** Update Page 4!** 1st car for a high school senior, hopefully last thru college... ideas?

July 15, 2018, 03:17 PM

Sig209

functional - reliable - practical - low key

nothing 'race-worthy'

a 4 cylinder, Japanese car should be fine

'cheap' to insure also

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Proverbs 27:17 - As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

"Ninja kick the damn rabbit"

Texan by choice, not accident of birth

July 15, 2018, 10:40 PM

bigdeal

Bought my son a pre-owned 2011 Toyota Camry when he was a senior in high school. He'll graduate from college this coming May, and that Camry is still serving him flawlessly. Fingers crossed, it will get him through college and maybe even his first and/or second year of working.

Very satisfied with the purchase.

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Guns are awesome because they shoot solid lead freedom. Every man should have several guns. And several dogs, because a man with a cat is a woman. Kurt Schlichter

July 15, 2018, 10:52 PM

deepocean

quote:
Originally posted by signewt:

We're 3 1/2 years into a Subaru Legacy and have come to admire their design features.

Can you please give some examples of what you like?

"If you’re a leader, you lead the way. Not just on the easy ones; you take the tough ones too…” – MAJ Richard D. Winters (1918-2011), E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil... Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel." - Isaiah 5:20,24

July 28, 2018, 12:48 PM

Chris17404

Well... we have one very happy and thankful boy! I think we found a winner. It's a 2008 Honda Accord EX-P with a 4-cyl engine and 134k miles. Cool alloy wheels even! It has ABS and vehicle stability control for safety. It's a one-owner car that's been very well maintained. I think we did very well on the price and it should last him another 100k miles easy.

When I test drove it I was impressed with the smooth ride and good handling. The interior is immaculate and the exterior is pretty darn good, a few nicks, etc. but overall great shape for a 10-year-old car. My son and I actually just got done using a little Flitz polish and elbow grease to restore the clear shine on the headlights.

He really loves it and is proud of it. I wouldn't mind driving it either! I think I may drive it work work a few times to, you know, "test it out".

He's already named it the Millennium Falcon. Here she is (and him too):

July 28, 2018, 12:56 PM

remsig

quote:
Originally posted by arfmel:
Sweet ride. Be sure to find out whether the timing belt was replaced at 100k miles.

+1 I just had mine done on my 2012 Pilot 2 weeks ago at 106K. It costed me $700 but is well worth the price to prevent the hassle of needing a new engine if the belt breaks.

Great looking ride, that should last your son for years to come. It's in excellent condition and at 134K is just getting broken in.

July 28, 2018, 12:57 PM

Chris17404

quote:
Originally posted by arfmel:
Sweet ride. Be sure to find out whether the timing belt was replaced at 100k miles.

Only the V-6's use a timing belt. This one, a 4-cyl, uses a timing chain. So we're good, and should last the life of the engine.

July 28, 2018, 01:04 PM

arfmel

quote:
Originally posted by Chris17404:
quote:
Originally posted by arfmel:
Sweet ride. Be sure to find out whether the timing belt was replaced at 100k miles.

Only the V-6's use a timing belt. This one, a 4-cyl, uses a timing chain. So we're good, and should last the life of the engine.

Excellent. That’s a design upgrade since the 4 cylinder Civic I used to have, back in olden times.

July 29, 2018, 11:49 AM

mjlennon

I dont see how you could go wrong. Got both my kids Japanese cars before collge; theyre both running fine.

I guess i dont need to tell you the biggest problem in these cases isnt mechanical but rather accidents. I speak from experience; I hope YMMV. Its good you engaged him in the process and ownership. Pride of ownership will go along way towards its longevity.

We'll have to get him a new tshirt, at least something representative of National League!

"The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with." -Douglas Adams

“It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to try to enslave a people that wants to remain free."
-Niccolo Machiavelli

The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all. -Mencken

July 30, 2018, 05:28 AM

Rey HRH

Congrats on settling on a car. I don't think you can go wrong with an Accord.

We had a 1998 and was able to pass it on to a friend who drove it for two more years in 2015.

"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.