First car problems
How often do we see young car enthusiasts asking "the" question: What car should be my first. Let me help you think it through.
Corsa B
To most, your first car is crucial in the "freedom" aspect of youth. And since most of us are car enthusiasts in the least, your first car needs to "speak" for you, as in what type of car lover you are.
WRONG!
Actually, you need to learn how to drive well first, then you can explore more and open up to specific car types and drive trains. Let's face it, you're a teen and you don't know cause and effect properly yet because rebelliousness, etc. So yes, you WILL experiment and you WILL try to show off. Mostly... Understandably there are upstanding youth in this world, but mostly teens are driven by hormones and dumb decisions.
First off, let's talk Budget. Something very rarely covered in school unless you take economics, and unless you concentrate real hard, you aren't gonna pay that much attention to it until well after college.
Most teens have an allowance or do odd jobs to help them save up for their first car or their parents/guardians will help them buy their first car. Then said teen jumps on Social Media with the question: "What should my first car be, guys? My budget is XXXXX". Normally it is accompanied by a loose set of suggested cars, from B Corsa's to Fox body Mustang's to Merc's and Lambo's for the super rich ones.
On the serious side, when buying a used car, these are things you actually need to consider!
Replacement parts of things that usually go wrong with your choice of car and if you're serious about getting a second hand car, do some research on what usually goes wrong with it. Go to that car's online owners forum and ask. Tally up the costs and see if it's worth it. The usual story is shocks, clutch, gearbox, specific electronic parts and the odd "this makes car X unique" type problem. On average, something goes wrong on an older car at least once a month, especially with daily use. So before you buy a pre-owned car, have a trusted mechanic go with you and let him take a look at those things you have researched about. There's a ton of tips on YouTube on what to look for when buying used. Use them as backup or if you can't find a mechanic to go with.
My Suggestion for a first car for Mr/Miss teen?
Try your best to go for a new entry level type car, as per above. Why? Well, for one, they will at least come with a warranty and service plan so much less to worry about. Replacement parts are inexpensive and within budget so if anything goes wrong with it, take it back to the dealership to get it fixed. You won't get stuck on the side of the road every other week and best of all, they come with lots of creature features.
Ok, so they're not fast but that's a good thing because you can get used to stuff like body roll and lack of tyre grip to help keep you in check on the odd hooning session. You can modify them experiment to your liking with car sound, rims, stickers, etc to make them reflect who you are. And lastly, if you crash, they all come with good occupant protection. So in theory, it should be easy to convince Mom and Dad to get you that new ride. Yes, that was my preaching moment.
Looking at the above two pics, most would actually like the modified Up! compared to the "modified" BMW E36. Bodykits don't really exist for new small segment cars(so Mr/Miss teen can't outright ruin it) but you can lower it, put rims on it or sticker bomb it. Tastefully modding a small new car comes to about the same price as the bodykit, rims and paint job of the poor BMW above, but with much less hate.
The small segment cars fit most parents' budgets, fuel and insurance costs are low, most parents won't have to worry about you doing 200+km/h when they aren't looking because the small segment cars on average take around 15 seconds to reach 100km/h, topping out at 160km/h. Give or take.
If by any chance you build cars as a hobby and have been doing it with your dad for 10 years, by all means, get your build on and make it awesome. But it's an expensive hobby and if you haven't got a clue about how to drive, chances are you're going to bin it while going too fast during a drunk show off session with your friends. I would suggest, take the safer route and work your way up.
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