| He needs to learn to be a reliable driver and not to take risks and make a better assessment of road conditions. Not a better car. And yes that may mean not going to something if it's dangerous conditions. |
Is this just cosmetic damage? He should just drive the car with the dents. No need to fix or spend money. |
I agree, however, the bumper damage is cosmetic but the back wheel is bent and not drivable at the moment. - OP. |
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"New tires" doesn't mean much when speaking of driving in snow or on ice. New summer tires would be useless in those conditions, New but inexpensive all-season tires may not be much better, providing only minimal traction on wet or icy surfaces. Higher quality all-season tires will provide better traction, but will have cost more and still won't be useful on ice or deep snow. Quality snow tires would be better yet, but only studded snow tires will provide decent grip on ice.
The driver needs to understand when road conditions make driving risky, given the traction available from his vehicle, including the presence and effectiveness of a traction control system as well as from the tires with which it is fitted. Separately, you'll not find a "reliable" car for under $10K. That price point means a much older and/or much higher mileage vehicle, or possible a new model with significant mechanical/electrical problems which will be very expensive to address. None of those characteristics is associated with reliability. Repair the car, evaluate the impact on your insurance, and impress upon the driver the need to leave the car parked when road conditions dictate that to be the sensible and prudent course of action. |
Then I would fix what is absolutely necessary to make it drivable and ask the mechanic for recommendations on snow tires/snow chains that are used in their area. That's much cheaper than 10k. It sounds like mechanically the car is intact. |
+1 |
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Thanks everyone for the great advice and recommendations...
I'll be sure to share the info with my son. ~ OP. |
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A bent wheel costs just a few hundred to fix or replace, you can find a used one on marketplace. An axle is also relatively cheap to replace
So repair your car this time but next time you shop for a car consider AWD, it helps in the snow. Otherwise just slow down A LOT before taking a turn. |
Consider getting either snow tires (you have two sets and switch them out) or all season tires. |
| There used to be courses to learn to drive in snow/ice— it can be very counter intuitive (like steering into the skid) if you aren’t used to it. |
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If you have a budget of 10k, then it makes no sense to gamble on a used car purchase when you already have one that is reliable once it gets repaired.
These snow accidents are almost guaranteed to be the fault of the driver not respecting the conditions on the road and driving like its normal conditions and losing control as soon as they have to brake or turn. |
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Still never answered the question: why no Toyotas? Price?
Washington said it best to his Generals: maje your mistakes and learn. Make the same mistake twice: firing offense. I would insist this child pay for repairs. Driving is serious business: especially on rural roads. He’s not ‘Player One’ - but your anecdotes make me nervous to be on roads with this generation- especially males. |
| *make |
I guess OP doesn’t think Toyota is cool. There are actually cool Toyotas out there, Corolla GR for example |
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This is a great search engine of all dealers and cars price point 10K.
You can also limit mileage, years, etc You do not need to be a member of Penfed https://penfed.truecar.com/ |