s/o Car for Teen -- How Old a Car Would You Buy?

[Anonymous]

Taking repairs and safety into consideration, what the oldest car you'd buy for a teen to drive? 8 year old? 10 year old?

[Anonymous]

My kid drives a handed-down 2000 Accord...

[Anonymous]

I drove a 15-year old car when I was a teen. In retrospect, it was stupid of my parents to let me do that. Cars in the last couple of years have gotten much safer - I'd want my teen driving a late-model car, and I'd keep the crappy old one for myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid drives a handed-down 2000 Accord...

It has airbags, right? My biggest concern about much older cars is they don't have as much safety equipment. My 2001 Civic had airbags, so I'm assuming a 2000 does, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid drives a handed-down 2000 Accord...

It has airbags, right? My biggest concern about much older cars is they don't have as much safety equipment. My 2001 Civic had airbags, so I'm assuming a 2000 does, too.

Yup. That was a concern for me too. Would not have done it without those.

[Anonymous]

can you do repairs? I personally drive a 13 year old honda civic. But, my hubby can work on cars.

Go to cars.com and shop around. You'll be surprised how much car you can get at different price ranges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:can you do repairs? I personally drive a 13 year old honda civic. But, my hubby can work on cars.

Go to cars.com and shop around. You'll be surprised how much car you can get at different price ranges.

I'm OP. It's not the repairs that bother me so much as the potential to leave the kid stranded. I've been stranded at least once in every car I own, including a 2001 Civic and a 2007 CRV. (both of those were the alternators going up suddenly).

[Anonymous]

I drove a 1979 in 1991. It was a POS and very embarrassing to drive. I think that my parents liked that. It was huge, had no a/c and red vinyl seats that burned my legs. I hated it so much that I took the bus instead.
I wouldn't make my kid drive anything over than about 8 years old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I drove a 1979 in 1991. It was a POS and very embarrassing to drive. I think that my parents liked that. It was huge, had no a/c and red vinyl seats that burned my legs. I hated it so much that I took the bus instead.
I wouldn't make my kid drive anything over than about 8 years old.

lol, yeah, the 70s cars sucked. I drove a 74 Ford Gran Torino. Like Starsky and Hutch's car, only it was my grandmother's and very Grandma-like.

Long as a boat. When I went up hills, I lost sight of the entire road at the crest.

[Anonymous]

I want my kid to have airbags, stability control and antilock breaks. That starts around 2005 or so

[Anonymous]

I drove my mom's newer car and they generally drove the older one so I cold have the safety features. I have an 05. Its not very reliable so I would not let my new driver drive it. It depends on the car. My parents gave my sister an older car for out of state college and it died in a few months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid drives a handed-down 2000 Accord...

It has airbags, right? My biggest concern about much older cars is they don't have as much safety equipment. My 2001 Civic had airbags, so I'm assuming a 2000 does, too.

2001 has no side air bags.

[Anonymous]

Insurance wise, insurance agent told us nothing older than 3 years for safety and liability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Insurance wise, insurance agent told us nothing older than 3 years for safety and liability.

wow, that's not happening for most teens, I'm sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I want my kid to have airbags, stability control and antilock breaks. That starts around 2005 or so

+1

This is exactly right. There have been two great leaps in auto safety in recent years - airbags (circa 2000) and ABS and stability control (usually 2011 or later, depends on the exact model). I would not buy a car for a teen without all of these features.