Timely thread...my daughter will be 15.5 come late August and I'm anxious and she is as well to get her permit and eventually license ASAP. I look forward to her driving herself to her thousands of sporting events!! And now that summer is here, she wants to participate in various [insert sport here] camps and unless she finds a ride or can take the bus or maybe Uber/Lyft, Mom and Dad are working and cannot shuttle her around.
And not to get too far off topic here, but prices for used cars are coming down and should continue to do so due to the subprime lending bubble slowly building up in the credit markets. Avis and Hertz rely on massive debt/cash injections to purchase their billions of dollars worth of cars every year and that spigot is slowly getting turned off. This will likely bankrupt both firms and they will need to liquidate their cars. Anyway, there ought to be some great prices on good used cars as this unfolds.
I've all but given up on manual cars. My first BMW (2001 530i) was a 5-speed and while it was fun in the beginning, it began to wear on me as the years went by. In 2006 when I bought my Tacoma, I went automatic. It got to the point where both my wife and I preferred the auto to the (laborious in traffic) manual. Since then, my 2014 BMW: automatic. My (coming soon) 2017 BMW: automatic. While I would like to teach to drive a manual, odds are decent that she'll live a full, rich life never needing to row gears. I'm okay with this.
I also don't see a problem with new technology giving our young drivers a hand. Things are different today than 20, 30, 40 years ago.
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/best-cars-for-teens
http://www.bankrate.com/auto/the-7-b...-2016/#slide=1
http://www.autobytel.com/car-buying-...10-000-114608/
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicles-for-teens
https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/...n-drivers.html
I've been perusing the above links trying to figure out a good first car for her. For sure, it'll be used. IIHS likes midsize for safety reasons--quite reasonable. Toyota and Honda put out excellent, cheap cars perfect for teens. Funny, and I'm not sure why, I've always pictured her in a VW Beetle. Frankly, most manufacturers put out pretty high quality stuff in the <=$20k (new) category so I think there are a lot of choices and it may just come down to the miles and price. I think I'd like to keep her first car at <=$15k but we'll see what we find.
I should add that she will likely end up driving the 2006 Tacoma for a little while. It is high up and bit longer (it is a double-cab, long-bed) than usual. I really wanted to replace the Tacoma with a nice new Ridgeline but with college 3 years away, I'm thinking that isn't a good idea. The Tacoma only has 83k on it and is just getting broken in but I'm getting fidgety with it just wanting new gizmos (keyless entry/ignition is one the BMW has spoiled me with). The Tacoma is also perfect in that we picking up a brand new BMW soon (you could argue not a good idea but the previous BMW's lease was up and well...... ) and I really don't want/need two car payments.