Question of the Day: I'm 16, Looking for a Used Car Less Than $10,000

Our young questioner wants a vehicle that’s fast and reliable, with at least six cylinders, and he wants the whole shebang for under 10 grand. He certainly came to the right place. Ask.cars.com has a specific recommendation that should meet his needs. Sometimes, though, you can't have it all. Our friend may have to pay a bit more for the engine he wants, or lose two cylinders for a more reasonable price.

I'm 16 and looking for a used car for less than $10,000 (Ask.cars.com)

Comments

"Fast" should not be in any criteria for a 16 year old driver. And people wonder why I feel safe when driving my Ford Explorer, but not my wife's Malibu.

Cars.com should be embarassed to print such a stupid request from such a young driver. To recommend an Accord coupe w/ a V6 to a sixteen year is simply irresponsible. I wonder what your "associates" Click and Clack would say.

Jeez, I guess no one else was ever 16 and wanted a nice car. And in a 16 year old's eyes, fast means nice. A V-6 Accord is no barn burner. Any car can get up to speed, some just take a little longer. If that kid has the 4 or 6 cylinder he will be just as deadly. What if the kid had said he was 18 and going into the military would anyone view it differently? Or if the kid was just 18? If you look at the age groups either way he is allowed to drive and is twice, three, or five times as likely as older drivers to get into an accident. I am suprised they would push an Accord though. A 2 door Accord is an older women's car if I know my stereotypes right. But as I don't know the gender of the person asking the question, maybe they are pretty close.

I'm with the first two posters as clearly Bloke is full of assumptions and a certain level of ignorance. No 16 year old should be concerned with going fast and certainly no legitimate car source with assist him. That probably explains why for serious car talk I turn to the Edmunds blogs.

Robert7,

What am I being ignorant about? If you can't see the realities of the situation, then I say you are ignorant. Were you 16 and concerned with going fast, ever? Again I ask, would it be different if the person were 18, would he then be able to be concerned about going fast? If you don't think this is serious car talk, then why post?

I do understand what everyone is talking about in terms of 16 year olds not needing to go fast, but what about the rest of us? Whether 16 or 41, that v/6 will go the same speed, and speeding increases the chances of accidents, and in this world where auto companies try to push the v-6 or v-8 instead of the 4 cylinder (and most obey, otherwise we wouldnt be paying nearly $4/gal for gas), dont go too far in badmouthing 16 year olds and their need for speed w/o looking in the mirror.

Yeah if I was 16 and I wanted a car for "under $10k" that wouldn't exactly mean $9,999.99

The Accord may be bulletproof in ratings, but hardly a good choice for a shrewd shopper. What about the Solara coupe? 100% Camry, with slightly less practical packaging. Or since he never specified how many doors he would want, You can still find Mazda's 626 in decent condition. Also on the good but unloved list: late 90's Infiniti i30. The one based on the Maxima?

But if it was my kid, he'd have to suffer though less charitable rides. Saturn LS, Grand Am, Dodge Stratus, Nissan Sentra, Chevy Malibu, Ford Taurus (old style). It doesn't need to be 100% reliable because kids need to learn how to be suffucent w/out a car (especially at today's gas prices).

Who in their right mind would think that the two door Honda Accord is an old ladies car? What planet do you live on??

Barry,

You don't see who is out driving those mid size coupes, almost all of them with an automatic? I hope I didn't offend you with that comment, it was really meant as a joke. But in my own, personal opinion, and from what I have read about mid size coupes like the accord or solara, they are marketed and geared towards women. And women who would have the money to afford it are not typically of the younger variety.

Bloke,

All I see is full of sxxt.

No 16 year old newbie driver need anything north of 4 cylinder. They need to learn how to drive like they have a brain first before whecking everyone else on the road.

J,

You must not see too much if all you see is sxxt. It is not about what you need it is about what you want. Are you willing to pass a law that says 16 yr olds can't buy anything with more than 4 cylinders? And then what, will you make sure the hp is kept low? Then after that are you going to make sure and time the car so it doesn't go faster than 8 sec 0-60 or something? And even after that are you going to limit the top speed?

I totally agree that a new driver needs to learn how to drive before they drive a lot. But a V-6 compared to a 4 cyl is not a big deal with an Accord. That was the whole deal above. Yeah give that kid a 300 hp sports car and he will be more likely to speed (I think), but given a 4 cyl, the kid can still cause plenty of damage. If you can't see that then you are seeing nothing but sxxt.

I still haven't heard what anyone thinks if the kid was 18, does that make a difference?

I was standing near ice cream store 2 days ago. Then I saw one 16yo driving Explorer through parking lot in the shopping center, speeding by parked cars. Then another one, driving some sedan, did the same thing. Girls. They were working there.
They had no thought that somebody might just started to move beckwards to unpark. I mean, if they continue to drive like this - it guarantee that they will hit somebody someday.

Tony, that is really what I am trying to say. The car doesn't make the big difference, the driver does.

You can hit 100 mph in almost any car four or six cylinder.
Like I said on the Ask site, the bodystyle gives some sporty feeling and the V-6 of this era teamed to FWD isn't going to be some rocketsled. We could have told him to go find an old Mustang V-8 but we didn't. Whoever thinks the V-6 Accord is a reckless choice isn't really thinking of what the actual car drives like.

Bloke

It takes longer to do the same damage given less power.
Remember, they are more likely to hit others than the others hit them.
It's like you must give them either a knife or a gun. Which one will you choose?

Dave,

It is a reckless choice.
It has too much power for a new driver to handle.
My first car was also an Accord. But it has more than what I need to power it.
Given more power, what will a 16 year old boy stereotypically do? Speed through the traffic like in a slalom.

But you do get one point right, a 4 cylinder car could go over 100mph. (I've persoanlly tried with the Accord clocking in at 115mph.) But why does that matter? Where in the public road in the U.S. allows that speed legally?

J,

Yet again you make absolutely no sense. It takes more time to do the same damage with less power? What? If there is an accident doesn't it happen all at once? Why are they more likely to hit others? They could just as easily not pay attention and run a red light or cut someone off and get hit.

And Dave's point has nothing to do with speed limits. It is the idea that speed itself that kills, not how fast you get there.

One more thing J, I think it would be more like, do you give them a big gun or a small gun, it that case they are both very dangerous.

Bloke,
That was my point. Any car is dangerous if the driver isn't well trained. 16 or 36. Every day I see some awful drivers in very powerful cars and suvs and they're not teenagers.

Well, Dave, guess what. Why do you think the insurance companies charge those 16 year old a much higher premium?

Bloke,

The thing is, it is not about an accident happening at what rate. But rather how often does it happen with different power levels. Given more power, the teenager are more likely to engage in higher speed driving and risk-taking maneuvers.
Don't need to argue with me, talk to the insurance companies and the ones who does the studies for them.

J, those insurance companies are going to charge the kid based on his age. It is a higher rate for anyone who has a faster car.

You can argue all you want for giving a kid a high powered car, but they lack the maturity to safely use the power. The graveyards are full of teens who didn't know their limits. Buy the kid a four cylinder and tell them you're doing it to save on their gasoline costs, and maybe they'll thank you for it.

How is a 160 hp Accord not a powerful car? You really think there aren't just as many kids that have died driving 4 cyl cars?

Bloke,

A. Who said anything about a 160hp Accord?
B. Why are they getting charged higher rates?
C. Did you even compare the rates of the very same teen driver with a different power car?

Just a side note:
Kids die with lack of experience.
Drivers die with higher power car.
Give the kids a higher power car = doubling the chance of killing themselves.

J, like I said it costs more for a kid, and even more if that kid, or anyone else, to have a higher horsepower car. And the 160 hp is a 4 cyl, maybe I am not dead on, but it is close enough.

Again do the kids drive fast in a lower horsepower car? I believe so, just as much as if they had a higher horsepower car. What do you think everybody is out street racing all the time and that is what causes the accidents? I don't believe so. I say it is lack of attention, lack of skill, and lack of motivation to drive safe, speed will only magnify the situation. If you think the math is that easy, I don't think you have a great future in the insurance business.

Darn right, I am not going for insurance business.

If it takes longer for them to accelerate to a speeding velocity (avoid using speeding speed to create confusion), it means it is less likely for them to speed because there are something called traffic signals.
And remember, I have never mentioned anything about a 160hp 4 cylinder for the kid.

J, you make the assumption that they will stop at those signals, and that includes stop signs. And so what if you didn't say anything about a 160 hp car, it is close to that for a 4 cyl, you said a 4 cyl.

Bloke,
So this is getting uncivil now, huh?
Please list how many 4 cylinder engines makes exactly 160hp that is being applied to a car.
BTW, we should have assumed that we are talking about used cars, since it is what the topic says, and it needs to be under 10,000 dollars.

J, call it uncivil if you want to, I still don't see how you have made a point yet. It is not the amount of hp that matters. The 2000 Accord 4 cyl put out 150 hp. But maybe the kid can get a 2003 for around $10,000 which does have a 4 cyl that puts out 160 hp.