First kid driving – What car-small SUV?

It’s amazing how any of us survived without AWD tanks.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

It’s amazing how any of us survived without AWD tanks.

Agreed. It also amazes me that people buy there kids first vehicles for more then a few grand. I guess I had it rough. No one ever gave me a vehicle. I actually couldn’t drive till I was 17 and afford My own rig. Damn parents were not easy on me

CaptainMusky wrote:

Its either 4WD or AWD

I think most of us would prefer that too, but I would definitely take FWD over RWD any day of the week. You aren’t going to get very far here if you ONLY have RWD. A lot of sedans that aren’t AWD are in fact FWD. My wife’s SUV is intelligent 4WD, but when it is not engaged in that mode, it is a FWD which is far better than just being a RWD.

From a full time firefighters perspective. Buy the newest vehicle you can afford. The safety features in newer vehicles is far superior to vehicles made even 10 years ago. I can’t remember the last time I had to cut a person out of a newer vehicle. Even after a roll over. 15-20 years ago, it was a monthly occurance. Happy shopping.

riverrookie wrote:

The safety features in newer vehicles is far superior to vehicles made even 10 years ago

This! Larger size does not necessarily = safer.

I have 2 teenagers so I am a expert on this. First kid got a 2011 Nissin Sentra with 100k paid $3700 for it. Great car to learn and take the test with. Me and the wife drive it sometimes as its a fun FWD car with great millage. One thing is insurance will double what you would pay (Full coverage for me was $75 month with my son it went to $150 a month) keep that in mind the older the car the better price and if you can get just liability insurance better/cheaper yet. 2nd son is getting a 2008 CRV from Florida. Rust free 120k $6500. This SUV will go to my oldest and my youngest will learn in the Sentra and take his test with it also. After he drives it for a year I will sell it for what I paid for it and get another small AWD SUV mostly for the safety and AWD in the winter.
I looked last year at a lot of junk in the $4000-$5000 range, but there are diamonds out there you just have to have cash in hand and jump on them ASAP unless you know the car form a family member or friend.

CaptainMusky wrote:

You spun out in a trailblazer and prefer FWD?

Yep – I would prefer FWD to the Trailblazer’s 4WD/AWD. Goes to show how bad that trailblazer’s 4WD was. Very top-heavy too.

IDK, I have gone through a ton of snow with every trailblazer or envoy we have had. Sometimes more than some pickups I have had over the years. I suspect you had terrible tires.

I’ll buy that the Trailblazer I had was top heavy and didn’t corner well when bombing it around locally. However, with average tires it grabbed the road well and was tough to get stuck in Winter.

Yeah, they dont handle the greatest and the second you start driving them in town the mileage plummets.

gimruis wrote:

The issue with a Kia or Hyundai right now is theft. They are magnets for theft. Some insurance companies will not even insure them right now. Just something to be aware of.

That is not true of all Kia or Hyundai, but you are correct. There are some model’s that are some of the easiest stolen auto’s and thus some insurance companies are no longer insuring them.

breakerbreaker wrote:

If it was me Id go salvage title regardless.

Be careful with buying a Salvage title car. I’d check with your insurance carrier before purchasing it. Some insurance companies will not insure a Salvage titled car. most those that do often will only do so at Liability only.

I have bought 2 work vehicles in the last 14 years for $3500 for both. One was a Chevy malibu that I never had an issue with in the snow. Good tires and responsible driving are key. I drive country roads to work that don’t get plowed right away and never a problem. People would even ask why I would drive that car when we would get a big snow storm and leave my truck at home. I work on cars daily and you wouldn’t believe how many I see with worn out tires. Have a 20 Chevy pick up in the shop now with cords showing on the tires. You can have all the safety features in the world but they won’t do you any good if the tires are junk.

CaptainMusky wrote:

IDK, I have gone through a ton of snow with every trailblazer or envoy we have had. Sometimes more than some pickups I have had over the years. I suspect you had terrible tires.

Could be the 4WD system was faulty too.
My first car was a ’99 2-door Chevy Blazer. It was awesome in the snow. One of my classmates got his sedan stuck in snow at the bottom of a hill and I pushed him all the way up.

I bought both of my daughters Chevy Equinox’s. I have been happy with them. They have AWD and are affordable. I would stay away from an Equinox that was 2014 and older as they had engine problems.

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ralph Wiggum wrote:</div>
It’s amazing how any of us survived without AWD tanks.

Agreed. It also amazes me that people buy there kids first vehicles for more then a few grand. I guess I had it rough. No one ever gave me a vehicle. I actually couldn’t drive till I was 17 and afford My own rig. Damn parents were not easy on me

X3. Took out a loan at 16 for my 1985 Oldsmobile cutlass that I paid $1700 for. In high-school worked as a line cook at Perkins 30 hours a week. I didnt take school very seriously but still got B’s and C’s. Paid the loan, gas and insurance on my own.

My wife’s parents gave them credit cards and cars with the condition they would pay for everything as long as they kept their grades up and played in sports. My wife was a straight A studnet but her brother was a dipchit. I know for a fact that this will be a huge fight between us. Not to say there isnt some merit in the method my wifes parents used, but I am a big believer that teenagers need to pay their own way and learn responsibility

Strictly from an insurance cost perspective you are best off with a small/midsize SUV like a Rav4 or similar at a price point you are comfortable going Liability only on. Also, make sure your kid(s) know the biggest discounts they can get are for getting good grades (3.0 or higher) and not having any tickets or accidents.

I know Fishthumper is an insurance guy so I hope he chimes in but this discussion around insurance is intriguing because I believe that MN does NOT require you to declare/tell your insurance agent about an underage driver. As long as the vehicle is covered they are covered. So if that is true, you could save a ton on insurance. Dont take my word for it, but I believe that to be the case. My agent told me that several years ago anyway. He said its their job to find out if you have underage drivers. Now if someone other than your kids crashed the vehicle or your kid crashed someone else’s that could certainly be a problem.

Bearcat89 wrote:

No one ever gave me a vehicle. I actually couldn’t drive till I was 17 and afford My own rig.

I didn’t even have a cell phone until I got to college! Now I see 10 year olds walking around with 1500 dollar smart phones.

BigWerm wrote:

Strictly from an insurance cost perspective you are best off with a small/midsize SUV like a Rav4 or similar at a price point you are comfortable going Liability only on. Also, make sure your kid(s) know the biggest discounts they can get are for getting good grades (3.0 or higher) and not having any tickets or accidents.

X2. Bigwerm is totally correct. I told my my Daughter I will cover her Insurance while she is in school. I did tell her if she has a accident, gets a ticket, or falls off the good student discount, she has to pay what ever our insurance cost increases because of it. Knock on wood, in the 3+ years she’s been licensed, She’s never had a ticket or accident and never fallen off the good student discount.

crappie55369 wrote:

<Agreed. It also amazes me that people buy there kids first vehicles for more then a few grand. I guess I had it rough. No one ever gave me a vehicle. I actually couldn’t drive till I was 17 and afford My own rig. Damn parents were not easy on me

X3. Took out a loan at 16 for my 1985 Oldsmobile cutlass that I paid $1700 for. In high-school worked as a line cook at Perkins 30 hours a week. I didnt take school very seriously but still got B’s and C’s. Paid the loan, gas and insurance on my own.

My wife’s parents gave them credit cards and cars with the condition they would pay for everything as long as they kept their grades up and played in sports. My wife was a straight A studnet but her brother was a dipchit. I know for a fact that this will be a huge fight between us. Not to say there isnt some merit in the method my wifes parents used, but I am a big believer that teenagers need to pay their own way and learn responsibility

Yep. Its a totally different world that we are raising out kids in today than it was when we were kids. Don’t let it become to big of a issue between you and your wife. I think a little give and take on both your sides will be needed to work the situation out. Remember, both methods worked out well enough to get you to where you are both at today.

CaptainMusky wrote:

I know Fishthumper is an insurance guy so I hope he chimes in but this discussion around insurance is intriguing because I believe that MN does NOT require you to declare/tell your insurance agent about an underage driver. As long as the vehicle is covered they are covered. So if that is true, you could save a ton on insurance. Dont take my word for it, but I believe that to be the case. My agent told me that several years ago anyway. He said its their job to find out if you have underage drivers. Now if someone other than your kids crashed the vehicle or your kid crashed someone else’s that could certainly be a problem.

It kind of depends. I would look over your policy closely and make sure you did not sign anywhere that says you will inform them is any new licensed drivers are part of your household. Most insurance companies often run what is called a driver discovery search from time to time on households. This often will reveal someone with a drivers license that matches your home address. At this point they may automatically add them as a rated driver in the household. This is the most common way that I find out about children that are now licensed. I have had children that became licensed and had a accident and we had not been informed of the licensed child or found out through discovery about them. In my cases, the claim was paid and the child was then added as a licensed rated driver on the policy going forward. I have heard of some insurance companies who have refused to pay the claim because their client was informed that they were required to Inform the insurance company if any new licensed driver joined their household and had access to their cars. Not sure if this clears up your question or makes it even more unclear.

Thanks FishThumper for sharing! I certainly wouldnt want to lead someone astray I was just going by what my agent had told me several years ago. Funny, my oldest is now out on his own and he has taken to hoarding cars. I tried to get insurance at the place where I have my house insurance and have the GTO under him. The prices were ridiculous! He ended up going out on his own to Progressive and getting it for like half price. Granted its a fairly high deductible, but its still lower than if it was insured under me at that place and she quoted me Progressive as well. Not sure what the deal was there. He did have to drive around with that thing plugged in for a while which made him have to behave for a while LOL

CaptainMusky wrote:

. Now if someone other than your kids crashed the vehicle or your kid crashed someone else’s that could certainly be a problem.

As far as if your insurance will cover another person driving your car depends on if your insurance company allows what is called full permissive use or not. Some do, and others do not. If your company does allow permissive use. Anyone who you give permission to use your auto is covered by your policy. In Minnesota. Insurance follows the Car, Not the driver !!!! They only exception is the PIP part of your insurance coverage. This will often follow the drivers policy, even when driving someone else’s auto

CaptainMusky wrote:

Thanks FishThumper for sharing! I certainly wouldnt want to lead someone astray I was just going by what my agent had told me several years ago. Funny, my oldest is now out on his own and he has taken to hoarding cars. I tried to get insurance at the place where I have my house insurance and have the GTO under him. The prices were ridiculous! He ended up going out on his own to Progressive and getting it for like half price. Granted its a fairly high deductible, but its still lower than if it was insured under me at that place and she quoted me Progressive as well. Not sure what the deal was there. He did have to drive around with that thing plugged in for a while which made him have to behave for a while LOL

If this is a older GTO or even a new one that is not used as a daily driver, Have him check into insuring it through Hagerty or JC Taylor. They are a insurance company who mostly does Classic and Muscle Cars. Their rates are often Crazy low. They also offer agreed’d on value loss policies that will pay out far greater amounts than through regular car insurance companies.

Its a 2006. His rates that he is paying now are quite good, but I will pass that along to him. He has 2 other cars so this thing isnt his daily driver. He has an AWD Pontiac Vibe that is his daily and a Fiero (clutch is shot so it doesnt run and isnt insured). He’s hoarding Pontiacs like I hoard GMCs LOL

CaptainMusky wrote:

Its a 2006. His rates that he is paying now are quite good, but I will pass that along to him. He has 2 other cars so this thing isnt his daily driver. He has an AWD Pontiac Vibe that is his daily and a Fiero (clutch is shot so it doesnt run and isnt insured). He’s hoarding Pontiacs like I hoard GMCs LOL

Worth the check. My guess is the rates will be far better than with Progressive and much better coverage’s. Especially if he has a total loss. Once again this is only for non daily driver cars, although I think they will also do insurance for daily drivers, just not as inexpensive. Its crazy how low some of the premiums are on some real high agreed’d value auto’s I have insured with them.

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ralph Wiggum wrote:</div>
It’s amazing how any of us survived without AWD tanks.

Agreed. It also amazes me that people buy there kids first vehicles for more then a few grand. I guess I had it rough. No one ever gave me a vehicle. I actually couldn’t drive till I was 17 and afford My own rig. Damn parents were not easy on me

It’s a whole different world now.My first almost free vehicle was a 1969 Oldsmobile F85 with a”W31″ option.Basically a grandpa car with a hot 350.All manual everything and no one was interested in that at the time,plus got 6MPG and never ran right.Uncle worked at an Olds dealer and it was a trade-in.Had it for a week,and my brother’s friend wrecked it.Bought a 1969 Galaxie with the money he gave me,that car was a tank and went through everything including gas

Yeah you dont get much of a vehicle for a few grand now. I bought a 2003 Envoy for my son for $2k, but that was 5 years ago. Now Id probably get $4k for it if I chose to sell it.

Couple of thoughts for whatever it’s worth. We owned a couple Mitsubishi SUV’s and biggest pile of turds I ever seen. Weakest pos parts used. After countless repairs, dumping them was a blessing.

Just before Christmas I witnessed a rollover. Subaru suv. Don’t remember the exact model. But it rolled twice. Car was totaled, but it did its job well. Young lady had zero injuries, air bag designs was awesome. Hope like heck your kid is never in an accident, but how that Subaru performed was very impressive