Car for a university student

[syscal]

My oldest is going to University this Sept and is looking to replace her (perfectly reliable ) car with some money from the grandparents. Basically looking for a car in the $5000-$8000 range that will be reliable and economical.

I can do a lot of repair work and maintenance myself if needed, but inexpensive repairs would be nice.

I'd like any suggestions or input as I can see my opinion on good reliable car is going to be much different than hers...

...hoping I make it through this

[MR2-3SGTE]

Pretty much Civic, Corolla etc...the economical import cars. Designed to last forever with cheap maintenance, and tons of parts availability. Very easy to work on also.

[ExtraSlow]

Best idea for her is to keep what she has, save the rest. Aside from that, just make sure she's not putting herself "further" into debt to buy it.

[J.M.]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
Best idea for her is to keep what she has, save the rest. Aside from that, just make sure she's not putting herself "further" into debt to buy it.

Tell her to save the money.

[syscal]

^^^
This is what I said...

[msommers]

Tell her to go to Europe for a summer instead of replacing a perfectly good car.

[zieg]

Could get an 05-07ish impreza or legacy for that price range. Reliable, easy to work on, parts are cheap, AWD, safe, fun, practical.

Example http://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/c...ationFlag=true

[xnvy]

Miata. Granted I don't have to drive during the academic year.

Tell her to save. This coming from a fellow uni student

[Masked Bandit]

I get the impression that OP has already tried to talk her out of buying a new car and that hasn't worked. Best move now is to set her in the right direction with respect to the specific make & model. Small hatchbacks always seem to be a good fit with students, Mazda3 perhaps?

[bulaian]

Stress the point that while at the university, her car will get scratched up, door dinged and minor hit and runs in any of those university lots. Many of the other students will be new drivers and won't be able to park for shit.

POS car during university all the way.

[woodywoodford]

Good luck convincing a teen to save money :P

If she's set on spending it, I'd second the euro trip. But if it must be a car, I've been rocking an '04 accord with zero issues ever, and they're selling in that range these days. And for their age, they're sharp looking and offer all the options.

Edit: hatches are good too since she'll probably be moving a shitload of stuff every summer and possibly over christmas

[SkiBum5.0]

A 2008 Saturn Astra XR with 81,000kms - available in the marketplace

[msommers]

Hatch is a good idea. God knows how much shit girls keep in their car for every scenario they may encounter, and their second shoe collection Hatch just makes rifling through all that mess easier!

[syscal]

Yea, I'm thinking brand over km's. I like the idea of the Imprezza and Mazda. If I had to buy a new car for myself tomorrow I'd look at Mazda first.

She has an 01 Saturn S1 right now that we got free from her uncle. It rattles but doesn't break down, I'll keep hammering at keeping it but I'm guessing that won't work out.

Would the Imprezza be cheaper to maintain than the honda or toyota or mazda in general? What's the general consensus between the three for reliability and maintenance?

Too bad she doesn't know how to drive standard. I'd show her but I have a feeling I'd be replacing the clutch once a year.

I have three girls FFS...this is just the beginning.

[zieg]

I don't know if the Impreza would be much different maintenance-wise.

My Forester just rolled 220,000km a while ago, I've had it since 130k or so and in all that time I haven't had any major issues. Biggest things I've done is change the shocks and front CV axles, and it was all a cake walk. Being a Subaru it's meant to be easy to work on, because the Subaru rally team has to be able to do things like change a transmission on the side of the road. It's all simple and accessible. That's their design philosophy.

Also, the AWD is a good, full-time system, unlike so many other offerings out there (especially in your price range). I don't know where she's going to school but it might mean something.

[toastgremlin]

Might be worth throwing a little bit of money and time at the Saturn to see if it can be freshened up. Sometimes that's all it takes - fresh windshield, polish the paint, clean the interior - and it'll feel like a new car.

Plus, eight grand makes a huge difference to an undergrad. At U of C that's a full year of tuition plus a pretty good chunk on top.

[Stealth22]

Obviously, a teenager's idea of a decent car will differ from their parents. Personally, I'd tell her to keep the car, but there are a few options if you have to buy something newer.

In that price range, either a Corolla, Civic, Mazda 3, or Impreza will do, although a Civic/Corolla would be easier to find than an Impreza.

I'll don a flamesuit before saying this, but why not look at the Ford Fusion as well? Obviously the latest generation (2013+) is a really nice car, but it would cost you $25K to get one. Take a look online though, even the 2010-2012 gen was half-decent. I rented that generation of Fusion a couple of times, and I thought it was a pretty decent car. Flame me all you want, but I actually liked it better than a Corolla, TBH. A 2010+ Fusion will be on the higher end of your budget, but you could see what a 2008-2009 one costs...although I've never seen a Fusion from that generation up close.

But all of the above being said, she has a 2001 Saturn now, and she got it for free. Can't really argue with free, right?

I was just giving you ideas on cars to look at, IF you were going to get one. But truth be told, I'd tell her to save the money, and buy a brand new car when she's done university.

But here comes some ammo that you can use. I can SORT OF see where she's coming from. I've been through a pretty similar situation before.

I had a "perfectly reliable" 2000 Sunfire at one point, but after owning it for a while, I hated it. I wanted a newer car. Sound familiar?

We all know that there are costs associated with owning a car...the #1 sticking point for university students is insurance. If she buys a 2008+ vehicle of any brand, you'll be spending decent coin on the car, so you'll want collision insurance. Oh, whoops...unless it's on dad's insurance, her premiums just tripled. If she wants something newer, you might end up giving out a loan if the car is insured under her name.

I ditched the Sunfire that I had in the early years, and leased a brand new car. I was originally looking at 1-3 year old cars, but Corollas and Civics of that age were almost as much as brand new. It was cheaper for me to lease a brand new one instead, and get a low interest rate. At the time, I could afford it, and Dad (who, funnily enough, wanted me to keep the older car) said "If you can pay for it, you can buy it". It was the best course of action at the time, but after going through it, I'd never recommend leasing to anyone. (My current car, I bought brand new, and paid cash)

My "totally awesome" brand new car was written off when one of our city's fine citizens ran a red light and hit me. Airbags went off, and thankfully, I wasn't hurt. But the car sacrificed itself...the front end was totaled. It was only two years old, and I had replacement coverage through insurance. But the car was leased, so I only got half the money. I had some help on the insurance, but it was only a Corolla. The premiums weren't that terrible. Yeah, it was only a Corolla. Yeah, I had insurance. But it didn't change the fact that my brand new car was gone, and I was back to driving an older, used car.

If I had to do it all over again, I probably would have kept the Pontiac in the first place, or maybe swapped it for something a year or two newer. You can let her upgrade to something newer if she won't back down, but after thinking about it, I'd say don't go too new. Insurance on a newer car might cost you more long-term than the car itself, and it'll get dinged on campus.

TL;DR -- Tell your kid to save the money, and take a vacation. Full insurance coverage on a newer car will kill her premiums. She can buy a brand new car when she's done university and has a few more years of driving under her belt.

My $0.02.

[Strider]

Hyundai Accent L - Brand new, $11k all-in, 5 year warranty
http://www.hyundaicanada.com/Pages/S...romotions.aspx

[Stealth22]

^ OP said his kid can't drive stick. Fine print says its a manual transmission. Probably a base model with no options too.

[Strider]

Originally posted by Stealth22
^ OP said his kid can't drive stick. Fine print says its a manual transmission. Probably a base model with no options too.

She can learn... Power Windows and Air Conditioning are overrated anyways.

$10k doesn't buy much these days...
7 year old Civic with 100k+ km
or brand new Hyundai with 5 years of warranty