When my five kids were of driving age I kept a selection of 123s around for them to drive. I always felt the kids were safe in them...slow but good steering and brakes and great crash protection.

Two of them got heavily rear ended. Other more minor crashes also happened.

Of course finding a roadworthy 123 for a reasonable price is not so easy today.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I would agree on all of that, moving to a w210 with the OM606 which are more plentiful these days.

First car is like a first job. You get whatever you can get, but regret it for the rest of your life. It's a choice with long legs that will have profound consequences. Someday the kid will be on a web forum, and someone's going to ask, what was your first car? And (s)he'll have to say, a rusty Marquis with a seven cylinder engine. And people will cancel (her)him. So choose for today, but think of the future you're creating for the kid. My vote is for a Mini, Scion, or VDub. Something that's cheap, fun and safe. But that won't be a lifetime embarassment.

I'm in agreement with the Honda or Toyota but do your research. I don't remember the year range but based on past readings both have had issues over the past 10 years or so with excessive oil consumption.

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Jim

I like the pickup truck idea (or any 2-seater that isnt a sports car...)

-no backseat, for backseat shenanigans
-no backseat - for friends to start yelling and distracting
-pickup truck - lets a teen help people move, do yard work, and other generally good things
-rwd with nothing in bed promotes massive understeer
-Parts available in every catalog/McParts on every corner.
-Dad now has a truck in case he needs one
-a pickup truck will never look ostentatious or unique (no matter how much they actually cost...). If they have to drive through the bad part of town, it is a safer bet than something shiny and European
-you should be able to find a pickup in decent shape for $10k (???)

note sure here - but If their friends are driving range rovers and E-classes, even a $10k truck wont look like much by comparison. Not sure how important that is in the OPs neighborhood ("OMG, you let your child drive a truck ? arent those unsafe in a roll-over ?" )

-John

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2009 Kia Sedona
2009 Honda Odyssey EX-L
12006 Jetta Pumpe Duse
(insert Mercedes here)

Husband, Father, sometimes friend =)

Used accord or camry. Safe and reliable.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

A good option for something with utility, great safety, and being relatively slow would be a Honda Ridgeline.

It's your money so you can certainly use the vehicle as you see fit but I'll also say if you're buying it as a vehicle *for them*, let it be a vehicle for them and if you need to use it, discuss that with them before you use it. It's a good way to show you respect them which can be a big issue with teenagers.

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Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon.

When my kids got to driving age I would put a car at their disposal but they had to sign an agreement with me regarding the use of the car. It was a privilege and I had the right to take the privilege away at any time if they abused their rights to it.

If they wrecked it and it was their fault I made them pay for the repairs or at least a good portion of them. It worked somewhat. All of them wracked at least one car except my youngest. I straightened out at least two in my garage with a hydraulic pump and a large hammer. Then painted the repaired area with correct color paint installed with a small brush.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

That is a good example of being proactive instead of reactive .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

I did the same thing with my kids to the point of them signing a contract. The poor kids had to come up with a good bit of the money too.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

I’m in the same boat looking for a car for my teen. I found this helpful to narrow down the choices IIHS Safe vehicles for teens

An older Volvo S80 or Xc90 seem like good choices in the 5k range as far as safety goes, not sure about reliability.

With get the 5 cylinder or the 8. The 6 cylinder models seem to have issues. And they always have a transmission issue

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1993 e300
1995 e320
1994 e320
2006 s500 4matic
2004 Jeep wj overland
2001 Ducati 748
2004 Honda shadow aero

I'm getting a bit tired of the image uploading capability here. Trying to upload an image but I can't seem to even upload it as an attachment. Kinda ruins the excitement.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

My first two Diesel coupes were NA and they never once had any problems getting up to merging speed .

Didn't smoke nor clatter much either .

If anyone had ever given me a motor vehicle at age 17 I like to think I'da been smart enough to not complain no matter what it was...

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Ford Crown Vic/Grand Marquis or Chevy Spark if you can haggle the dealer down low enough. Currently they are on offer here for just over 11K.

- Peter.

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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S