This 2018 Hyundai Tucson with 50,000 miles on it for $18k is a complete and utter waste of money. And here’s why. This $18k used vehicle has just as much warranty remaining as a $10k used vehicle, or even a $3k used vehicle, i.e. none.And recent Hyundai and Kia vehicles are not known for reliability, especially their engines. Too bad the 10 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty is only available to the original owner, and dies upon sale of the vehicle to a second or subsequent owner, And the basic 3-year/36,000 mile warranty is long-gone.
Either buy a new vehicle, or buy a much older and cheaper used vehicle.
And I would strongly suggest going the “much older and cheaper” route, especially for a young person starting out. In fact, the vehicle I would recommend is the 1997-2001 Toyota Camry with the 4-cylinder engine. I can literally think of no higher-quality, more reliable, or more comfortable vehicle at any price, nor can I think of any vehicle which offers more bang-for-the-buck. Even now, with these models being approximately 25 years old, they remain some of the most common cars on the road here (southern AZ), and parts and service for them remain readily-available. These models are also inexpensive to insure, inexpensive to maintain, and inexpensive to drive (fuel, etc).
It is highly probable that a properly-maintained 1997-2001 Toyota Camry in good condition can last much longer than this 2018 Hyundai Tucson, both in years and in miles remaining. Even at a dealer, this car can be had for about $6k with low miles (120k or less) and in excellent condition. Private party is even less, obviously.
Consumer Reports has a good article on the topic of Best Used Cars for Teens. If you can’t open the article, let me know and I’ll post some excerpts from the article.
Kinda what I was meaning, it can show a lot of good, but also not show all the bad… A lot of people use Carfax as a be-all end-all and it clearly is not…
EDIT to add: A vehicle could be perfectly maintained and then involved in a crash and totaled out, then the owner being a back yard body man, make it look good but pull the frame back out and other critical points and weaken the metal and therefor make the vehicle not as safe in another crash, but make it all shiny and look good, then it shows up on a dealer lot with a great Carfax report with hidden structural damage and the average buyer would not know until it was to late… I have seen a lot of shoddy work in the business when the vehicles come in for alignments… Lots of bad people out there that just don’t care… Now you and I can spot this stuff, but not everyone can…
As a follow on for @Beeper1971, most if not all Consumer Reports information is available online at consumerreports.org. If you have a library card, you could use the public library’s website to log in if they have a subscription.
Dealers use trade ins, but a lot come from auctions, that is why the Carfax shows it living in Florida (or where ever) all it’s life and then it shows up on the used lot of the new car dealer and you are looking at it somewhere in another state… My point is, you don’t know if you are buying my old vehicle or not…
Only Mustangman has addressed the reality of an 18 year old receiving a “free car”.
With few exceptions they are inexperienced drivers and will also “Treat it like it cost them”.
My suggestion is that you treat it as a disposable item, with the emphasis on safety, which will quickly be disposed of as soon as they are able to get financing to buy their own vehicle and own nsurance , when their perpsective will quickly change.
The big plus is that when they have their “first real job” or graduate, you now have the $10,000 - $15,000 to gift them as a downpayment on “their first real vehicle”.