Looking to buy my daughter a safe, reliable first car under $6000? Suggestions

[letusbuyyourcar]

My Army Son, the first car I gave him, was like that. - Today he thanks me for having him learn stick-shift!!!

For a while recently every vehicle we owned was a stick shift. Kia Soul, 98 F150 and a 96 Ranger before that. So my last daughter can shift gears and drive at the same time. That's pretty good for a 14 year old. And who knows when she might need to drive me home?

 

[Tikker]

I'd take a good look at a RAV4. I had to teach my wife how to drive & it made a huge difference in her confidence behind the wheel compared to learning in a car. I doubt your daughter will be as difficult as my wife was. It's also a little piece of mind to know it's not a compact car surrounded by huge SUV's distracted on their phone's, helps to be higher up for them to spot you. Not too big or small, just right. I wish it came in a manual, but as a daily driver it does the job really well.

A quick search showed 2008 models in your price range.

 

[moosensquirrel]

You know I should ammend my earlier comment. I recently helped load over 400 printed T shirts for Jay's Hope ( pediatric cancer charity) into a Honda Fit. I had never given them a second look since they look like pretty much everything else. But the rear seats fold up in such a way that it's like having a small mini van that gets very good MPG. So even though I don't like the looks of a 4 door hatchback I would take one of those at the right deal.

I just gave a 2010 Honda Fit to my daughter. 43 mpg. While acceleration is not like a dodge charger, it drives like it is on rails. Ours was designed to be towed behind a motor-home.

 

[Ixraypeople]

Toyota all the way

 

[Bulldog Man]

We bought a o8 Honda CRV with 180000 on it for $3800 from a privet owner and that was hard to find took about 3 weeks

 

[Just1more]

I'm looking and would rather buy from an ODT member or used car dealer.
I'm looking at cars newer than 2008
Mazda 3
Honda
Chevy Malibu
Toyota
Subaru Impreza

Any others?

Stay away from Mazda. We had two and both were junk. Don’t forget Nissan. We bought our youngest daughter a Nissan Altima when she was in high school. Drove it till she finished college. She racked up the miles driving back and forth from college to home. Sold it with 189,000 miles and still ran like a sewing machine.

 

[bigt61]

safe and reliable
Take Chevy Malibu off the list please lolZ

 

[spistols]

Subaru Impreza-Saab 92x= same vehicle but more luxury options

Some issues, but worth fixing. LOW miles. (<75k)

Sell or trade for firearms.

FS/FT 2005 Subaru Impreza AWD Automatic All Wheel Drive w/ 74,990 miles!

2005 Saab 9-2x Linear AWD AUTOMATIC (This is a Subaru Impreza for those that don't know). Low miles: 74,990. Car originated in Atlanta, given to a family member in NY, then brought back down in August. New battery and alternator. Has dent on R/S front passenger door. Minor door dings and...

www.theoutdoorstrader.com

 

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

Safe in case of accident? -check.

Safe from auto break-ins or carjacking?
-check.

Won't get stuck if she strays off the driveway while backing out and ends up in the soft soil of your front yard?
-check

Keeps her close to home due to poor fuel economy and slow "top gear" speed (which means she's never far from her daddy)?
-check

 

[H2O MAN]

If aesthetic appearances don't need to be perfect, you can usually buy more vehicle if it has some body damage that does not hinder performance or safety making sure the title is not salvage or rebuilt. The bed on this Tundra was rust free but pretty rough, and it had severe trailer bite on the drivers side... I used that damage to get the price down from $5,800 to $5,000.

My point, consider a vehicle with a little body damage, and put all of your negotiating skills to work once you have taken the vehicle on an extended test drive... and don't forget to have it inspected, or at least plug a scan tool in to see what's what.