Cost of your first car?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

1999 Toyota Corolla Brand new, $12k. I was 20 years old and finished with college with my first job. My parents matched my savings.

I still have the car and no plans to get rid of it for probably another 5 years at least. I don't know, I wish my parents had bought me a $5k car.

My DH 2000 Ford Focus, 23 years old and first job as well. He paid 100% for his car himself $14k. Still have it and no plans at this time to get rid of it either. Maybe if we have a kid we'll trade it for a 4 door.

I know that we're the exceptions amongst our friends who mostly got used or hand-me down cars free from their parents.

[FrugalFish]

Paid $7000 for an 87 Honda CRX when I was 17. I'm 37 now and DH still drives that car 60-70 miles a day to and from work. Money well spent, IMO!

I don't know what a good amount is for a first time car owner. It really depends on circumstances. I needed a pretty reliable car to be independent and traveling far and wide (I was in college at 17).

We just bought a brand new 2009 Accord and I can't help but wonder if it will be DD's first car in 13-15 years (depending on when she seems mature enough to drive).

[Scanner]

DisneySteve,

I am not aware of official statistics in comparison to the rest of the population but 16-25 year old age group has the highest car insurance rates of any group (I think over 65 has the lowest). Just wait until you put your daughter on your policy.

The research tends to suggest it's the way their brains are developing and they don't have the disipline to remain focused on the task at hand - texting on cellphones, friends distracting them. NOt to mention the psychomotor skills of driving is more complex than it looks. Also, I haven't even added in alcohol and falling asleep due to the crazy hours teenagers keep.

I think driving curfews and graded driving privledges are a better idea than constantly raising the driving age. I actually think NJ is too strict in having the age be 17 y.o. There was something to be said for when I was 16, driving my Mercury Comet with rear-wheel drive in 2 " of snow up 45 degree inclines in Pennsylvania when I was 16 and having it fishtail.

With age doesn't necessarily come experience. . .

Add into that statistic that the #1 accidental killer of teenagers is an auto accident. I think accidental drowning is in there too but that's probably more the 2-6 year old age group.

I don't think the risk is just limited to a ding on the bumper and fender here and there.

Anyway, it doesn't sound like there are too many cars bought under $1000.00 out there anymore.

You know. . .I came that close to buying a Gremlin with my $800.00. I kinda wish I had. . .just to say I owned one of the most ugliest cars ever produced, LOL

[Seeker]

I don't think the risk is just limited to a ding on the bumper and fender here and there.

Agree with the above statement; also I believe most of the dings/scratches that occur when we first drive, go "unreported." So that 15%-20% is probably quite a bit higher.

My first car was a hand-me-down -- '70 Chevy Nova. I drove it from some 40k miles ('77) to 83k miles ('83).

So technically, "my first car" I bought from cash savings: '83 Honda Accord Hatchback. As I recall it cost 14k (no AC). But it very well served me as the sole driver for 13 years more until '96.

At which point I had a lapse in judgement and bought American. Which only lasted 3 years before falling apart (literally - parts of the engine were falling onto the freeway as I drove it) and I got rid of it after repair.

That auto was replaced with my now current Honda CR-V (a 2000 model, but purchased in May of '99).

[kork13]

HAHAHA -- My first car was an absolute bomb...

Tomato-red 1989 Mitsubishi Galant with 200k+ miles on it (at the time, 13 years old). I got it from my father's co-worker for $1 and a ride for his family to the airport when they moved.

It worked well enough for me through my junior/senior years in high school, until I got in an accident that crunched part of the front end and tore the body's frame. However, it was completely the other guy's fault -- he had half-pulled out and stopped, taking up my entire lane, and I couldn't stop due to heavy rain/slick roads.

So that's another factor in the argument that new drivers get in alot of accidents -- not all accidents are the fault of the less-experienced driver.

After the insurance company totaled out my car (we got $1000 for it), we sold it to a family friend for $200, who fixed it up and made it safe and drivable again. Overall, worked out very well for me.


EDIT: As to how much a first car should be, I would say no more than $3k-$5k.... Unless it's a hand-me-down family car that the family already had and was replacing it anyway. I have a few friends who got pretty nice cars that way. One friend got a VERY nice, 8 y/o BMW 500-series as his first car, because his father was going to be replacing it within a year or two anyway. He kept it for 6 years, and only just replaced it within the last year.

[project15]

In 2000, my parents bought me a 91 honda accord with 119k miles for my 16th birthday for $3k. That car was great. No accidents, not a powerful engine, but it was so much fun and I loved it.

Sure, I would've rather had a brand new sports car, but it was a car that gave me my freedom and taught me responsibility as well as how to save money to pay for insurance and gas when the bills were due.

[sandrark]

in 1994 I bought a 1983 chevette for 350, and i had to learn manual in order to actually drive it.

LOL! I bought a 1982 Chevette in 1986, for $1500. I already drove stick, which helped - many people wouldn't consider it due to the manual tranny, so I got a deal. I was 21.

I drove it from 50K miles to 116K miles in 1990. So 66K in 4 years or so. I drive a lot.

Today - I wouldn't spend more than $5K, given inflation. There are plenty of 100K mile cars with a lot of life left in them still.

Sandi

[boosami]

Mine was a 10 year old Toyota I bought for for about $1,200.

[GREENBACK]

My first car was a '78 Ford Fairmont in 1983. Price was 1k. Paid cash for it and drove it quite a bit before running into a telephone pole two years later. Bought a '79 Fairmont afterwards for $1200. Lasted 6yrs. So I got my money's worth. I didn't own a car until I was 18 and only because I was going off to college 4 hours away. I'd say a reliable equivalent to that car would maybe run 4 or 5 k nowadays. Some kids are good at talking their parents into buying the "sizzle" when the focus should be on the "steak".

[davrobins]

I don't believe in expensive cars for the 1st pick. Mine was for $1,400

[feh]

I was 22 when I bought my first car (after college graduation) - 1988 Pontiac GrandAm. Bought it new for $9175.

[Like2Plan]

I can't say I agree with this statement. I don't think there are any stats showing that a majority of new drivers have accidents.

"In 2007, 4,946 teenagers (ages 13-19) died in the United States from crash injuries. Such injuries are by far the leading public health problem among people 13-19 years old. In 2005, the latest year for which data are available, 33 percent of all deaths among 16-19 year-olds from all causes were related to motor vehicles.1 The crash risk among teenage drivers is particularly high during the first months of licensure.2,3

Teenage drivers have high rates of both fatal and nonfatal crashes compared with adult drivers. Teenagers drive less than all but the oldest people, but their numbers of crashes and crash deaths are disproportionately high. Based on crashes of all severities, the crash rate per mile driven for 16-19 year-olds is 4 times the risk for drivers 20 and older. Risk is highest at age 16. The crash rate per mile driven is nearly twice as high for 16 year-olds as it is for 18-19 year-olds4 The rate of deaths per 100,000 people in 2007 peaked at age 19 for male drivers (22 per 100,000) and at age 18 for male passengers (12 per 100,000). Death rates peaked at age 18 for female drivers (9 per 100,000) and at ages 17-18 for female passengers (8 per 100,000).

Many teenagers die as passengers in motor vehicle crashes. Sixty-one percent of teenage passenger deaths in 2007 occurred in vehicles driven by another teenager. Among deaths of passengers of all ages, 20 percent occurred when a teenager was driving.

A 2007 Highway Loss Data Institute study reported that overall collision (vehicle damage) losses for vehicles insured for teenagers to drive are more than double those for vehicles insured for use by adults only. 5"

Link to Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

The above statistics only apply to the reported accidents... Sometimes a small ding or a scratch (single vehicle involvement) is taken care of off the books without going through police/insurance.

...I feel a poll coming on!link to poll

[disneysteve]

Sorry to stray OT. I wasn't arguing the fact that new drivers have more accidents. I believe that's true. I was disagreeing with this statement:

chances are they are going to get into an accident

That makes it sound like the majority of new drivers will have an accident. I don't think that's true. I think the rate is higher than for more experienced drivers but still low overall.

As for the death rate, I'm not sure but I suspect more teens skip wearing a seatbelt because it isn't cool, so when there are crashes, they are much more likely to die, be ejected, suffer serious injury, etc. Teens aren't known for their good judgement afterall.

[Pitman]

89 Corolla given to me from my grandmother. This was back in 2005, the car had only 50K miles on it, and it cost $11 to fill up the tank.

[Like2Plan]

Sorry to stray OT. I wasn't arguing the fact that new drivers have more accidents. I believe that's true. I was disagreeing with this statement:

chances are they are going to get into an accident

That makes it sound like the majority of new drivers will have an accident. I don't think that's true. I think the rate is higher than for more experienced drivers but still low overall.

I didn't use to believe it either, but I am now at an age where a lot of my contemporaries have kids just starting out driving. It would be an exaggeration to say the majority will be in a serious accident, but may be not such a far reach when minor scratches, et'c. are included. I wouldn't say 100%, but I bet it is pretty high.

As for the death rate, I'm not sure but I suspect more teens skip wearing a seatbelt because it isn't cool, so when there are crashes, they are much more likely to die, be ejected, suffer serious injury, etc. Teens aren't known for their good judgement afterall.

I think that is a big contributor. Inexperience--over correcting little mistakes with disastrous results, speed ( a biggie) and peer pressure also come to mind.