What is a good first car to buy?

When you're looking at cars in that price range, you're getting an older car with likely a lot of mileage on it.

At this point, the make and model do not matter as much as the maintenance and repair history of each vehicle. What you should be looking for is hopefully a 1 owner vehicle with the complete service history up until the present time.

Sure, someone may recommend a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla based solely on their reputations but if the car maintenance is sporadic or even non-existent, it is still a risky buy.

There are two views on what should be a first car:

A. Get a cheap used car because new drivers often get into accidents due to lack of driving experience. A cheap used car cost less when it gets wrecked.

- There is not much to say about this veiw. It's pretty self explanatory. It's also what most people do.

B. Get the safest car you can find because you can always replace a car but you can't replace the driver.

One of the safest cars out there is the Prius, and here's why:

1. There are four braking systems on the Prius:

- Regenerative brakes

- Friction brakes

- Engine brakes

- Parking brakes

2. Vehicle stability control:

- A system that prevents doughnuts during slippery conditions if you are going anything like a reasonable speed. Studies from Europe and Japan indicate that VSC reduces head-on collisions by over 30%. Other cars have this feature, but not in the Prius' price range.

4. Brake assist:

- A system that applies extra force to the brake pedal when it senses an emergency stop. Studies by Mercedes indicate that people press the brakes quickly but not hard enough. Brake assist compensates for this tendency.

5. Brake override:

- A system that stops the acceleration when the brake pedal is pressed firmly.

6. The smooth acceleration of the Prius (there are no gears that shift) helps prevent you rear-ending someone if they slow down right after stopping. (An old fashioned economy car typically has a very low first gear to disguise the fact the engine is small--this creates rapid acceleration up to about 10 mph after which the acceleration bogs down. The Prius smoothly accelerates up to it's maximum speed of about 105 mph which is controlled by the system.)

7. Optionally in the 2010 Prius:

- Radar pre-collision

- Lane keep

Many of these systems prevent the accident in the first place. The best accident is one you don't have.

Besides the safety aspects, the Prius is a mid-size car so there is more room for friends and equipment. It has low maintenance requirements and a very high owner satisfaction rating. I purchased my first Prius (a 2001) for my wife (who was also a new driver at the time). It was so good that I got a 2004 for myself. It's been one of the most exciting and fun-to-drive cars I've ever driven. The 2001 now has 90,000 trouble-free miles and the 2004 has 130,000.

I'd stay away from any sports cars or SUVs because beginning drivers just don't have the experience to handle them.

go for something new. a car that is say 6-10 years old is a lot better then one that is 10-15 just because of all the tech innovations. i would get a 2006 civic, i would save up a bit more if i had too. i recently bought a car i thought i would be blown away with because i remember a friend of mines dads driving it and it seeming amazing, a 96 vw cabrio, but now that i have it i realize how much it pales in comparison to newer cars. back then the handling seemed cutting edge, the designing very sheek, not so anymore. an 06 civic is miles ahead of something like that, and is much more reliable and cheaper to maintain.

An Accord a Civic or a Camry. Try to find a one owner car that you can verify the history on. Someone you know or someone local that has a car with all the service records. Ask your mechanic or your parents mechanic to be on the lookout for something for you.

One of the most popular cars for teenagers and other first-time buyers is the Honda Civic. It’s smaller and more economical than the Accord and it’s easy to find used models in good condition. Insurance rates are relatively low and it’s inexpensive to drive. It’s also very reliable and safe.

http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites That is a good website i got my first car from here some are good and some are bad so ask for a test drive and ask questions about the car.

A Honda.