I am thinking to get a used car for my daughter, a 19 year old junior with computer science major for her summer job. She can drive stick. Here is dilemma, I would hope to get her truck, but haven?t seen anything beside Jeep, my wife thought to let her drive a pick up truck is joke, but my daughter loves idea. Any suggestion?
A Ford Ranger pickup with a four cylinder manual transmission.
The Ford Ranger with a 4 cylinder engine, two wheel drive and manual transmission might be a good choice for summer transportation. If the OP is in the snow belt, this might not be a great choice for winter driving depending upon the OP daughter’s driving skills. However, she is a computer science major and should have good reasoning skills, so with careful driving this might work in the winter as well (I am biased toward computer science majors since I teach computer science).
Why do you want to get her a truck? That’s not the best choice unless she really needs to haul stuff. Trucks don’t handle well in slippery conditions.
My daughter used my compact 2wd truck exclusivly during HS and college and always felt safe with her driving it…BUT, I would take precausions and make sure there is always reasonable weight in the back for balance. If done, they handle and drive safely.
In order//Toyota Tacoma 4 cyl, Ford f150 6cyl. Snow tires in winter snow for safety.
Good question, she has a summer job with IBM in Canada, then move back to UNC for her senior year, normal road condition is pretty good in summer there. I could find her a used Volvo 240, but hardly find manual one in US. I do not like to small car, saw too many people got trapped inside after accident. There is no leg room, no head space; survival rate is just too low.
I will give a serious look on Ford F150 and Ranger; don’t like to buy used Toyota, alwasy thought they are over priced.
Thanks All!
My 03 Ranger was fine in the snow for me, 10 times better than the little Toyota that was it’s predecessor. I have quite of bit of experience driving in the snow, and it was not as good as front wheel drive, or 4wd, but I managed to get through WI winters ok. It may have had an anti spin differential, but I do not know for sure.
Summers in Canada are the same as summers in most US states, like Ohio, Illinois, etc. You need to go North 1500 more miles, where there are no roads, to have snow in the summer. Check the National Geographic Atlas which has mean temperatures for nearly all places worldwide.
The perfect student car is a stick shift econobox such as the son of our neighbor has, a Cobalt 2 door coupe in bright red. The back seat folds down and he can even get his mountain bike into it. a Hyundai Accent hatchback would be good too! If your daughter needs to accommodate a surfboard, she may need something larger.
If I was a female student, the last thing on earth I would want to be seen in is a truck!
"don’t like to buy used Toyota, alwasy thought they are over priced."
You are absolutely right…but for good reason.