Car for my son

Wranglers are great off-road vehicles but they have atrocious gas mileage, poor handling and get poor results in crash tests. As such, they are probably a less than ideal choice for a 19 year old teenage boy. How about a 6 cylinder mustang convertible as an alternative? Or if he is really set on getting an SUV a used ford escape with a sunroof might be a good compromise?
Good luck!
MPA Victoria

I don’t know why people automatically assume that a college aged kid will flip any truck/SUV they come in contact with.

I have seen it happen. A college kid who was distracted strayed off the road onto the dirt shoulder. She over-corrected a couple times and flipped her SUV. I believe it was a Jeep Liberty.

Many young people do stupid things, and if more of them were in maneuverable cars with a lower center of gravity, I think they would have fewer accidents.

…and I agree that the Cobalt looks NOTHING like a sports car.

It’s kind of ironic that “cap and trade” was the conservative answer to energy and pollution policy, until Obama said he was for it.

In a related headline:

[i]Obama’s Declaration Of Swine Flu Emergency Prompts Pro-Swine-Flu Republican Response[/i] (not really, but you get my point)

Yes, it was his trademark anti-establishment vehicle, together with his squint and dirty raincoat.

Still the majority of young people with SUV/trucks do not flip them over. Granted the Hip hop crowd does have more accidents than the Hip Op crowd. It doesn’t matter what they are driving though, chances are the young person in a Buick Regal is going to have higher chance of wrecking it than the 40, 50, or 60-something person in Tahoe.

I am 19 years old, and I’m saving up for a used Volvo myself. I actually think they’re kind of cute. Sleek and classy. We had a oldy for about 7 years, and it was the absolute sturdiest, safest car ever. I agree, perfect teen car!

The OP doesn’t specify whether it will be a new Jeep or a used one, which makes a huge difference in terms of safety, economy, and comfort. A brand new Wrangler is fundamentally different from Wranglers from years past. He also says his son is in college in Florida, but doesn’t say where he lives. If he comes home to an area that gets snow, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better 4x4 in the snow. Also, I’m not familiar with St. Petersburg, but will he be driving ON the beach or just TO the beach? In the case of the former, the 4x4 will be helpful.

I am 27 and have owned nothing but Wranglers. The second (and current) Wrangler, an 02 X model, came when the first was wrecked. I was hit on the driver’s side front axle by a Taurus that ran a stoplight at 35 miles an hour. The Jeep did a 180 on dry pavement but did not flip. My passenger and I walked away. I won’t assert that Jeeps are the safest around, but within its class (Trackers, Amigos, even some of the small SUVs) it fares well.

Jeeps are a basket full of compromises. They’re inefficient, noisy, and unrefined. They’re also among the most fun vehicles I’ve driven. Cruising to the beach with the top and doors off is hard to beat (been there, done that many times). My Jeep now has nearly 170,000 miles on it, and it will be around for a long time.

I’d have sworn he drove a Nash Metropolitan.

You’re possibly right about the Wrangler in snow if you’re talking about a couple of feet of snow, but part-time 4x4’s are pretty nasty on roads that are merely icy or snowy but not snowy enough to use the 4wd. When I have to get somewhere on the highway in the snow, I’d take my little front wheel drive Honda with snow tires over my 4x4 any day.

A lot of people (young and old) seem to think that 4x4=good in the snow without realizing the specific abilities and limitations of a part time 4x4. Again, an inexperianced driver who is unfamiliar with the handling of a high center of gravity vehicle and unfamiliar with part time 4wd is a recipe for disaster.

A friend’s only child went to law school. My friend’s wife insisted that he “fit in,” so he was given a new car and his entry into a fraternity was $upported. After all the years struggling to support the son, he graduated and soon went to work for an exclusive law firm and then immediately called home complaining that he was not “fitting in” because his car wasn’t up to the standards of his new friends. He insisted that his parents buy him the BMW that would befit his status. The refusal to buy that car caused the seperation and divorce of my friend. It occurred to me that saying NO early on might be preferable to waiting in such a circumstance.

But maybe I’m speaking out of place here. If so, excuse me.

No, it was definitely a Peugeot, possibly a Type 403.

When a vehicle is designed, it is optimized for the particular type of surface on which it will be driven. Jeep Wranglers are designed to be off-road vehicles, and as a result they are really the “best in class” when it comes to driving in that type of environment. Because of the fact that they are optimized for off-road use, Wranglers are nothing short of wretched, uncomfortable, and dangerous on paved roads and highways.

While almost everyone realizes that a conventional sedan like a Buick LeSabre or a Mercury Grand Marquis is ill-suited to off-road duty, for some bizarre reason, many people seem to think that an off-road vehicle like a Jeep Wrangler is a good car to drive on highways. Why this reverse thinking takes place, I do not know, but without question a Jeep Wrangler is only well-suited to off-road use.

Virtually any other vehicle would be more comfortable and safer for normal, everyday driving on paved roads. Then, when you throw their poor reliability into the mix, there is little logic to someone’s decision to use a Wrangler for use as a daily driver on paved roads.

When my son started to college, we let him take our 14 year old Oldsmobile. The college is 50 miles from our house, but he was living on campus. The car certainly wasn’t “cool”, but he didn’t mind. The first semester of his sophomore year he went on an off-campus study program 300 miles away whhich involved interstate travel. We put him in a 1988 Ford Taurus to make the trip. My son really didn’t want us to spend the money–he thought the old Oldsmobile was just fine, but I worried about his safety.

wants “cool” try the northern tier of the States this time of the year. Wants a car let him go work for one or pays you back with cash; not grades if you pay. Car, get him a Ford crown vic–he can afford it on a low budget. Let him get what he wants when he graduates with the earnings from his first job.

I see a few people talking about some v6 v8 sports cars, this is a bad idea for a 19 year old.

get him a 2.0T 9-3 Saab:
they are pretty cheap (mine was about 11k for an 04 with 56k miles)
they have good gas milage (i get 29-33 and I let it get high in RPMs)
they have power but not enough for racing (the 2.0T has 2 models one with 175 and one with like 215 horse power), they also look nice.
and all the 04+ models have a lot of great safty features and handle like an expensive sports car.

I have been very happy with mine.

and any 4x4 is a bad idea, don’t give a teenager something that can do doughnuts on the beach…its just to tempting.

Looks like he married the wrong girl; marriage vows have the “for better or worse, for rich or for poor” line in them! She obviously married for rich only.

It is worth noting here that Sam Walton (deceased) of the Walmart drove 14 year old pickup truck!

That is a very valid point; as someone who understands how to properly use a part time 4x4 I sometimes forget that they’re not as fool proof as a FWD or AWD…

This has been the case in the USA for over 30 years now for cars. I’m sure you know that minivans are all registered as trucks to avoid the gas guzzler tax. It’s about time it is extended to trucks, where the real fuel use occurs.

Sorry bout the Volvo/Columbo slip…
I am 19 years old, and I’m saving up for a used Volvo myself. I actually think they’re kind of cute. Sleek and classy. We had a oldy for about 7 years, and it was the absolute sturdiest, safest car ever. I agree, perfect teen car!
I guess you didn’t see CSA’s video reference. Enough to give most a second thought. It may have been safe in it’s time. But that was then. Please check it out.

Remind your son (when he makes the dean’s list) that you said you MAY get him a vehicle. Nothing in life is guaranteed, and being that promises are a part of life, those do not have guarantees, either.