What kind of car should a 16 year old chaser buy?

Hey nick im 17 and if you can find one thats cheap I would recommend a Subaru...

All wheel drive helps alot, fairly good visibility with the windows and an optional sunroof, and if you can get one used like mine was there not very expensive and pretty mechanically sound...
 
Nick, man a mercedes!? might as well get a chauffer to drive ya to the storm, and just tell him to take a left at the wall cloud! :lol:

...but yes, my first chase vehicle at 16 was a 99' ford tauras, i have no idea why i sold that car, it had GREAT gas mileage and had plenty of room inside (it had the liftable middle arm chair)...im actually looking into going back to the car for next season, anyways, good luck with the car shopping!
 
Here is what's usually in the school parking lot, so that's the 16-18 year old range, take your pick Nick:

Hummer (newer H2's)
Cadillac Escilade (quite a few of those)
Jaguars (about 2 or 3)
Corvette (my friends, a 1997)
Mercedes Benz (several)
Mustangs (too many, from "apple green" to yellow)

Can someone say "daddy's car"? :roll:

My ride at the time: 1989 Ford Escort running on a whopping 3 cylinders :lol:
 
I'd agree with think long and hard about good gas milage. With the prices today it can hurt. I'm lucky on the road I get about 38 miles to the gallon (once got 40 don't know how). I have a 92 toyota paseo, but I'm not saying you should get that at all. A hybrid would be good to look at, but I think only foreign cars are hybrids now. That is a problem since foreign car parts are like 3 or 4 times more, at least for toyota. So, possibly find a really good american car with good gas milage. I'm just saying american for the parts, because eventually after chasing your car will need repair. Think of the parts for the mercedes, ouch!
 
Originally posted by nickgrillo

But, ummm... When you screw your car up, isn't that what insurance is for?

Yes. But you have a deductable. A deductable will usually be $500 or $1000. The higher your deductable the lower your monthly payments. The insurance company doesn't start paying for repairs until AFTER you have paid the deductable to the repair shop. Each and every time your car is damaged.

Also, every time you make a claim to the insurance company to have them repair your car you can expect your monthly payments to go up. After too many claims they will drop your insurance and you'll have to find another company. And since all the insurance companies share information about you they will charge you more than the original insurance company would have charged you.

So basically....you only use your insurance company for car repairs when the damage is major (like my $12,000 collision with a deer).

A couple busted windows will be cheaper in the long run if YOU pay for the repair yourself than to make a claim to the insurance company.

Remember...aint nothing free in this world... :D

ps: a busted engine because the car is old is not covered by insurance..it wasn't an accident. In general fixing broken parts on cheaper cars is cheaper than fixing broken parts on more expensive cars (bmw, mercedes, etc). Not always..but in general.
 
Originally posted by rdewey
My ride at the time: 1989 Ford Escort running on a whopping 3 cylinders :lol:
Ha! How many cylinders did you start out with?
 
My first car was a 83 cutlas oldsmobile. I rear ended some one. Had a messed up grill for a few years till the car died. Then i got a white 94 Cutlas that burned up in the house fire. Then i got a 95 tan cutlas that hit a fire hydrant when i was drunk at age 19. I had that car for about 4 years then the tranny went out after season 04. Now i got a intrigue and is still going thankfully after being brutal to it from May-June.

So im not saying all that will happen to ya. But things like that "CAN" happen. So just watch what ya get. And get what you can afford to buy in reality. You dont need to be paying off a car for 4 years, after the second year it dies on you. I been driving for 11 years now and im sure many in here can trump that.

With insurance it will be rather expensive untill your about 25. Unless your slate stays clean, no tickets/accidents a few years after you get your liscens. And its more expensive for guys as well.

Also dont worry about what image the car will give you. I mean come on if Shane adams can drive a car with out a back window after getting blown out with large hail for months on end and still be a cool dude what else is there to say :D.
 
Neither of them have any characteristics which are particularly better suited to chasing than any other car. Not that you couldn't chase in them, but it sure doesn't seem that chasing is of any real consideration in your decision making process.

Am I missing something?
 
Nick, the thing I'm wondering about the Mustang or a similar nice car is would you be willing to risk it getting hail dented/windows busted?
 
Nick-

It appears from the nature of your posts that you haven't had a hard dose of reality yet. It's crazy that you've even considering a car like a Mercedes or Mustang at 16 years old. Yeah, we all sat around and drooled at them in car magazines, but in real life things are different.

Considering your age and location, you are looking at paying at least $2000 a year for car insurance on a beat up ghetto sled, let alone either of the cars mentioned above. Insurance prices go up almost exponentially as the value of the car increases. The hard truth is, as others have mentioned, is until you turn 25 you are going to pay a lot for insurance, and even more if you crash or get tickets.

If you have the money to buy a car, get a decent used car with low miles and good mechanical condition. If you have money left over, stick it in the bank for future car repairs/mods. Don't blow your $$ wad on a "tight" ride just because it looks cool or goes fast. Save that for after college and you have a nice career.

Personally, I'd look for a nice used midsize sedan that is a few years old and gets good gas mileage. Contact your insurance company before you commit to any one car, and find out how much the insurance will be before signing on the dotted line. Remember that things like ABS, airbags, factory security systems and aftermarket security add-ons like VIN etching will reduce your insurance premium.

Having turned 26 this year, I can happily announce that my insurance fell like a brick on my two cars, even though one of them is a 4 door gas-guzzling hotrod RWD sedan. However, it was also only just this year that I bought my fast car since the insurance would have killed me, even with a very decent job and no tickets.

When I bought a new "family sedan" 2002 Impala LS back in '01, my insurance went up quite a bit....I also decided after this experience it's damn near useless to buy a brand new car these days, but that's besides the point of this thread.

Point is, save your cash and flash for later in life and buy a decent car now that you don't mind core-punching with and gets good gas mileage that you can afford to insure.
 
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