to get a job for a better car later on. I worked for minimum wage for months . Once i had enough I talked it over with my parents and we agreed on a 240sx.

What I thought helped:

1)Cheap but reliable first car
2)Liability insurance, cheap but i never really pushed my car with the risk of losing it completely
3)Suggest she learn stick, she'll be concentrating on shifting and driving as a whole instead of flooring it everywhere
4)If she wants a better car she should work for it, more pride of ownership and respects her car in return

[su_maverick]

Cheers 5Z. I think that was a smart move, and kudos to your for working for what you want.

[HX-50]

I started in a 91 protege too, that was such a great car, i shed a tear when they came to pick her up for the donation truck, but it promped me to buy my second protege (this one's a 2003) and i loved the mazda thing so much i got the rx-7 =)

[VertigoEpidemic]

I'm starting to agree more with making her work for it. I worked for my 300zx (which there is no way in hell I'd let her have) and even though I push it to its limits, I'd never do anything intentional to hurt it. She will be getting a stick, because I feel that if she learns a stick then she will get to know the physics of the car better. I also feel that an FR is better to learn on. Shes been driving her mom's Chrystler Town and Country (I for get the namebut its a van.) and ther father's Pontiac Grand Am for a year so she's some what already experianced in driving both FF and FR cars. I liked the idea of the Miata, but its a pocket rocket, and if she gets into a wreck the results would not be pleasing. After thinking for a while, even though she is quick to learn, I dont think she can appertiate a rotary engine, so an RX is out of the picture also. I know shes going to want back seats anyways. I do think a Protegé or a 200sx is a good start, but she wouldn't work for those cars unless they were newer models. I dont think a new car is a good car for a new driver so thats out of the question. I think a good starter would be either a Nissan 240sx (90-93 maybe a 94) or a Toyota Celica perhaps the 3rd or 4th Gen. (I believe the new ones are 6th gen right? and 5th gen are the ones with bug eyed looking headlights.)