Would the FR-S be a good first car?

[FR-S Matt]

A good first new car is a 1991 Honda Accord EX with 185,000 miles on it. Not a brand new FR-S that you risk wrecking because you're young. Trust me.

[Carbon420]

Originally Posted by jflogerzi

I am going to have to say no. Only Midgets and kids can fit in the back. It costs 25K so unless you have money( via parents ) or have a substantial down payment, your monthly will be high. Then you have insurance which will very high being you are a new driver. Then you have gas costs. For your first car, get a beater or nice cheap used 4 door economy car. If you want something fun thats like an FR-S, MX-5's or other older sports cars might be a better fit. If you do wreck the car, its better that its a cheap car and not the FR-S. BTW my First car was a 72 VW super beetle.

I disagree. First a new driver shouldn't be driving with a car full of people anyway. Her in Alberta you can't have more than one passenger for the first year of your licence anyway I believe. Beyond that a beater can cost twice as much to run. Befor the frs I was running a Saturn sc2 2002 and the parts and shyt to keep her on the road nearly killed me. I have twice as much free spending money running my frs even with making payments and an insurance bill almost twice what the Saturn cost.

Buy the frs but be smart and think every time one of your buddies says "let's do this" first ask "what will that do to my car?" And " if this goes wrong will I live to regret it?" And make the mature deviations that driving a car like this deserves, and you should be fine.


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[jarviz]

The only negative I see in this is you don't get a sense of appreciation of well the car handles and feels if this is your first car. Chances are it's going to make driving any other car a completely awkward feeling.

[DarkSunrise]

The truth of the matter is, if you're a responsible person AND a safe driver, then almost anything can be a good first car, even a "tail-happy" RWD FR-S. If not, then even an understeering FWD Honda Accord can be dangerous.

The issue is, the majority of teenagers aren't responsible people or aren't safe drivers YET. It's possible you're one of the few that is (the fact that you're even asking this question is a good sign of your maturity), in which case I'd tell you to go for it. But it's impossible to tell without knowing you or having seen you drive.

[BlueLeader]

Def a good car and cost to run is okay actually. Gas efficient if youd like it to be. Maintenance shouldnt be too bad. Uses synthetic oil. Tires will wear fast if you drive like a maniac. I recommend as a commuter/weekend warrior/ carpool +1 only car. For everything else, its decent. If you plan to carry 2+ people most of the time, i dont recommend it. Youre better off in a base wrx, fun to drive, turbo, plus maybe higher maintenance and gas cost.

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[whaap]

1st car, 2nd car or 100th car, it doesn't matter. The question is does it do what you want it to do. If yes, buy it. If no, find something more fitting.

[kthxbai]

In all honesty, when you are still trying to find yourself as a young person, there will be times when you do things with your friends that you wouldn't normally do away from them. Any living person would be lucky to have an FRS/BRZ/GT86 as one of their cars or let alone a first car, but at a young age when sometimes logic is left at home when you go out, it's nice to have a "not so nice" car to absorb your mistakes (no matter how small or big).

My first car was a 1984 poo-poo brown 4 door toyota camry. I say poo-poo brown because the color was so faded by the time I got it in 2001. I loved that car because it got me from point A to point B, neerly cost nothing to maintain, and was able to hide some of my innocent yet poor judgement some times, i.e. curbing a tire, parallel parking a bit too close to that car behind me, or my friend opening her car door a bit too wide and dinging my door, etc. Needless to say there are not safe young and mature drivers alike, for those this post does not apply to you and I applaud your good fortune and driving talents!

[feedbag]

Originally Posted by alexb99

(Btw the car is for my older sister, and when she's done with it, it will be my car. So by then, it will probably be worth less.)

It most definitely will be.

(because she's going to wreck it)

[Turbowned]

If I were a parent, I would never spend $25k on a first car that my kid is just going to wreck anyway. I understand the importance of safety and that your child's life is priceless, but there is no sense in giving them something that nice as a first car. An inexpensive RWD with a manual transmission will suffice just fine. I bought my first car with my own money. After it blew up (didn't take long) my stepfather bought me another cheap RWD, and I went from there.

@alexb99, While your sister is driving the new car, I recommend you buy yourself a cheap car for around 2 grand. Manual tranmission. Learn how to change your oil and tires. Learn how to wash, polish and wax the finish and clean the interior. Drive it for a while. If you like performance cars, sign up for a local SCCA autocross event and learn more about performance driving. Then when you take possession of the FR-S (or Focus), you'll know a thing or two about proper upkeep and will hopefully have gotten any inexperienced driver mistakes out of the way. I had to learn these things the hard way, and it seems like so many kids these days don't know $#!t about cars - they just buy up cheap modifications and neglect proper maintenance. I hope by reading this you'll have an easier time. Good luck!

[cdo221]

Personally, I wouldn't be enjoying and appreciating this car as much as I do now if I didn't drive several beater cars before buying this one... IMO first cars should be cheap/beater type cars for anybody.

[norsamerican]

Lets look at what is commonly needed in a first car in no order.
1. Cabin space (room)
2. Safety
3. Reliability.

My first car was a 1982 Mercedes 300D It was a tank, it was slow, it was roomy, and it was safe.
The last thing you want as a first car is something expensive; as mentioned it will get dinged, wrecked etc.
I wouldn't suggest this car as a first car. I would suggest something like a 2000-2005 honda accord, avalon, camry. This is not the car to learn to drive with.

[Simpleviet]

This is my first car that I will own eventually. My first car to drive was a Honda Accord 06 family car. Then the Dodge Minivan family car. I had an itch to drive fast and quick! I took the bus for a month to go to college and I wasn't happy and it was a bet with my dad if I could do it without a car.

4 years in the Army. Took taxi cabs for a while. Finally got to my unit, I drove different cars. I was the DD for drunken soldiers hahah Honda Pilot. Nissan Armada that thing was huge! Chevy silvarado hybrid. Prius. Some SUV i forgot its name. Camry, and Impala. Then I got to learn manual from a friend who taught me on Nissan Altima SER. I stalled a lot thats for sure. Cause one trouble with the police for a maybe a 10 second burnout going up the hill. Luckily, the police let me off. Subaru Legacy. Some old classic car that you gotta turn the wheel a a lot just to be able to turn the car. I gotta say it had some comfortable seats I can sleep in it! It was fun driving different cars.

I get to appreciate driving. I did get the fast thrilling adrenaline out of my system sorta I drove the Honda pilot to NYC up to 120 mph on a straightaway in the morning. my friend woke up later and I told him hey I drove 120 lol. My record is 160 on the Altima SER on a back road straight away.

I got to appreciate the cars more and see how important it is to own a car. I decided to buy my very first car which was the FRS. Reason being because the story from Chris Harris stating its a car thats meant to drive for the fun and you can't speed on regular roads and this car delivers the fun factor. I'm enjoying the car a lot. The twisty turn roads and the responsiveness of handling and the little push towards the backseat a bit puts a smile on my face. Feels light as a feather compared to the Altima SER. I hope to own this car when I'm done paying it hahah

My mom says its slow. My brother feels the car is very low when he enters it. It's always a learning experience when driving. I'm doing still getting used to how small the car is when I park I step out and look around and see how the car is parked I gotta learn how to parallel park and reverse park one of these days. I rarely do them! Any person that can drive safe can drive any car. If you aching to drive fast just track it! Do it somewhere there no cars around :P As long your first car is out of your pockets is better than having your parents pay. It gives the responsibilities in your hands. IF anything happens to the car its your head.

Plus its a way to build credit. I'm helping to build credit for my brother. Later in life things to buy a house, own another car, and loans will help because of credit history that follows you forever in life.

[Colominicano]

I was driving that family sentra for 3 years (20-23). I bought my 1st car, '97 honda prelude 5MT just last year and Im looking into buying my 1st new car next year which will be the FR-S.

Like everyone is saying, if leg room is an issue, you might not be satisfied with coupe cars as they all suck in the rear seats. I do not drive with anyone in my rear seats of my Prelude because its uncomfortable for them and for myself, unless they're really short. I'm 5'10 so driving with tall people in the back really messes with my drive ability.

I've test driven the FR-S a few times now and I believe its a great car to start off with if you're a responsible driver who can afford it. If you're looking for wreckless fun from a RWD, get a 240 and beat on that one a few years before getting something new. I got a quote from Geico a few days ago to see how much it would run me a month for full coverage on the FR-S and I got as low as $230 a month. If you're putting no money down and have little to no credit, you're possibly looking at a $400-500 monthly payment for the car.

If you fill up, lets say 12 gallons, every week (7 days), you're looking at $180-200 a month just in gas. Thats what I pay for gas in South Florida. In the end, you're going to have to look at your budget and determine if you're ready for these monthly bill headaches because they're not going to go away for a LONG time. Good news is, financing a new car is a great way to build up fast credit and make future car buying easier.

[mla163]

A rear wheel drive sports car with no back seat is pretty much the worst first car. Get a used minivan.