Helping Teens Buy the Right Used Car

Most teenagers dream about the day they get their driver’s license, and can finally explore the world all on their own. Does a shiny new automobile feature predominately in that dream? Of course, but that is very rarely a reality. Parents normally opt to purchase a used car for their teen driver or allow them the use of one of their older vehicles. Why? Well for a variety of reasons.

First, new teen drivers are one of the highest risk drivers out on the road. This is why parent’s auto insurance skyrockets when they add their newly minted driver onto their policy. If they choose to insure their teen on an older less expensive vehicle, it will help lower the costs somewhat. Also, learning to park, avoiding curbs and navigating school parking lots with hundreds of other new drivers can lead to an array of scratches, dings and dents and multiple trips to the auto repair shop.

While parents don’t want to risk their shiny new car in the hands of their children however, they also don’t want them driving an unsafe vehicle, ready to break down at any minute. So how can they choose the best used car for them to drive? Glen Hayward talks about this in a video he did for KPNX, but here are a few highlights:

• Do your research – if a vehicle is known to have maintenance problems, stay away from it
• Don’t go on Craigslist – many sellers polish the pig, so to speak, and make the vehicle look nice, but many of those cars have a lot of other hidden problems
• Take it to a professional mechanic and let them look at it before signing anything. This type of pre-purchase inspection can usually be done for under a hundred dollars. By putting it up on a rack they will be able see leaks, issues in the undercarriage and other damage that isn’t readily visible.
• Even if a car isn’t in perfect condition, knowing what work needs to be done, how immediately it needs to be done and how much the auto repair will cost, will let you know if it is a good deal or not
• Check the car’s repair and accident history on Carfax.com
• Take it for a test drive and make sure it runs smoothly
• Make sure the check engine light is not lit

It’s not always an easy thing to see our children grow up into adults, but making sure they have a safe, reliable car to drive can certainly easy our minds somewhat. Now if we could just figure out a way to get them to clean their room …