Tiny. I wouldn’t want my teen driving this. Plus, my teen would be embarrassed to drive this. Sometimes I tease him that we will get him a Subaru. |
| I would go to 1990. |
Not even they have cars for under $10K. |
Insurance is more expensive on a new car, especially for young drivers, especially for male young drivers. That's why it makes more sense to give them your older car, and you buy a newer car. |
| Here is a nice example under $11k. https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/1fc4c0fb-0d2d-4be4-b382-1b309c1886d1/ |
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When any dealer sells a car they have to mark it up from whatever they paid to get it. At the lower range ($10k), this can be a good chunk of the price of the car. I bought my last two cars from neighbors who were buying new cars and sold them to me for roughly the amount offered by the dealer.
Both times I posted on my neighborhood listserv that I was looking for a car and heard from multiple people each time. |
| OP here. Thank you all so much for your tips. I especially like the car rental sales (Hertz) idea. There are several cars in the $10K to $20K range on that site. |
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Go down to Florida for a week. Post an add on a dozen retirement community message boards or talk to management. There are tons of gently used cars that and up ownerless when the owner dies or goes to a care home.
They may tend to be land yachts and American brand, but worth a try while on vacation |
2010. |
Less than 10k?! That sounds like one unsafe vehicle. I always bought my teens new cars with all the safety features. Nothing extravagant, but enough to keep them safe and a reliable car (think Japanese or German). |
And all those cars have serious water damage. But sure, genius advice. |
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if you are willing to play the odds a bit more, facebook maretplace. i have seen 2021 cars for only 3k, some 2012s for free.
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| Penfed car buying service (free) website search engine that pulls in all local cars for sale at dealerships. |
| Impossible a civic is now 30k out the door |
It's unreliable, and while most EVs have this issue, the range and charge are badly affected by cold weather, so it depends on where your teen will be or where they're going to college. |