QOTD: What Car Would You Buy For Your Kid?
I have a few years, certainly, but time seems to move exponentially quicker in relation to the appearance of grey hairs in my beard. So naturally, I’m thinking about my daughters, now 10 and 8, and what they will be driving.
It’s a legitimate concern, as we start to manage the end-of-life on our current fleet, and consider what our next new car will be. I see many parents will hand down an existing family car to their spawn upon reaching driving age, which seems like a great way to ensure you know the maintenance and accident history of what will be protecting your precious spawn.
When my girls were younger, I declared that I would buy each of them a cheap beater when they were around twelve, and we’d restore it together. My plan had two goals: to ensure they could work on the cars themselves if minor problems occurred while they were away at college, and they’d appreciate the hard work they’d put into the car and thus not destroy it.
My dad and I did some work together on the 10-year-old Maxima he bought for me when I reached driving age, so I figured a 10-to-15-year-old car would work well for my kids. But considering the huge gap in safety between modern cars and those a bit older, I’m not certain I want to risk my kids in an older car.
And stumbling upon this older Subaru commercial on Youtube the other day didn’t help:
The beauty of all-wheel drive! That’s precisely what my kid needs! We do have the occasional, nearly apocalyptic ice and snow storm here in Ohio, after all. An Impreza five-door with EyeSight would be just about perfect, so the kid can haul her snow tires with her to college.
Despite the lead photo, I’m not suggesting my kid get a WRX like Bozi’s car. She doesn’t even vape.
I’m sure I’m missing something. After all, a reader chimed in on Corey’s QOTD yesterday, suggesting the 2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer is ideal. I’m not convinced, but I’d welcome suggestions from those who’ve gone through this before, and those who are facing this dilemma in the near future.
[Images: Bozi Tatarevic, Chris Tonn]
Some enthusiasts say they were born with gasoline in their veins. Chris Tonn, on the other hand, had rust flakes in his eyes nearly since birth. Living in salty Ohio and being hopelessly addicted to vintage British and Japanese steel will do that to you. His work has appeared in eBay Motors, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars, Reader's Digest, AutoGuide, Family Handyman, and Jalopnik. He is a member of the Midwest Automotive Media Association, and he's currently looking for the safety glasses he just set down somewhere.
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My daughter is 18, hasn't really wanted a license up until just recently, and has taken the driver's ed course but hasn't really gone out and driven on the permit much. I think she's apprehensive about our local drivers (and rightfully so--aggressive urban rednecks in pickup trucks, and distracted drivers using social media on their phones around here, are an epidemic). I have an older all wheel drive CR-V I "retired" in November just due to age. It needs a few things (mainly wear/age related) and yeah, it has rust, but if it gets a couple of dings here and there, no big deal. She won't be driving it far, certainly not as much as I drive. It's higher up so she can see the traffic, and also so she can BE seen. It's paid for, and ready to roll. Her grandfather (who lives with my ex and her) is hell bent on getting her some s**tty old late 90s Buick, but I'll have to put my foot down on that one...
My son is 18 months old, so I have *awhile* LOL But being a car guy, it's definitely in the back of my mind. In between now and then, I want to expose him to as much of the car culture as possible, which will up my game as well. If he were 16 right now...no question, eighth-gen Honda Civic LX coupe, just like my old daily driver. Slow enough to keep him out of trouble, but handles well enough to do the same. Plus as a parent, with it being cheap to own/run, it's one less thing to worry about.