Honda Car Forum

My 19 yr old nephew will be off to first year of college next fall.

He desperately needs reliable and economical transportation as he will
be in college abt 4 hrs away.

What vehicle.... model and brand....would be a good bet for him to
buy? We are thinking brand new vs used....so that he will have a
warranty and can fully concentrate on his studies at school (he wants
to become dentist) ... and not have to worry abt a used car and
breakdowns. But we are on a budget.

he has worked hard and has a good savings.... plus his family (uncles,
parents) will help him with cost a new car as well.

We need something that will help keep his insurance costs low as he is
in that high risk "bracket" at his age level.

Advice?

Thanks in advance!

USED for a college kid...they can buy new when they get their own job.

Parking on campuses is horrendus and it'll be damaged, plus parking spots
are usually smaller, so a smaller vehicle is WAY easier to manage. He'll be
broke as well, so it has to get decent gas mileage. Plus price wise, you
can't beat the deal on slightly used. (2002/2003/2004)

Honda Civic/Accord/Element/CRV
Toyota Corolla/Camry/Matrix/RAV4
Mazda 3/6/Tribute (essentially a Ford Escape)
Nissan Sentra/Altima
Pontiac Vibe (essentially a Toyota Matrix)
Subaru Impreza (if in the snow belt)
Ford Focus/Escape
Chevy Malibu

I would AVOID: Hyundai and Kia due to they still rank with less quality to
me, though some people swear by them now.

Keith
'99 Accord V6


<me6@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:4t9h709r340476franrh1jr59a5pj1clsg@4ax.com...
> My 19 yr old nephew will be off to first year of college next fall.
>
> He desperately needs reliable and economical transportation as he will
> be in college abt 4 hrs away.
>
> What vehicle.... model and brand....would be a good bet for him to
> buy? We are thinking brand new vs used....so that he will have a
> warranty and can fully concentrate on his studies at school (he wants
> to become dentist) ... and not have to worry abt a used car and
> breakdowns. But we are on a budget.
>
> he has worked hard and has a good savings.... plus his family (uncles,
> parents) will help him with cost a new car as well.
>
> We need something that will help keep his insurance costs low as he is
> in that high risk "bracket" at his age level.
>
> Advice?
>
> Thanks in advance!

Mitsubishi Galant. It's HUGE, inexpensive and comes with 10 yr/100K mile
warranty.

Second best is Toyota Corolla..... w/ auto & air go for under $11K here.

Third is Nissan Sentra..... w/ auto/air/pwr wind/locks go for under $11K.

Camry is a great choice too.... for under $15K.





How to turn off 'Maintenance Required" light:

1. Hold trip/reset button on dash
2. Turn key to "ON" or start engine
3. Hold button til light goes out

oh yeah, I forgot about Mitsu... great cars and small SUVs.

Keith




"He Hate Retards" <drpimpdaddi@aol.com.FUdope> wrote in message
news:20040410234634.22631.00000129@mb-m19.aol.com...
> Mitsubishi Galant. It's HUGE, inexpensive and comes with 10 yr/100K mile
> warranty.
>
> Second best is Toyota Corolla..... w/ auto & air go for under $11K here.
>
> Third is Nissan Sentra..... w/ auto/air/pwr wind/locks go for under $11K.
>
> Camry is a great choice too.... for under $15K.
>
>
>
>
>
> How to turn off 'Maintenance Required" light:
>
> 1. Hold trip/reset button on dash
> 2. Turn key to "ON" or start engine
> 3. Hold button til light goes out
>

On Sat, 10 Apr 2004 21:04:25 -0500, me6@privacy.net wrote:

>My 19 yr old nephew will be off to first year of college next fall.
>
>He desperately needs reliable and economical transportation as he will
>be in college abt 4 hrs away.
>
>What vehicle.... model and brand....would be a good bet for him to
>buy? We are thinking brand new vs used....so that he will have a
>warranty and can fully concentrate on his studies at school (he wants
>to become dentist) ... and not have to worry abt a used car and
>breakdowns. But we are on a budget.
>
>he has worked hard and has a good savings.... plus his family (uncles,
>parents) will help him with cost a new car as well.
>
>We need something that will help keep his insurance costs low as he is
>in that high risk "bracket" at his age level.

College is a "high risk" car environment - lots of beginner drivers and
many just don't give a shit about fender benders, bump parking etc. I
wouldn't go new here unless you're rich enough to have the same attitude -
scars are just part of the game here. For dependability I'd probably favor
a Toyota Corolla - probably big enough for shuttling the usual college
clobber back and forwards and has a low theft profile.

For my kids, they both inherited a family car which was ~5 years old and
which had been maintained by me, so I knew they were in decent condition.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

>Parking on campuses is horrendus and it'll be damaged, plus parking spots
>are usually smaller, so a smaller vehicle is WAY easier to manage.


Good point!

Maybe used is the way to go.....as per your remarks abt poor parking
on campus

>College is a "high risk" car environment - lots of beginner drivers and
>many just don't give a shit about fender benders, bump parking etc. I
>wouldn't go new here unless you're rich enough to have the same attitude -
>scars are just part of the game here.

No.... we are not rich....sadly. lol

Good point on the poor parking. I will print this out and let him
read it

>No.... we are not rich....sadly. lol
>
>Good point on the poor parking. I will print this out and let him
>read it


This is ridiculous. I had a new car while in college and never got any damages
while parked on campus. Students aren't the inconsiderate, reckless aholes that
most adults are. For example, my car was parked in a shopping center parking
lot, when I came back, I found a note saying "I'm so sorry about hitting your
car!" I looked around and found a huge dent the size of a basketball.



How to turn off 'Maintenance Required" light:

1. Hold trip/reset button on dash
2. Turn key to "ON" or start engine
3. Hold button til light goes out

My reply didn't make it here. Odd.

My criteria for a college student-to-be and first time
driver(that is, without your supervision/driving family
cars where they are naturally on good behavior)

1: Must be a wagon or have a cargo area of some sort. Life
was major suckage without the ability to move my stuff around
easily, pick up bikes and tvs and speakers and other items,
and of course, sleep in in a pinch.

2:Must be simple, reliable, and free of crummy electronics.

3:Must be low but adequate powered. They want speedy. We
as parents know better.

4:Cheap to repair. Well built. Bulletproof drivetrain.

5irt-cheap to insure.

6:Stick. It is good to learn now, and it helps maximize
driving efficiency. You also get better power and speed
in 4 cylinder engines. Most of all, though, is that it
requires interaction. Most young people with automatics
tend to phase out and listen to the radio. Stick forces them
to interact with the car every minute or so. They spend
their time driving and not goofing off.

Manual transmissions are also hlaf the cost to fix and repair
of automatics, can be push-started if the battery or starter
is dead, and when they fail, there's months of warning as
opposed to maybe 2-3 days for an automatic.



At the top of my list is a Volvo 240 Wagon. They are solid,
safe, and yes, a bit stodgy, but they are exactly what a
college student needs for their first car. If that's too
old, get a 940 wagon - it has the same engine.

Finding a mint condition one shouldn't be too hard, as
a LOT were sold to yuppies and elderly people.

Features you want to look for: ABS and R-134a A/C if
possible. IIRC, the 1992/1993 240s had this - it's
a snap to fix the A/C compared to the older systems.

Sunroof? I'd pass. Never seen a sunroof in any car
that didn't need fixing or that closed tightly.

Turbo? The I-4 in plain form is the perfect mix of
speed and reliability with a manual transmission.

My 240 cost me a whopping $300 in maintainence in one
year. $200 of that was new tires. $50 was a new
Speedometer. The other $50 were oil changes and an
air filter.

Got munched, though. Looking for a nice 960
to replace it.

Manual transmissions may be cheaper to repair PER BREAKDOWN
OCCURRENCE,but in my experience they were always breaking down more
often than any automatic transmission I have ever had.I would say that
automatics have a higher rate of reliability overall due to the fact
that you are not over-revving or under-revving the power bands as much.I
guess it has more to do with the driver and his driving style.Just an
opinion,as this can also vary by make and/or model of vehicle.