Good First Car??

I've learned to roll with it. If you ask for people's opinions on this site, you're definitely going get people's opinions.

 

She wants a Tacoma. Get her a fn Tacoma. Be the Dad she hopes you are. Do it once. Do it right. Good luck. Edit: although, this could be fun https://buffalo.craigslist.org/cto/d/clarence-2008-mazda-miata-mx5-like-new/7683266040.html

 

Just need to keep in mind that when you ask for advice? Sometime you don't get the answer you're fishing for.
In 99% of the answers you get will be sound advice!
It may not be the advice you were looking for but it all should be considered towards making a good decision.

That being said?

Hey my Daughter wants a Bugatti Veyron, I want her to get the new 2023 For GT.
Which do you think I should get? I don't want to spoil her. But I want her to be happy?!

 

Get her a Gen 4. She's 16, most young'uns want the latest of everything!

 

GT for sure

 

A great first truck? Square Body Chevy. I have a 79 Silverado in mint condition with a fresh TH350 ready to go, you just need to bring a motor or I'll sell you one of my big blocks (although your daughter probably needs a plain Jane 350 as her first V8). Zero rust, show quality paint, and no mice since my wife rescues cats.

I cannot think of better daddy daughter time than her helping you bolt up a transmission to a small block, drop it in the engine bay, go through all the fluids and lube and check the brakes, fire her up, adjust timing, idles, carb stuff, etc. You will be setting her up for life by doing this.

 

My first truck - 1973 C10 long bed. No AC, no radio, manual steering and brakes, but an automatic. You could sit in the engine bay when you worked on the truck. Just an engine and a few wires. That was it! Seems funny now!

 

I can't say anything, I was spoiled as hell. My Dad bought me a 1971 FJ40 with a cracked engine block as first vehicle. He even found me a job putting up fence post on a ranch in Northern Arizona. Pretty much driving stakes into boulders. Anyways, we got a Chevy 250 from the salvage yard and that was my second engine swap. First one was on my mom's 66 Mustang when I was 14. Dad drank beer and walked me and my cousin through it. Good Times!

 

Why over buy soooo much vehicle for a first car?
A Taco seems pointless in this case.
(Meaning heavy and inefficient... it sounds like it will be used on flat, warm & moist roads...)

And - you all know she will not want the SR. What sort of image does that project!?!?!

Ideal Car: a manual corolla. Safe and efficient - great for the billion pointless trips coming up.

I'd suggest a carb model that she can learn to wrench on, but that may be pushing it.

I know my sister killed about 1 car per year for some 5 years starting in HS...

I have a few nephews early in driving age. Oh deary me...

 

Thats the plan. Buy this for yourself and give her your tacoma... Are you ready for that midlife crisis

 

My neighbor bought his son a black TRD PRO MT during peak price gouging and paid over 75k.

He babies it and is always washing it.

 

My two cents… I don’t think that a Taco is good first vehicle for anyone let alone a 16 year old. Is it safe? Sure. Is it the best choice to learn on? Hell no which in itself is a safety risk.

 

I have only owned one, a new 2017 Forester which after 6 years has been flawless.
My take is any car that lasts 100k or 10 years is without major issues is worth it - and so far I'm on the downhill slide to the 10th year in this Forester.

We always buy new cars, maintain them, don't abuse them, and they seem to last a while.

 

I'd like to see more pics of the 71-73 Mustang next to the square body!

 

An SUV like the Rav4 might be better than the Tacoma for hauling sports equipment.

 

Nice false equivalency fallacy. There's a huge difference between new and safe. The child obviously hasn't EARNED a new car, so yes, my statement stands. And as for your gaslighting attempt...if a teenager believes they deserve a new car, you've definitely fucked up.

 

If no one else is interested, I am. My 14 year old daughter is my only gearhead. Where ya located?

 

I always buy used cars, maintain them, don't abuse them and they seem to last forever too.
I also avoid the new car depreciation stuffs.

225K on the last BMW
I'm to 102K on the current BMW
Taco has like 70K on it

If I had a kid, I'd get them an older Honda Accord MT - reliable and I'm not gonna loose my shit if when they wreck it
MT cause that keeps their stupid friends from driving it + makes them focus on the driving a bit more than an AT

 

Totaled my 2018 a few weeks ago. All airbags deployed. I walked away with bruises and scratches. Saved me. I’m convinced it is a safe vehicle.

 

Since I can only have one car for myself, one of my thoughts was to have the Tacoma around as an extra vehicle by the time my kids start to drive.

I've often thought back how if I could do it again, I would've gotten a pickup as my first vehicle and try to keep it around as a beater later on. So it might not be a bad first vehicle to have. I remember one time a car rental person mentioned that if I drove a pickup I must know how to drive things. And someone else said something similar on a different occasion.

One major concern I have is remembering how stupid I was with other people at a young age driving around cars, especially ones with a moon roof, and can only think of the trouble of having a bed can get in. Mainly unsafely transporting people around in the bed.

The other cons, is that pickups are a little bit on the longer side which might make it harder to drive around, especially if someone is just starting out. But you figure if they can handle that, then smaller cars should be a breeze for them afterwards.

And in regards to bed weight, I did have a bad experience of having the rear of my previous truck break out from me in the snow before. In the south it might not be as big of an issue. I did try out a suggestion I found online about letting the bed fill with snow and use that as weight for the back. But I didn't like the way it felt like it was handling with it dragging down in the back. So just try to be more careful when driving in dicey conditions now.

edit-I also forgot that in terms of highway driving, I haven't really had issues with it and often commute for a stretch cruising at around 80 mph. I think in some situations building up speed is kind of slow, which is a concern when you get stuck behind a car that is practically stopped on a highway. But I ran into the same issue when driving someone's 4 cylinder car and realized it didn't have the pick up that I expected. Some people complain that they put a car engine into the Tacoma but that kind of suits my purposes. The Tacoma probably improved by 1 or 2 mpg over my previous truck. So I have no complaints about using it as a commuter other than maybe the size makes it hard to maneuver in some situations.