Which car do you think would be the best to sign for my 17 year old sisters to get?
For my sisters’ Senior year, I asked that they come up with 5k by the end of summer & they came up with 8k for me to sign for a new car for them. Their trade is worth 4500 & with all that as a down payment, these are the cars they have narrowed it down to: A 2010 VW Tiguan that will cost them like 3 a month but it’s LOADED! Bike rack, heated seats & steering wheel, u name it, plus their oil changes, inspection & emissions would be free for the life of the car. A 2010 Mazda3 grand touring 5 door that will cost them like 6 a month & I know that’s not all-wheel or 4 wheel like I wanted them to have but my fiance has one that’s a couple years older & it goes great in snow so I guess I’m okay with that. There’s a 2010 Dodge Nitro we looked at before that will be 6 a month (actually less cuz we didn’t calculate their trade in when we looked). Another we looked at was a new Subaru WRX-STI that’s all-wheel, loaded & would be about 0/month. There was also a Mercedes 2009 M-Class we found that was a demo for a salesman & only has 15k miles, it’s all-wheel & loaded, even heated seats & steering wheel & I can get 0% financing on it, the payments will be slightly higher (3 a month) but I kinda saw their eyes light up when we looked at that. Plus with the payment split in half & that being the only bill they would have other than car insurance. (Dad pays cell bill) They still want to look at a new Pathfinder cuz they love mine but I think I might get jealous if they had a newer one than me, lol. And of course, they both are REALLY trying to talk me into the Dodge Challenger SRT-8 that would cost 0/month that we test drove just for fun but, now they want it. I know they could afford to split the payment on it & my father & I are covering the first 12 months of insurance. All have full warranties until the loan would be paid off. I’m a lil worried about the Challenger cuz I don’t want them to wreck in the snow. (We live in PA) What do you guys think?
5 Responses
rataflimmy
07 Feb 2010
hello
07 Feb 2010
i live in PA too and unless you live in Potter county or something we just don’t get enough snow conssitently tow worry about that.
the mercedes and dodges are unreliable (Consumer Reports), if you want something like the mercedes look at the lexus which JD Powers found to be 10x more reliable than the M class.
VW’s have not been very reliable of late either.
If you look at the subaru, look at the wrx, not the sti, it’ll be cheaper, get better mpg, ride a little better, more reliable and the new ones are almost just as fast.
I’d actually push them towards a ford fusion or something though. no car in the compact class handles a hit really well and the fusion is available with AWD, it shares a frame with the volvo s40 and so will take a hit, has available hybrid technology for their ‘green cred at school’ and is the most reliable midsized on the market beating out camry and accord (Consumer Reports)
Bill W
07 Feb 2010
Well if you like a lot of problems buy the VW or Benz. The Challenger wow like the man said not good for relatively new drivers. WRX will kill them when they have to pay there own insurance Mazda3s are okay. But I would compromise and get them a Nitro R/T good looks great warranty and reliable, Plus they get a little bit more power and they can get the chromes for the bling.
ElGrande
07 Feb 2010
I hate to be the voice of reason, and I know I’m gonna catch plenty of flak for this… but why in the world would they want to FINANCE a car when they have cash and a trade they could sell? They have about $12K to work with, and they’re actually wanting to try and finance more (don’t be surprised if they’re shot down by the banks, even with you as co-signer)? When I would see loan applications like this, I wouldn’t even process them, as I knew they would be shot down unless the father/mother was willing to go on the loan as primary with no co-signer.
This isn’t the time to get into debt.
Have they even considered how much insurance will cost? Have they looked into insurance quotes? You’re talking about hundreds a month to insure teens, no matter which car they choose out of that list.
No offense, but it sounds like sis is more interested in trying to impress their friends than making smart financial decisions. And you’re really going out on a limb to co-sign for a teenager. Keep in mind that if they default, the debt becomes yours. If it’s ever repo’d, guess who gets called?
** And "no", I wouldn’t even consider a Challenger for my only vehicle. I live in PA myself, and winter would see that car in the garage ’til about April.
l<^>l
07 Feb 2010
Get the Dodge Nitro. it has space and its small and dodge is having a deal, they give you like 4,000 dollars off the car you buy and i m not talking about Cash for Clunkers. i was about to buy a dodge but we dont know what car to buy!!
the challenger’s the only one i’m outright discouraging. it’s not a new-driver-friendly car. it’s long, rear-wheel-drive, and got lots of horses under the hood. not that safe for a beginner. if they’re taking the car to school, i wouldn’t recommend the M-class, either – it’s a hater magnet in school. unless of course you can afford any minor repairs people might do to it – scratches and stuff.
when i was a student, i used to haul lots of stuff for projects and extra-curricular work. i had (and still have) a 2002 Lancer with an aftermarket sound system, and i often had to take out the subwoofer for the stuff i had to bring. occasionally, i even had to borrow my mom’s Honda CRV for even more space. that for me eliminates the Impreza, too.
So that narrows it down to 3: the Nitro, Mazda3 and Tiguan. of those i would pick the 3, being a lower-maintenance car. but if i were in your shoes and you seem pretty loaded, that’s out, too. at this point, it’s a toss-up – i like the the exterior of the Nitro, but i like the Tiguan’s interior better. i’d still go for the Nitro, though, if only for the muscular looks, and the seemingly higher driving position.
hope that helps!