Teenmobile Challenge -- Results
Thanks to all who participated in the discussion at the Teenmobile Challenge, our query of the Car Lust brain trust to find the optimal car for a new driver. We had a lively discussion involving members of the Car Lust "old guard" as well as some first-timers. In this post, I'm going to attempt to distill the various comments down to a consensus, and then (cue breathless anticipation) reveal what my own teen's first-car-on-which-he'll-be-the-primary-driver will be.
Fasten your seatbelt, make sure your seat and mirrors are correctly adjusted, let off the parking brake, put it in gear, and let's go.
At the outset, there's a "meta" comment I wanted to highlight. Commenter Bob said:
"I have no way of knowing your financial position, and am not asking, but I would not buy a 16 year old kid a car.... Your son sounds like a good kid, but my personal opinion is that he would need to earn that car."
Good point. There's already too many people running around the world with a free-floating sense of entitlement; we don't need more. I appreciate that one wants to provide the best for one's children, but giving a high schooler a new Audi or Bimmer or CTS or SUV risks giving him exactly the wrong message. In our case, our son won't have to buy the car (for reasons which will be explained), but he will be expected to pay for gas, insurance, and scheduled maintenance.
On a lighter note, Mike Beversluis suggested:
First, drive by the Porsche dealer, then zoom off and yell "Psych!"
Brian, Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame and Mochi Mochi all suggested getting a "craptacular" slow car and putting a flame decal on it.
I'm not going to do any of that. But it would be fun.
What makes a good Teenmobile?
It seems to have been a baseline assumption of all the commenters that a teen's first car should be a used car. This makes sense for two reasons: the moral dimension discussed above, and the economic. A car in the hands of an inexperienced driver is at greater risk for loss or damage, and it makes sense to limit the downside by limiting the value of the asset at risk. That includes psychological value; I wouldn't give a teen a car that you, the parent, have a great emotional attachment to.
It also seems to be universally held that the car should be reliable and durable. That's true of any car, but a young driver's car is probably going to be driven especially hard. Especially if that young driver is a boy. No sense in stressing family finances further by setting up a private annuity for your mechanic.
Related to that was a preference expressed for cars for which cheap parts are available. Several commenters made a strong case for having your teen learn to do some of the maintenance herself, and giving your teen freedom to modify it. Rob the SVX Guy argued the point this way:
"... owning a car that has some potential will teach your kid to wrench on their own car, learn a lot about how cars work, and teach them the value of caring for, and improving a vehicle."
If you have the skill and the garage to do that, I think it's a great idea. At the very least, your teen should be the one responsible for taking the Teenmobile in for servicing.
The commenters were also in agreement that you should provide your teen with a car that does not have hot straight-line performance. Youth is tempted to excess; it is likely that your teen--especially a boy--will drive a little too fast from time to time, even in a car with pathetic acceleration. (Been there, done that, got the speeding tickets.) No sense sending trouble an engraved invitation by giving him something with a lot of horsepower.
I would add that the car should have good (or at least forgiving) handling. I learned to drive on 1970s domestics which had mediocre driving dynamics, especially in snow and wet weather. I know from direct experience that the last thing an inexperienced driver needs is a car that gets tricky at the worst possible moment. A couple of people suggested ABS. I wouldn't necessarily consider that a must-have, as there's value in teaching a new driver to modulate his braking rather than relying on the car to do it for him, but it's a good suggestion. Air bags are another.
Finally, many of the commenters indicated a preference for a manual transmission. Rob the SVX Guy (who was on a hot streak) said:
"Avoid automatics. Raise your kid right. Show him the increased power, better mpg, and superior control of a manual transmission."
Preach it, Brother Rob! Can I get an "Amen!" from the congregation?
Driving a stick forces the driver to pay closer attention to what he is doing, which is not a bad thing for the young and distract-able. As at least one other commenter noted, it's also easier for a new driver to learn a stick than for an older driver. I decided long ago that my boys were going to learn the art of rowing their own gears as a condition of taking their license exam. Every new driver should, even if his daily driver lacks a full set of pedals.
Recommended Teenmobiles
The most commonly suggested specific models were the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civics and Accords, the Neon, Subaru wagons (but not the WRX), and the Volvo 240. Good choices, all. With their all-wheel drive, the Subies would be particularly good for folks in snow country.
The Ford Taurus got mixed reviews. Brian called it "totally dirt cheap and easy to fix, very inexpensive and easy to find parts for"--all good things in this context, but others thought it "lame." My extended family has had good luck with Fords from the 1990s and beyond, and so I find myself siding with the pro-Tauri faction on this one.
One other controversial suggestion was a pickup truck. For rural families, I think that makes a lot of sense, particularly if your teen is going to work on the family farm; in the urban jungle, not so much.
So what are we letting our teenager use?
It's a 1998 Ford Escort wagon. It was my daily driver until early 2007, when I inherited a car from my father's estate. That made the Escort surplus to our needs. Rather than sell it, we held on to it for our sons' use.
The Escort meets most of the consensus criteria: it's used (paid for long ago), reliable (mechanically, it's a cousin to the Mazda 323), has well-mannered handling characteristics (and is especially good in snow for a car of its kind) despite its no-feel power steering, and is not quick off the line. I am not emotionally attached to it. The only thing "wrong" with it is that it has an automatic transmission, but since my son will be learning on a stick, I can live with that deficiency.
Final Thoughts
The ever-eloquent Mochi Mochi had this to say:
"Experience is ultimately what cars are about. Sensation, time, activities, places. We talk about them as being time capsules. Given that almost all first cars will eventually become nothing more than memories and subjects in photographic mementos, the question that comes to my mind is what will lead to the best and most interesting experience and happiest set of memories. My first car is no more, but it lives on in my heart, my memory, and the little stories I love to recount. That means that my first car is going to be part of my entire life.... does the gift of a first car carry with it a wish and a message for the future that goes beyond simple practicalities or preferences about what makes a good car, or a hot car, or a sexy car?
"I think it does. And while I've always tended to lead with what I like, or think would be a good car for someone who has already had a first car, this is a little different. I've not actually thought about the legacy one creates for an offspring when you give them a gift of a first car.... We're really talking about creating experiences that contribute to the growth of an individual and memories that might last for a lifetime. If that's the case then perhaps the process becomes more, or as important, as the car itself. How do you best involve your offspring in the process of a first car? should they be part of the decision? do their preferences or hobbies and interests come into play?"
Some good questions in there, worthy of a future Challenge perhaps.
The photo at the top is a screenshot from the old police-parody sitcom Sledge Hammer!, found at this fan site.
Thanks again to all who participated.
--Cookie the Dog's Owner
Chris Hafner on August 05, 2008 at 02:39 PM
That's a nice choice - a friend of mine had an Escort wagon of this vintage for some time, and it was a paragon of uninspiring usefulness and durability. Well, until it broke. Still, a nice choice.
Chris Hafner on August 05, 2008 at 02:43 PM
Oh, and I hope you realize it was very difficult for me to finish this post, since that required me to rip my eyes off the gorgeous Gran Fury you so included up above. I hope you're happy.
Rob the SVX guy on August 05, 2008 at 03:02 PM
Bleh, automatic 4 banger. Your kid will hate vehicles forever.
I suggest you let him fix anything wrong with it, detail it, sell it and get something that he picks out. :)
David Colborne on August 05, 2008 at 04:32 PM
I like it, believe it or not. There's no way your kid is ever going to mistake that car for a performance demon, nor will any of his friends. Meanwhile, in a station wagon, he has plenty of room to engage in any sort of female-related shenanigans that he might choose to entertain without risking serious injury. *grin*
On a more serious note, finding a used manual tranny in any sort of decent shape nowadays does take a bit of effort, so I'm not going to fault you on that, especially since the Escort is already paid for (bonus!). Trust me, the kid isn't going to hate cars - honestly, if he's like most boys, if you handed that kid a rusted out 1983 Chevy Citation, he would've been happy. He might, however, grow to dislike working on them - I don't seem to remember those Escorts being particularly amateur mechanic-friendly. Then again, most of my experience with Fords involve a friend's old Tempo, which was an absolute pain in the arse to deal with (Metal coolant pipes? No documented way to refill the transmission fluid, other than jamming a funnel into the transmission fluid dipstick line? Torx bits? Really?).
Mochi Mochi on August 05, 2008 at 05:22 PM
Yah know - I think it's going to work out just fine. There's nothing wrong with an Escort. Inheriting a car - even with a manual transmission is a great way to get a car. And really now the fun begins. The experiences are what really counts. He'll have a lot of them. First off he can travel. The car is the stepping stone to leaving the nest. It becomes "his place" on wheels and opens the world up. Years from now he may not look back and desire the car, but he will look back and smile at the memories that he created in the car and his feelings about that first car will be special because of the memories.
carey on August 05, 2008 at 07:36 PM
//Bleh, automatic 4 banger. Your kid will hate vehicles forever.//
i suppose that's a possibility, but not what i've experienced. my first car was a volvo 240 with an auto and a 0-60 time that could be measured in days. i drove the crap out of that car without any real appreciation of what was going on under the hood, nor did i REALLY care all that much.
then i wrecked it, and got a 1980 datsun 210 5 speed for free, which was AMAZING. i fixed almost everything on that car at one point or another, and even though it had a dismal 1.4L engine, the 5-speed made it fun, and probably faster than the 3,000 lb behemoth it replaced.
and now i've got an '83 rx7 that i also got for free as a hand-me-down, and has ALSO required lots of fixing.
so, my totally reliable blandmobile volvo only encouraged me to seek out something more interesting, i suppose. but that's just my experience.
...and i still like volvos. i'd just never own an automatic one ever again.
ever.
Rob the SVX guy on August 05, 2008 at 08:22 PM
David, lots of cars have transmissions that can only be refilled through the dipstick tube.
Brian on August 05, 2008 at 10:48 PM
Sweet, it's perfect! Now I'm wanting one.
Shawn on August 05, 2008 at 11:07 PM
As far as "your kid will hate vehicles forever" goes, I'd say his feelings on the matter have probably already been determined at this point. I had Car Lust at a very young age. I would clip dealership ads for photos of cars and paste them to manufacturer-specific pieces of construction paper in Kindergarten. Then I'd sort them all alphebetically. I knew exactly what types of stuff I liked long before I was 16 and felt proud I could identify any make and model I saw driving on the road at a young age.
Chris Hafner on August 06, 2008 at 09:07 AM
Mochi Mochi: "The experiences are what really counts."
Exactly. Not every kid is lucky enough to have a car that is truly memorable on its own objective merits. What makes a first car special is that it is your first car and the memories that go along with it. I've known kids who even resist the urge to love their first car at the time, but when reminiscing later in life the car is painted in such a strong sepia tone that it doesn't even matter what it is.
And besides, I'll bet Cookie's son manages to have some fun with this little wagon.
Mochi Mochi on August 06, 2008 at 12:16 PM
Shawn: "I'd say his feelings on the matter have probably already been determined at this point"
Shawn you are dead on. I loved cars practically from birth. I was driving before I was five. When I was a little kid it did not matter what the car was. As a tiny tot, ALL CARS were magical and cool. When I was 9 or 10 I went to my first auto show and was in heaven - by then I was starting to have favorites and be drawn to trends. But my vision was still wide open and most all cars had some kind of cool or interesting thing about them. It was great to be in a place and at a time where there were lots of cool cars and I could enjoy ALL of them.
When you go from that place - a place where you love cars but can't drive - to that magical place where YOU GET TO DRIVE... it is just amazing. Cookie's son is going to have a blast - how cool it would be to experience that all over.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on August 06, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Progress report: after a couple weeks, he's very good with the manual transmission in the GTI (apart from occasionally forgetting himself and trying to start out in third gear). On his first time in the Escort, he said, "It sucks." When asked why it sucked, he complained of the lack of road feel in the steering.
He's gonna be fine.
Mochi Mochi on August 07, 2008 at 07:58 AM
Sucks?! Tell him, he can yank the power steering and improve the road feel by putting in a manual steering system purchased from the junk yard.. Then he can drop in heavy duty shocks, and bolt on a set of good sway bars. After that another trip the junk yard for a manual transmission - if he's so inclined. Escorts were used in rallying in Europe - under a different name and with a different engine. All he needs is a little time, and little money, and a wrench or two.
Rob the SVX guy on August 07, 2008 at 11:57 AM
Uh, no. The engine is underpowered. It has the wrong transmission. It has the soft suspension. It's beige. It's a horrible, horrible thing. It'd be better to clean it up, fix any minor issues, sell it, and buy something worthwhile.
Jeff Weimer on August 10, 2008 at 11:49 AM
It's absolutely perfect for a first car. It's cheap (if you had to buy one), surprisingly reliable for a Ford (we had over 95k on our 97 before any work needed to be done - front wheel bearing), boring, cheap, useful (wagon!), good on gas, cheap, fairly easy to work on, cheap, parts are plentiful and cheap, has airbags and ABS standard, and did I mention it's cheap? The only thing wrong about it is the HIDEOUS Ford "oval" dashboard they put in it and the Taurus of the time. IF he wants an aftermarket radio, he has to replace the entire plate, which has the HVAC controls on it as well.