Beater Car

[inside??]

My son is turning 16 soon and I want to buy him a car in the 5K range so my insurance rates aren't too out of control. I live in AZ so there shouldn't be rust issues. I am thinking about getting an older Camry or Honda with around 100K miles on them. I am overall pretty clueless about cars so if anyone has any suggestions on models or what to look for, any help would be appreciated.

[dboy23]

get him something he can donk out like an old caprice.

[firstyearclay]

[ QUOTE ]
My son is turning 16 soon and I want to buy him a car in the 5K range so my insurance rates aren't too out of control. I live in AZ so there shouldn't be rust issues. I am thinking about getting an older Camry or Honda with around 100K miles on them. I am overall pretty clueless about cars so if anyone has any suggestions on models or what to look for, any help would be appreciated.

[/ QUOTE ]

Honda is a great choice. I have had four of them now (granted all were new) and am very happy. I am not a huge fan of used cars but if you are going with Honda you shouldn't have a problem getting your hands on a car with 100k+ miles that has plenty of years/miles left. I personally am a fan of the "Accords".

Some good resources for pricing:

Kelly Blue Book

Nada Car Value

fyc

[goofball]

Toyota. I drive a 1989 toyota corolla that still runs perfectly.

[HeavilyArmed]

[ QUOTE ]
My son is turning 16 soon and I want to buy him a car in the 5K range so my insurance rates aren't too out of control. I live in AZ so there shouldn't be rust issues. I am thinking about getting an older Camry or Honda with around 100K miles on them. I am overall pretty clueless about cars so if anyone has any suggestions on models or what to look for, any help would be appreciated.

[/ QUOTE ]

Camry, hands down. Get it from a private party, like some old retired or dead senior. Ask for service records. This authenticates the mileage.

[jaffa]

[ QUOTE ]
Toyota. I drive a 1989 toyota corolla that still runs perfectly.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good choice, toyota make fantastically reliable cars, they just go and go and go. A Toyota Corolla or Carina are good cars for the kid. I just bought a 91 Carina for £20 ($40) and it still goes really well. Obviously for $5k you can do even better.

[SMB]

You can't go wrong with a Honda or Toyota sedan. I still have a 92 Nissan that's getting replaced soon, but not b/c it isn't running well.

[catalyst]

I'm no expert on this, but I have a 99 accord and have had no problems (it just passed 100k). The blue book on this is 6-7k.