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My daughter is now of age to learn to drive and her older brother is taking a break from Uni and would also like to get his license (never found the time before). I was thinking of trading in my old family Acura 3.2TL (1999) for something more learner friendly like a Honda Fit maybe 2008/2009 vintage. Any thoughts on learner cars? My other choices are very similar types, Toyota Yaris, Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent, etc… but I thought the Fit would then make a great car for my son when he returns to Uni next year (he is 6’1″ so small cars are a tight fit… haha).
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[quote=”random” post=170218]My daughter is now of age to learn to drive and her older brother is taking a break from Uni and would also like to get his license (never found the time before). I was thinking of trading in my old family Acura 3.2TL (1999) for something more learner friendly like a Honda Fit maybe 2008/2009 vintage. Any thoughts on learner cars? My other choices are very similar types, Toyota Yaris, Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent, etc… but I thought the Fit would then make a great car for my son when he returns to Uni next year (he is 6’1″ so small cars are a tight fit… haha).[/quote] get something that wont break your bank. Buy a used car that has many miles on it that is a couple grand and not something like 5 or 6k either something that is like 3 or 4k would be nice. Just make sure that you know what problems the car has so that it doesn’t cost a fortune to fix up either should it need it. Good cars to learn in I would say go for a Nissan sentra or Altima. They are roomy inside so you wont need to worry about that. I have seen tall people fit in a civic before and those are small cars. Really though it is just a matter of getting a car for them to learn in. After they learn they can get a nice car that fits their personality
Something like an older 1/2 ton pickup, 2 wheel drive, regular cab. Stripped down base model “work truck”, not a luxo barge with all the electric gadgets.
In my opinion, it’s better to learn on a larger vehicle, it makes downsizing later pretty easy. The same can’t be said of doing things the other way around. It also teaches parking skills and tight parking lot maneuvering much better. Also, the view height/sight lines are much better for a learner than those of a low-slung pea pod. If you really don’t want to go the truck route, perhaps something with a slightly higher seat height and with less bulk, like a Honda CRV, might be suitable.
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I believe it has merit.
Why not? I don’t know what the crash test figures are for a Fit, but I’d guess they’re at or near the top of the class.
Not much power, decent road holding, safe and reliable. Just about perfect.
Things to keep in mind are that the kids will in all likelihood crash the thing. Hopefully not seriously so you give them the best possible chance to walk away from that event when (not if, we hope ‘if’ but don’t bet on it) and for that event to be relatively benign.
Surrounding them in a large mass of ill handling metal and/or outdated chassis/safety technology causes the threshold of “not walking away” to be reduced.
Making the first set of wheels to be medium sized, but still as up to date as possible is not a bad idea.
Yeah, I’ve considered this a lot. Where I live has the worst road accident rate in the country so any car purchase I make is largely based on “will my family and I walk away from it when xyz moron decides to smash into us?” and “will this vehicle allow me opportunity to put some distance between me and xyz moron if needed?”
Good luck, don’t get attached to the car. Took 2 small crashes and a half rollover to kill my first car and the safety gear in the car (I added) to let me walk away from the last one.
Stu.
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