[William Miller]

My son is on the verge of getting his learners permit. Sooner or later (hopefully) we'll be looking and your thoughts on "Kids cars" is timely.
If we / (I) am going to be doing the wrenching, what is your recommendation for safe, simple, reliable, inexpensive. I don't necessarily want a tiney car. We used to have a Nissan Maxima 1990. Something like that size but maybe a decade or so newer? I can imagine the newer ones are much faster which is not exactly a good thing.

Originally Posted by Rick V

A-men brother! Now there is advice you can take to the bank, and the kids today looooooooooove Honda's. I would also recommend a Toyota. They (IMO) are the top of the list for a young driver. When my daughter stuffed my corolla into a guardrail at 70+ mph. a lesser car would have cost me a great deal. Every time I think about that I want to kiss a Toyota safety engineer.

[markwemple]

The most reliable and cheapest cars I've owned (and I've owned a decent amount of Japanese cars) are the 85-92 VW Golf/Jetta 1.8 8v and 84-87 4k/88-93 80/90 w/5cyl. I'd go for the Quattro if Audi and Pre-digifant VW if that direction. The 85-88 VW is unbelievably cheap to maintain, even w/OEM parts. For example Mahle/Mann oil filter $3. And, they don't seem to have the electrical gremlins the later cars have. Heck, be really safe on the kid and get him a diesel. 50-55 mpg and almost 0 hp! (FWIW VW/Audi have been at the top of european safety ratings for the last 20+ years. Can't imagine andthing from Japan even close to that)

[cmartin]

Get an Accord.

I put a t-belt on my pop's last weekend and it was a breeze. Airbags, abs and good safety rating for the kids. Decent mpg. If you want it to handle, put decent tires and think about aftermarket struts, maybe a rear sway bar. It'll last forever.

[racer]

Or a shit box Hyundai/Kia. Why does a kids car need to be stylish or powerful? Get them something reliable.. Ideally with some things like ABS and Airbags and less than 130hp.

[BrianP]

Because their friends will laugh at them if they drive a kia.

[racer]

Originally Posted by BrianP

Because their friends will laugh at them if they drive a kia.

Then he gets to learn humility as well! win-win!

[Trak Ratt]

Originally Posted by racer

Or a shit box Hyundai/Kia. Why does a kids car need to be stylish or powerful? Get them something reliable.. Ideally with some things like ABS and Airbags and less than 130hp.

X2 on the Hyundai. Used to use Mitzu drive train so Mitzu and some Chrysler parts will fit. Used to be easy to work on but then most aren't anymore.

[markwemple]

If anti-lock and airbags are a concern then 89-92/3 80/90 w/5cyl. It was rediculous what my dad never had to replace on that car and if you go to audifans.com you'll see that they are pretty cheap. Beisdes, there will be more rust on a 5 year old honda, hyunia, kia, than on a 15 year old audi. Or, how about a end of the run Volvo 240. An absolute tank, easy to work on and hard to get into trouble with and, they made them with manuals!

[Dr K]

Originally Posted by William Miller

My son is on the verge of getting his learners permit. Sooner or later (hopefully) we'll be looking and your thoughts on "Kids cars" is timely.
If we / (I) am going to be doing the wrenching, what is your recommendation for safe, simple, reliable, inexpensive. I don't necessarily want a tiney car. We used to have a Nissan Maxima 1990. Something like that size but maybe a decade or so newer? I can imagine the newer ones are much faster which is not exactly a good thing.

You know my solution to this - Ben learned on a Prius, where his "challenge" was to get better mileage, not to go faster. Of course, after he'd learned to drive well (and safely) on the street, I started bringing him to the track (not in the Prius), where he's proven to be quite a good driver (more natural ability than his dad - just needs more seat time).

Peter

[Dr K]

Originally Posted by William Miller

I didn't comment on her purchase on the Escape because I know nothing about them, but since she lives in Canton Ohio, I'm sure there are plenty of shops that work on 'merican cars.

I believe the Escape is made by Mazda, no?