Ideas needed for a first car for my teenage son
Discussion
My son is coming up to his 18th birthday and I think its time for me to get him a car. We live in Cyprus so insurance is not too much of an issue here, although fuel costs the same as it does there.
Now I know there are lots of 1000 cc tin cans that have a stripey seat design and have names like 'independance' but as a car enthusiast myself I want to start my boy off with something a little cooler, more individual and really to show him that cars do not have to be boring.
My criteria are
something sporty
something under 5 grand to buy
something that isnt going to be too expensive to run re fuel economy
something basic that perhaps he can maintain himself (not major stuff though)
back seats as they tend to cart friends around (I originally thought of a mx-5 but missus thought his mates would be sitting on the boot)
possibly a classic car but reliable one (do they exist?)
I know I could just get him an BMW Mini but they are everywhere here and I think are overpriced for what you get.
Now I know there are lots of 1000 cc tin cans that have a stripey seat design and have names like 'independance' but as a car enthusiast myself I want to start my boy off with something a little cooler, more individual and really to show him that cars do not have to be boring.
My criteria are
something sporty
something under 5 grand to buy
something that isnt going to be too expensive to run re fuel economy
something basic that perhaps he can maintain himself (not major stuff though)
back seats as they tend to cart friends around (I originally thought of a mx-5 but missus thought his mates would be sitting on the boot)
possibly a classic car but reliable one (do they exist?)
I know I could just get him an BMW Mini but they are everywhere here and I think are overpriced for what you get.
I understand that teens having recently passed their test pose the biggest problems, and thats true, MOSTLY.
Not all kids have that urge to go out and un their 1st car in to the ground.
My son passed on the 11th September 2008, yes dodgy! He drove a 1998 corsa 1.4 from then til June 2009, which then turned in to a 2003 Vectra 1.8. The vec could be seen as a risky car for someone who was 18 going on 19.
Since the Vec, we have shared cars so indded he drives less now than when he owned his own, but a 2.8 BMW 5 series and now a 3.0 Jag XJ, and he has neve been in bother.
It depends on the type of kid being bought for, and luck i guess. But the stereotypical opinion of teens in cars only applies to about 99.01%
Not all kids have that urge to go out and un their 1st car in to the ground.
My son passed on the 11th September 2008, yes dodgy! He drove a 1998 corsa 1.4 from then til June 2009, which then turned in to a 2003 Vectra 1.8. The vec could be seen as a risky car for someone who was 18 going on 19.
Since the Vec, we have shared cars so indded he drives less now than when he owned his own, but a 2.8 BMW 5 series and now a 3.0 Jag XJ, and he has neve been in bother.
It depends on the type of kid being bought for, and luck i guess. But the stereotypical opinion of teens in cars only applies to about 99.01%
E36 318 Coupe. Sporty looks, not too powerful, rwd may catch him out so go out with him a few times to learn how to drive it properly. Not sure about fuel economy but if you go for a 6 cylinder don't bother with the 320 323 325 variants as they cost the same as a 328 to run. Still I'd say a 318 is a more sensible choice.
I was just going to suggest an MGB. I had an MGB GT as my first car. As a youngster, it provided a sense of occassion when driving it, it was cheap, the engine was fairly bullet proof and if anything did go wrong it was cheap to fix. It's sprightly without being stupidly quick so that will also provide some peace of mind.
Good choice.
Good choice.
AllezWasps said:
I was just going to suggest an MGB. I had an MGB GT as my first car. As a youngster, it provided a sense of occassion when driving it, it was cheap, the engine was fairly bullet proof and if anything did go wrong it was cheap to fix. It's sprightly without being stupidly quick so that will also provide some peace of mind.
Good choice.
I was going to recommend the pre-rubber bumper MG Midget I had as my first car. He'll certainly be able to fix most things himself (if he can remove them first!) and he'll have a fantastic time tinkering and driving it Good choice.
BMWBen said:
Seriously, if you buy him something sporty as his first car he's not going to be alive for very long.
While it does not have to be like this, unfortunately for a lot of new drivers this is the case. Just yesterday I was followed by two very young looking Asian lads in a new Suzuki Swift sport. They tailgated me for about 5 minutes until I was travelling it at the 60 mph speed limit around a bend with a cross-hatched zone in the middle of the road. They overtook me over the hatched markings with limited visibility around the corner due to a soft verge at the side of the road, before tailgating an Astra VXR that had previously been in front of me. Next we travelled through a 30 zone, and just as they passed the NSL sign they went to overtake the VXR they had been tailgating, who then accelerated well beyond their capabilities and left them hung out to dry in the oncoming lane with a line of traffic heading at them. Fortunately for the daft mongs I gave them a gap to get back in. If I had accelerated at the same pace as the VXR, they would have been well and truly f
ked.I knew they must have passed their test recently because you don't drive like that for long and get away with it, you end up having a crash or getting nicked!
I knew as soon as I spotted them I was very likely going to see some poor driving standards. Young lads, espescially a new driver with a passenger, in a "sporty" (if not particularly fast or powerful as they thought it was) car and a sense of youthful immortality is all you need to have a serious accident.
I'm not sure if there will be any for sale in Cyprus, but a Suzuki Ignis sport might be a safe bet. Only 105bhp but it' nippy enough, not a terrible looking car and reputably easy to work on too.
Most youngsters struggle to insure anything, never mind anything "Sporty", my first car was a Mk1 Capri 1600 GT, frankly I was a bit of a liability, how I didnt crash it I dont know, skinny tyres, lairy handling which wasnt helped by it having 3.0 litre springs on the front which the 1600 barely compressed and around 90/100 bhp, this was 1989 so it was old then.
Mine will be in something weedy, tame with all the safety aids to start with but might get them doing trackdays in something more interesting a reinforce that the track is where the fun happens, this still is in my mind,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-12...
Mine will be in something weedy, tame with all the safety aids to start with but might get them doing trackdays in something more interesting a reinforce that the track is where the fun happens, this still is in my mind,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-12...
Supermirafiori with that twin cam in it 
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