[KenB]

Generally speaking, the newer the car, the more survivable in a worst case situation., especially if a major redesign and intergration of modern safety aids in the last three years. Most manufacturers put significant effort into getting high marks on NHTSA and the IIHS crash test ratings.
That’s the route I went, and I also drive the car sometimes.

Two airbags in a fourth gen, if they still work. Roll-over, ha, t-tops on mine. As I recall, my 94s mpg ain’t so good in town.

LT1 cars get little love, A non-running Firehawk at$5500 strikes me as a bit steep,, even though it looks killer.

Good luck.

[1965gp]

We live in Houston so weather isn’t an issue unless it’s a hurricane

This isn’t something I need to take care of right away- the owner reached out to me about it a week or so ago. Just thought it would be an interesting option

[gtokid1968]

The newer Challengers have horrible blind spots like the old corvettes!
Needs to be front wheel drive and unable to do a burn out!
Girls Insurance is now more expensive that boys!

[1965gp]

I thought the price was a little high until I looked at the values on the Hagarty website (granted the make $$ off OC values being high).

A 1995 Firehawk in ‘good’ condition is listed at 22k. This car would definitely be classified as good condition after a good cleaning and fixing the opti

[OG68]

LEASE. I leased a new Cruze for my twins during their Jr/Sr high school years. No money down. Just some leasing fees. It was $130 /month for two years./20,000 miles. It had the upgraded stereo with Bluetooth. Which meant they could leave their phone inside the console and talk to the radios internal microphone to call, text, find directions etc all without touching the phone. Believe me, this is very important.
I did spring for leasing insurance which added $20 month but gave $6000 coverage for all those scratches, dings etc including the four inch hole in the front fascia one daughter came home with. For less than $4 k they had a car they loved with all the latest safety equipment. They wanted me to buy it at the end of the lease.
I did end up buying a used 2002 Camry for one daughter to go to college in. Only 70k miles and a typical grandma car. Lots of scratches but pristine interior. She puts on 60 miles a day going to school and so far the only maintenance I’ve done is a new battery and timing belt.

[400 4spd.]

When my daughter turned 16, she wanted a black car. I built her an awesome looking Hurst/Olds. Mistake. If it was a stationary object, she ran into it.
When my daughter was 25 she bought an excellent low mileage '01 Camaro that was barely 2 years old. She paid 10K (the owner of the Chevy dealership knew me and she really got a great deal) and drove it for about 7 years. Red, with T-tops, she loved it! Later on after marriage (another 7 years and a child on the way) she sold it for 6500 and put that into a Yukon that I found (GMC dealer I know). She has not hit anything with it.
Firehawk or not, I feel the 5500 price tag is way out of line for the car. As much as you might feel it's cool to own, to her it might be an old Firebird.

[1965gp]

Maybe I’m overlooking the price because I remember the car being so nice. Your right- to her it’s an old Firebird. If I buy it, it should be for me. She would probably be happier with a mustang or challenger.

Better yet- we can buy our company vehicles when they hit 100k miles so maybe she can drive it.

[72projectbird]

Originally Posted by 1965gp

Here’s the question- assuming the car is fixed relatively easily, is this car reliable/safe enough for a 16 yr old to drive? School is only 10 min away so she would not be driving far but this is still a 25 yr old car

My first car was an 86 Monte Carlo SS, which was 21 years old at the time. Drove it everywhere, and it was fine.

I think cars from the 90s are great, even with their increasing age. They're fuel injected, handle well, look good, and are pretty safe compared to older stuff.

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by 455Grandville

I would not buy a 16 yr old a high powered car for safety reasons and insurance rates.
Get a safe sedan that’s good on gas.

This is my philosophy. I'd get her something like a mid-2000s Crown Vic and not care too much if she loved it or not. When she buys it, let that be the one she loves.
My son's first car was a '78 Bonneville. He beat the crap out of it, wrecked it a couple of times and bought for himself what he really wanted when he joined the Navy.
Funny, he's nostalgic about the Bonneville now and says he wouldn't mind having another.

[Mr Anonymous]

My son and I built a Hurst/Olds station wagon (83 cutlass Cruiser/G-body) for his first car. Awesome car, rough on gas. When his commute to school went from 3 miles to 15 (moving from high school to career center), the fuel economy became an issue. He's sporting a 2010 civic that he managed to wreck once already.

Now my daughter is 16, wants a car with a stick. Friend of mine is selling me a 2008 civic 5 speed. She "wants" all sorts of stuff we cant afford, so she's getting something with a stick, and it is fairly practical. Its cheap, and statistically speaking, likely to get wrecked.

However, this part of the conversation is noteworthy:
Her: "My brother got a cool station wagon when he turned 16!"
Me: "Honey, your brother went shopping in the back yard.."

[1965gp]

That wagon is badass. Very cool execution of a project

[dataway]

Another option is to tell her what the budget is and have her pick a car with you having final approval. That way she leans that valuable lesson of learning to live with the decisions you make in life, for better or worse.

Not sure how you plan to handle insurance, but tell her she has to pay half ... so the type of car is going to effect her budget.

I was given my first car ... a 66 Tempest at 16, in 1974'ish ... was first my father's, then my mother's then my brother's, then mine. All expenses were my responsibility .... I wrecked it within a year. Still miss it.

[dhutton]

I would not put my daughter in a car that didn’t have airbags, antilock brakes etc. The newer the car the safer it will likely be. A lot has been learned about crash safety, crumple zones etc. EFI and the associated reliability is a necessity too.

Don

[1965gp]

Agree- I drive a 1970 LeMans to high school that I literally came home from the hospital in when I was born. Lucky to still have it.

She really wants my wife’s K5 or something similar- but we’ve decided air bags and modern safety are a must.

I’m thinking I am going to pass on the Firehawk- too much $$ and too many unknowns. If the price goes down I may pick it up for me to play with.

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

My daughters first car was a 1993 Firebird V-6 5-speed manual.

I'm quoting this because of the reference to a manual transmission.

Why?

Because it's one way to severely limit the number of her friends that can drive "her" car.

As was refered by other commenters, she will take and do things with this car that you won't know about.

Is she willing to learn how to drive a stick?

Beyond that, if an automatic is still what you decide to go with...

I don't think a relatively high powered vehicle is the right choice for a 16 year old's first car. Wait until he/she has exhibited the maturity to have one.

$5500 (plus whatever it would cost to get the Firehawk running) should give you plenty of options for a relatively safe vehicle with decent paint and interior.

Just for ****s and giggles, I did a quick search within a 200 mile radius of Houston and found this:

2006 Pontiac Solstice Convertible with 5 speed and only 70,000 miles:



It's under $6000 at Roger Beasley Mazda Central located in Austin, TX.

It's a Pontiac like the Firehawk (I'm assuming that is a plus for you), should be a fun car to drive, relatively economical and has some serious style. Everyone will know it's your daughter's car because no one else will have one like it.

Your daughter could only have one friend in the car with her, limiting distractions.

And it's a manual transmission...

['ol Pinion head]

Years ago i was asked to rationalize a performance F-body for my soon to be driving son. This suggestion was supposed to "stick" as I owned a new one @ 18 (still own it). Several local longtime friends/shop owners brought up which one of my 2nd Gen T/A's I was going to give to my son for HS. My response was why should i waste the effort? In the back of my mind was the fact, there are better vehicles to put him into that will make it out of a HS parking lot w/o damage. Then the Safety issue loomed heavily. We live on the outer rural fringe of a very affluent suburban area. When you navigate the horrible traffic flow in "town" & the erratic flow of the nearby interstate, it pays to have a vehicle that you can be intune with what's coming up. The lower the vehicle, the tougher to see ahead & respond w rapidly occurring events. Just too many 4WD pickups & Fullsize SUVs everywhere. As such a performance F-body, Challenger, death trap Miata or Soltice just won't cut it.

For first vehicle, in 2013, put my son in a 97 Cherokee. Really slick little Cherokee after some paint, tires & little f/e work. Since '88 had put over half a million miles on 4.0 Cherokees, with very good results, so knew small problem issues & how to repair. For my son, part time 4wd could come in handy in the winter & room for 3 teammates to pile in with 4 doors made it a no brainer.

Sending my boy off to college/play ball, we put him in my wifes previous 2WD 4Runner Sport. Phenominally reliable vehicle, sporty, not that dated. Having owned a few early full-size Blazers, then several 4.0 XJ Cherokees, the safety contributions of 4Runner Sport's VRS & Stability Control are a vast improvement in driver safety. 3 times now, those features have proved they can save the lives of a vehicle load of people. This esp holds true thrown into a really bad situation with an inexperienced driver.

As such, & for 5-10K, just about any '06-09 2WD V6 4Runner Sport would be a good recommendation, lower mile one preferably, but since they are so depenable & will go 300k miles, hard to find lower mile ones. Another strong recommendation would be a same front bodystyle 4WD Tacoma 4door. In clean condition, such a Tacoma will have held its value very well, hard to find for under 10K.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Originally Posted by Sirrotica

Pontiac Vibe, cheap, safe, and economical on fuel.

I bought one for my wife new in 2008, and it's just under 300,000 miles today. They're fairly cheap to purchase used.

My stepsons fiance also has one, she's right around 25 YO, her's has over 325,000 miles on it.

I couldn't agree more about a Vibe.
The 4 cylinder base models have TOYOTA Drivetrains, and NO Timing Belt to maintain (chain drive).
Excellent fuel economy on 87 octane and good safety features to boot.

Researched them a couple of years ago for a friend, and was totally amazed//surprised.
Toyota had the same vehicle under another body name, so it's not an orphan.
Aftermarket has most all the Pontiac body parts for them in the event of a fender bender.

The GT's require Premium Fuel and the economy drops pretty sharp.

[1965gp]

Some really good points in here. I like the Solstice- tgat is definitely an option I have considered.

The Firehawk in question is a 6 speed and I agree that one of the reasons to have that is to deter other kid from driving it. It also has a harness bar in the back seat- bolts where the seat belts go in the back seat for the 5 point harnesses to attach to essentially making it a two seater. I’m big on not having distractions- a two seater is perfect.

I appreciate everyone’s insight- helped me accept that my definition of cool and get definition of cool may not be the same.

[jerry455]

My buddy is putting together a Solstice for his son. It is a 2.4 5 spd manual. He bought it as a fixer upper that he and his son are working on together. He is learning the value of the car and putting sweat equity into it.
We found a Fiero SE V6 Automatic for my daughter when she was ready to drive. It needed an engine. We found a used 3.1 and put the heads and intake from the original 2.8 onto the 3.1 short block. She worked along side of me. She drove that car for 5 years and only bumped into something once. She took very good care of that care because she saw the money we put into it and what it would cost to fix if she was careless. All of her friends had new cars and everyone of them went through at least 2 cars each. It was a great experience and she really liked the Fiero. Later my son inherited it and we converted it to a 5 spd manual with a 3.4 short block. He loved that car and took very good care of it. My neighbors always commented that they wish their kids took as good of care of their cars as my son did with his Fiero. His friends used to tease him that his car was older than he was. He drove that car for 6 years. We get snow here in Michigan so we had an extra set of rims and Blizzaks for winter driving. If you can get your kids into working on the car, they seem to take better care of the car. At least in my experience.

[Firedup6975]

First off, we had both of our kids be 18 before driving, a bit more mature, and responsible. They both had part time jobs and we helped both of them get a first car, with a loan contract to pay back, but they had to have money for their own insurance policies. We’re they happy about this? Of course not they were 16 and full of themselves, but by 18 they had both seen many of their friends be involved in crashes, fender benders, and blown up engines. So by 18 they were a bit more ok with our rules.

My Sons first car was a Ford Taurus SHO, the neighbor had sitting in his front yard.
My Daughters first car, a 95 Firebird a local car dealership had.


Being a car family, they both were accustomed to what it takes to turn a wrench. Here she is with her first car and wrenching on it, and with her current WS6 TA and wrenching on it recently.