My youngest daughter is 16 and just got her license. I thought long and hard about this and we have gone with a '99 Saab 9-3, so we now have four Saabs in the family. We get it in two weeks when our neighbor moves and turns over the keys. Good price, great shape, full service history. We got a good deal but these seem to go for $3500-$4500.

I decided I wanted a safe & solid car, one that I already had a pretty good handle on working on, had a knowledge resource (Saabnet), and had two good indies who I could turn to for stuff I don't (or can't) do myself. One of the indies has even done most of the work on this car.

The power in a turbo Saab can be an issue, IMHO. The SE has 205 HP on tap and I think that may be too tempting for a new driver. I may re-route the BPC hoses so she only has base boost for awhile. Or not.

Five years ago,we got a '95 9000 from a friend for our older daughter, who now has it at college. Same logic. Knew the maintenance history, wanted a solid, safe car that I knew how to work on. Once I brought it up to date on maintenance (it was on a wear cycle and needed stuff) it has been very reliable. And is safe. I don't worry about her in that car.

Most cars these days are pretty safe, but in the price range you're thinking about, I think you need to be looking at something more than lighter weight car. Even if your kid is driving OK, there are other nuts on the road. They might not be able to avoid an accident situation that you could so you want them in a tank. Look at it this way. For say, $4,000 you can put your kid in a 2000 Corolla or a Saab 9-3. Which one are going to feel better about when he/she is out late at night and the weather is bad?

Saab and Volvo are good bets. But some domestics aren't bad either.

Just my $0.02.

• used car for new driver--how safe, DANJ, Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:11:49
  • oh terribly unsafe, it could loose a wheel at anytime, vvack0matic , Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:05:38
  • Re: used car for new driver--how safe, Dan-O, Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:39:00
    • Re: used car for new driver--how safe, Bob A., Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:36:04
    • My daughter's friend just put a Forester sideways into, Noel, Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:50:22
  • Re: used car for new driver--how safe, EGD , Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:31:33
  • Am there right now. For the second time., Noel, Tue, 14 Jul 2009 06:34:10 <-- Viewing This Message
  • Re: used car for new driver--how safe, Dan-O, Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:37:25
    • Should have some good cars in the classified sections, Mysaab, Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:58:53

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