Quote:
Originally Posted by VChenz
For a reliable sports car Toyota 86/Subaru BRZ
For a reliable SUV, RAV 4 is hard to beat. Get the V6 sport model if you can as the gas consumption difference with the 4 banger is negligible.
F150 is a terrible idea unless they have good jobs where they can afford the gas or they need it for whatever career they are pursuing.
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This post is almost identical to what I was going to write! But I'll expand on it some!
I was not that long ago, a teenager, and looking back I wish I had been given a smaller sports coupe with low HP and a manual transmission. The FRS/BRZ fits that bill and the price point OP was requesting. It took me until after college to learn to drive a manual, I wish I had learned it sooner.
It's also true about what was posted about the 4-door SUV thing. I had a 1st gen Nissan Murano as my first car (terrible choice, would not recommend that particular car lol) and I used to tote my friends around it in high school to events and whatnot, and even did the same thing in college DD'ing half the football team on weekends in our small college town. It was fun and gave me some street cred, but I was never the type to get into trouble. I hardly even drank in college until Senior year when I was actually 21. If the kids aren't already causing trouble then SUV/Small truck is a good choice if mainly for safety and visibility. I also appreciated it for the 8hr drive to and from my college campus, it was a nice way to tote all of my stuff at the beginning and end of the school year without having to rent a U-Haul or ship/store anything over the summer.
I also after the Murano drove every version of full-size truck you could imagine when I moved back home to finish my last two years of college. I would not recommend any of those either. I got stuck with them because my parents needed an occasional tow vehicle that I could drive during the rest of the time since I had to sell my first car in order to move back home. I briefly drove an f450, newer 2500 Silverado, and 2015 RAM 1500. I'll focus on the Ram mostly and say it was a great truck, but absolutely awful on gas mileage with the Hemi. I did however make some money off it on the weekends hauling my friends furniture to storage and stuff before summers. If I had to go back, a smaller Tacoma or 4runner would have been a good choice too, and they can be driven into the ground mileage wise.
I would still probably go for the sports car though. The 86 is fun and looks good while also being reliable and not too high horsepower. But ultimately, whatever way you go, at least give your kids some more time to think on their option or choice, you might be surprised what they say they would like to have, especially if they're into any sports that require a lot of equipment to be hauled around. Also, think about something they might wish to still own or have in the next 5-10 years. I wish I had gotten a fun or better practical car then the Murano as my first car then, so that it would be paid off and still not too high-mileage now so I could have something practical to drive that is paid-off in tandem to my //M.
Instead, I'm in the position of having to justify a second car payment, buying a cheaper cash car, or sticking with dailying the M3 with race seats a little longer to pay cash for something a little nicer.