Kid's car - thoughts?
Lexus Champion
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 10,987
Likes: 81
From: Southeastern PA
By teen standards, there were some interesting domestic fairly large sedans done 20 years ago, perhaps the most interesting ones among them (at least for a reasonable price) being the Ford Taurus SHO, Buick Regal GS, and some versions of the 3.8L Pontiac Grand Prix and Chevy Lumina.
Lexus Champion
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,470
Likes: 247
From: Illinois
Lexus Champion
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 4,592
Likes: 30
From: TN
Love that color, might be my favorite factory paint color for 55-57 Chevies. Also love that bright turquoise and the sort of pinkish beige these cars came in. If you're gonna have a 50's car, nothing like having a popular at that time(but not really seen again) factory paint color with a factory correct matching interior/upholstery.
Lead Lap
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 512
Likes: 169
From: Alberta
Man this thread went sideways fast. Op. Try a 2015 Lexus IS. Very robust build so very safe in an accident. Excellent handling as reliable as a Corolla. Buying a car for teens sometimes the looks matter. They will spend more time driving a car they like as opposed to one you want them to have. If your son is 6’ and growing the IS lineup has the most space for tall drivers of all lexus models. I’ve been through this very same dilemma with my 6’3 son and 6’5 son and 6’8 son. If you want the car to last 10 years run from the Korean models. The engines and trannys wear out much faster in those than in the Japanese. The build quality is nowhere near as good You will countering opinion ions form folks on this but not from anyone who has worked on them and truly knows the ins and outs of the internals.
the IS is a great handling car and will give the kids a sense of control of the vehicle unlike they will get in any of the cars you mentioned in your op. I went with much older is250’s awd with good tires. I don’t want the safety features you want as I don’t want my boys relying on electronics to save their life. I want them relying on their own brain. Unless you have spent seat time in an IS and compared it seat time wise to other cars it’s pretty hard to really know.
id take an is with 100,000 miles on the odometer over any other car in your list with zero miles. Visibility in the Venza is not great. Excellent car but not a good kids first car for visibility alone. RAV4 is too short of wheel base for how high it is. Watch videos on car crashes and see how fast these types of vehicles roll. It’s scary. Subaru’s are ok cars but their buddies will encourage them to drive in the surf or use them as off road vehicles and the drive train can’t take the abuse. They are excellent cars but not for off-roading and they are very expensive to fix compared to Toyota/Lexus. A Lexus IS is a cool car and your kids will live driving it. Love being seen in it. Will not drive it like a horrid because it just doesn’t invoke that kind of mentality like a mustang and incredibly responsive. They will develop better skills driving one.
it’s like learning to play the piano. It’s a lot more fun toy play on an intune grand than an electronic keyboard. It develops a more sophisticated and keen ear. The IS a grand piano compared to the others. Be happy to take this convo private if you like. We had three IS at one point two LX one Ls an ISf and RX. The teens loved the is250 best of all. Over the isf even. That’s the teens perspective
the IS is a great handling car and will give the kids a sense of control of the vehicle unlike they will get in any of the cars you mentioned in your op. I went with much older is250’s awd with good tires. I don’t want the safety features you want as I don’t want my boys relying on electronics to save their life. I want them relying on their own brain. Unless you have spent seat time in an IS and compared it seat time wise to other cars it’s pretty hard to really know.
id take an is with 100,000 miles on the odometer over any other car in your list with zero miles. Visibility in the Venza is not great. Excellent car but not a good kids first car for visibility alone. RAV4 is too short of wheel base for how high it is. Watch videos on car crashes and see how fast these types of vehicles roll. It’s scary. Subaru’s are ok cars but their buddies will encourage them to drive in the surf or use them as off road vehicles and the drive train can’t take the abuse. They are excellent cars but not for off-roading and they are very expensive to fix compared to Toyota/Lexus. A Lexus IS is a cool car and your kids will live driving it. Love being seen in it. Will not drive it like a horrid because it just doesn’t invoke that kind of mentality like a mustang and incredibly responsive. They will develop better skills driving one.
it’s like learning to play the piano. It’s a lot more fun toy play on an intune grand than an electronic keyboard. It develops a more sophisticated and keen ear. The IS a grand piano compared to the others. Be happy to take this convo private if you like. We had three IS at one point two LX one Ls an ISf and RX. The teens loved the is250 best of all. Over the isf even. That’s the teens perspective
Lexus Champion
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 4,592
Likes: 30
From: TN
Man this thread went sideways fast. Op. Try a 2015 Lexus IS. Very robust build so very safe in an accident. Excellent handling as reliable as a Corolla. Buying a car for teens sometimes the looks matter. They will spend more time driving a car they like as opposed to one you want them to have. If your son is 6’ and growing the IS lineup has the most space for tall drivers of all lexus models. I’ve been through this very same dilemma with my 6’3 son and 6’5 son and 6’8 son. If you want the car to last 10 years run from the Korean models. The engines and trannys wear out much faster in those than in the Japanese. The build quality is nowhere near as good You will countering opinion ions form folks on this but not from anyone who has worked on them and truly knows the ins and outs of the internals.
the IS is a great handling car and will give the kids a sense of control of the vehicle unlike they will get in any of the cars you mentioned in your op. I went with much older is250’s awd with good tires. I don’t want the safety features you want as I don’t want my boys relying on electronics to save their life. I want them relying on their own brain. Unless you have spent seat time in an IS and compared it seat time wise to other cars it’s pretty hard to really know.
id take an is with 100,000 miles on the odometer over any other car in your list with zero miles. Visibility in the Venza is not great. Excellent car but not a good kids first car for visibility alone. RAV4 is too short of wheel base for how high it is. Watch videos on car crashes and see how fast these types of vehicles roll. It’s scary. Subaru’s are ok cars but their buddies will encourage them to drive in the surf or use them as off road vehicles and the drive train can’t take the abuse. They are excellent cars but not for off-roading and they are very expensive to fix compared to Toyota/Lexus. A Lexus IS is a cool car and your kids will live driving it. Love being seen in it. Will not drive it like a horrid because it just doesn’t invoke that kind of mentality like a mustang and incredibly responsive. They will develop better skills driving one.
it’s like learning to play the piano. It’s a lot more fun toy play on an intune grand than an electronic keyboard. It develops a more sophisticated and keen ear. The IS a grand piano compared to the others. Be happy to take this convo private if you like. We had three IS at one point two LX one Ls an ISf and RX. The teens loved the is250 best of all. Over the isf even. That’s the teens perspective
the IS is a great handling car and will give the kids a sense of control of the vehicle unlike they will get in any of the cars you mentioned in your op. I went with much older is250’s awd with good tires. I don’t want the safety features you want as I don’t want my boys relying on electronics to save their life. I want them relying on their own brain. Unless you have spent seat time in an IS and compared it seat time wise to other cars it’s pretty hard to really know.
id take an is with 100,000 miles on the odometer over any other car in your list with zero miles. Visibility in the Venza is not great. Excellent car but not a good kids first car for visibility alone. RAV4 is too short of wheel base for how high it is. Watch videos on car crashes and see how fast these types of vehicles roll. It’s scary. Subaru’s are ok cars but their buddies will encourage them to drive in the surf or use them as off road vehicles and the drive train can’t take the abuse. They are excellent cars but not for off-roading and they are very expensive to fix compared to Toyota/Lexus. A Lexus IS is a cool car and your kids will live driving it. Love being seen in it. Will not drive it like a horrid because it just doesn’t invoke that kind of mentality like a mustang and incredibly responsive. They will develop better skills driving one.
it’s like learning to play the piano. It’s a lot more fun toy play on an intune grand than an electronic keyboard. It develops a more sophisticated and keen ear. The IS a grand piano compared to the others. Be happy to take this convo private if you like. We had three IS at one point two LX one Ls an ISf and RX. The teens loved the is250 best of all. Over the isf even. That’s the teens perspective
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 7,460
Likes: 232
From: CA
The Is250 is a pretty great used option. Especially because it looks good and is super slow and reliable. The only issue is the gas mileage is bad. The 2.5l did have carbon issues on the 2IS but the 3IS largely mitigated the issue.
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