I was 6’3", mostly legs, a 2005 Tarus was fine for headroom but very cramped and uncomfortable for my legs.
I’m 6’5" - first, my sympathies to your son on having to deal with his height! As you no doubt know, the size of the car does not reliably correlate to head/leg room. I used to have a 2010 Jetta and I had more room in that than I do in our 2011 odyssey.
This is in a different category than the Taurus, but I have a 2017 Audi A4 that I fit very well in; I would wager your son would fit as well. I believe the VW Passat is on the same platform, so you may want to look at those.
I think your best bet would be if you could find another tall person to sit in the car. Otherwise, you may be better off telling your son and shopping together. It’s not the same surprise factor as having a car with a bow on it in the driveway, but you stand a better chance of getting a car that would work for him.
Daniel Pinkwater, an NPR commentator and author, wrote about how hard it was to find a car that fit his large body. He is both tall and husky. Pinkwater said That a car he fit easily into was a VW Bug.
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I think surprises are overrated. Especially on things that have long term impact. It’s a fun, cute idea that seems to justify the “they should be grateful” sentiment. The “will it fit” is such a huge (pardon the pun) and important personal “detail” that treating a car as a surprise seems to me as more about the giver than the recipient. If spending any money on a car there are ownership considerations beyond “will it fit”. Or beyond the also above implied question of “is it reliable?”. So many of them.
The joy of 5 mins of surprise definitely does not outweigh 1 whole year of real-world daily ownership details.
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Without any evidence, it just struck me that there seem to be a lot of tall Europeans. It might be that European models are more suited to a taller frame than Asian or US brands.
The one’s mentioned are German. To continue on that theme, I am 6’3’" and the car I owned with the most headroom other than a full-size pickup was a Porsche 924S. I also had to have the seat a few notches forward of its rearmost position.
Here’s a roomy reliable car: a Scion xB. LOTS of headroom. I’d get the second generation, much safer in a crash.
Just like with anything else, it varies.
As a group, the Dutch are the tallest folks in Europe, and the French tend to be shorter than most other Europeans.
I agree. The Japanese are supposed to be short. Take a trip to Tokyo and see the variation in body size. There are short people, but there are also taller people too. I never say 7 footers, but I did see 6 foot men and women’s at about 5’8”.
When I visited Mexico City, back in the ‘70s, I had the opportunity to ride on their brand-new subway system, which had been built by the same company that built the beautiful Montreal subway system. The Mexico City system was equally smooth and quiet, and it was immaculate, but I felt truly out of place. As I stood in those subway cars I towered over almost all of the other passengers, and I am only 5’10’’.
Most of the subway passengers were “Indios” who tend to be very short. By contrast, the wealthier Mexicans–who tend to travel by car–are of European extraction, and are much taller than the “Indios”.
Has he finished growing yet? Think custom seat.
Custom seat on a 15 year old Ford Taurus , what a waste of money .
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Neither was I, but I will say that given the choice between a 4 door sedan and something more “cool,” I’d have gone for the cooler thing. I remember when I bought my first car (with my money, not Dad’s), he tried very hard to get me into a 1989 Honda Accord. Poop brown. I ended up in a 1988 Honda CRX for the same price. Much cooler car.
We got our niece a car for her birthday awhile back. An old Avalon. She kept it for about a year and then bought her own car using money she didn’t have. She’s definitely not a rich kid but like many teenagers she makes poor choices including trading in a “boring” free car for a “cool” (to her - I don’t really consider a Focus cool either) car that cost her a few thousand.
So I agree with both of you; Your kid probably won’t be jazzed about a 4 door family sedan, but on the other hand if your kid wants something cooler then he can get a job and buy it himself.
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my 09 is kind of cool I guess 
but I think it’s cool because it’s been damn reliable over the past 11 years and it’s before they screwed up the transmission in the newer generation
Cool to us older farts is just a little different from cool to a teenager who has WRX tastes on a Schwinn budget. 
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shadowfax
Cool to us older farts is just a little different from cool to a teenager who has WRX tastes on a Schwinn budget.
Speaking of Schwinn when did they first come out? I seem to remember that it was past my biking day’s but not sure.
??? Schwinn was founded in 1895-how old are you???
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In the 50’s that I guess was the bike to have but I never thought much of them. I had an English 3 speed instead and I could smoke anyone on a Schwinn, and ride up hills too.
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If I remember right the Schwinn was expensive compared to other bikes and that is possibly why I don’t remember from when I was a kid as we were poor and come from back in the hill’s where expensive thing’s was not seen or advertised so I would not have seen a lot of thing’s until I got out on my own.
I prefer to assume you are 130 years old.
Schwinns were fairly expensive, but also heavy when I was a kid. My grandma gave me my first bike, a Schwinn. Thing was so heavy that I’d just roll over jumps without actually leaving the ground no matter how fast I pedaled. I preferred the cheap Huffy Thunder 50 my folks got me at Kmart. You could really catch air on that thing.