Good First Car For A Seventeen Year-Old

Hey all.

So I'm looking into cars because I'm getting ready for my permit and license and the whole shabang. I really, really want a Scion tC...I fell in love with them a few months back. I believe for a new one it's about $16,000. Way too much for a first car!

My question to everyone is, what is a good, reliable first car for someone? Relatively inexpensive...good gas mileage.

HELP!

Thank you!

JENNEY

My first car was a 1998 Pontiac Sunfire.  I loved it.  Good
mileage, pretty cheap, good in the snow, nice overall.  I would
have kept it for YEARS had I not totalled it 1 year to the date after
getting it :-P

My mom has a sunfire...She loves it. But I heard that the 98's in particular had a lot of problems. Is that true?

JENNEY

I had mine one year...no problems.

My mom is so in love with hers. I think it's a great car. I've driven in a few times.

I'm so petrified to start driving. I suck at pressing on the gas lightly. And I can't really turn. But practice makes perfect, right?

JENNEY

Thats why you keep driving and driving.  Also, look for
hondas.  I have a honda accord right now, and I love it. 
They run a little pricey though, since they hold their value so
well.  Look at hyundai's too....they're cheap, but reliable.

Toyota! Corrola or Ecel are very reliable and cheap on gas.  

They don't die....period

What are your opinions on Fords? My dad had an expedition and thought it was a piece of crap. But I'm a truck kinda gal....so I've always wanted a Ford F150.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

JENNEY

A truck is going to cost A LOT of money for gas. I easily pay over $200.00 for a fill up, once every week or two weeks. If all you are doing is going from point A to point B, a truck is really a lot more than what you would need.

Ouch! Gas is outrageous. In Connecticut it's about $3.19. In California, it's way more than that!

JENNEY

I would say a Prius with gas prices nowadays, but that's kind of expensive.

I personally recommend a Civic; not too expensive, but it looks nice, gets decent mileage, and isn't an all-around bad car. One of my friends has one ^^

Let me know what color you get! ; )

I'd suggest buying used through someone if you can. That way you can get it as cheap as possible. I bought my car 6 months after I turned 16 through a guy my dad knew. It cost me 1500, but like all old cars, I've put a lot more into it. It's a '93 corsica and I've had it for almost 5 years now. The biggest problem I've had with it is the muffler - it's been replaced 2x and fixed a couple more times and it's getting loud again. But it only totally died 2x in the 5 years I've had it which isn't bad for such an old car. Good luck!

My first [and only :)] car is a '79 Bronco I bought for 1500$ and fixed up myself.. The milage sucks but it's pretty badass. Don't go for anything new for your first ride.
My Mom drives a '02 Protege - Neat little car. Hers cost around 8k.. Very reliable car, good milage too.

Thanks for all of the great advice everyone!!!

JENNEY

HONDA HONDA HONDA

they will go 200K+ so you can find one for 10 years old for very cheap and still get 3 years or more out of it.

the civic is a great car, love it (thats what mine is).  pontiacs, while fun to drive and great turning grip, tend to have lower gas mileage and a lot of things to fix eventually (my first was a grand am).  my civic is now 6 years old and has never had to have ANY work done on it besides regular maintenance.

good luck and happy car hunting!!

It appears the mass majority is honda. Alrighty then! Thanks everyone so much!

JENNEY

Yeah, I would totally throw in my vote for a HONDA!!! They are very reliable!

I have a Toyota Corolla, and absolutely adore it! It gets great gas milage and I've never had a problem with it. All I've had to do to it in the two years (in september) that I've had it is oil changes. (well that's not counting that I rear-ended someone and had ot have the bumper re-built, but that's not the car's fault!)

I'd go with anything Toyota. They're reliable and built to last 20 years. They also get good gas milage! :-)

And congrats, driving is scary, but fun once you've done it enough that you're confident you're not going to run over the dog or something... lol ;-)

I have a three year old Honda Civic that I bought new.  I am getting 40 miles to the gallon on the highway.  It's a great car.  You could look for a used one.  We also had a very old Toyota Corolla some years ago.  It was falling apart but ran great, and getting you where you need to go is more important than looks, if you don't have much to spend.

Oh, and find a man to go car shopping with you.  And be ready to walk out if they don't give you the deal you want.  (But make sure they have your phone number so they can call you when they are ready to take less.)

a honda is a GREAT first car... i had a super cute honda accord, two-door hatch back. i cried when the guy who bought it from me drove it a way... it got great gas mileage, ran great!

Ford Focus is very practical, has a fun kinda Euro design (think jetta)
and is affordable.  It's a very comfortable car to drive in. 
Not huge, not tiny.  There's several options with the different
models so you can dress it up or scale it back.   Good on gas
milage too.  It's been a very reliable car for us. 
Absolutely love it.