First car for 16 year old in Melbourne
 

Hey guys, I'm thinking of maybe a Subaru BRZ but also looking at two nice Supra SZ-Rs on carsales too for $12k and $15k. Should I go for a BRZ because it's newer and probably safer etc or a Supra because it's a Supra?

The problem is that with a brand new car like the BRZ, it's gonna be a lot more to pay for (around $40k and insurance, not easy for a 16 y/o) but with the Supra, it's cheaper and we can save the money for running costs like fuel etc.

Also, the BRZ being a newer car, it's probably safer than the Supra (not sure about the Supras safety).

Advantage of the Supra though, 2JZ POWAAA :D :thumbup:

Any input from people would be appreciated.

Thanks

lucky 16 year old to either get a Supra or BRZ...my first car was a 91 prelude All wheel steering, and I thought I was lucky...

not sure if troll


for a 16 year old I would buy a car that they could crash into a tree and wouldn't feel bad just leaving it there.


but young drivers make plenty of mistakes, from scratches and dings, to poor judgments when it comes to speeding, racing, etc. Best to do it in a car that you don't care about repairing and a car that isn't capable or doesn't present a certain image.



unless you feel like spoiling your kid, or think they can do no wrong.... then go ahead and buy them whatever you want.

Definitely get the Supra. I have a BRZ myself, but as other have stated, we're talking about a 16 year old who is gonna mess up the car. It is inevitable, and I'd rather my kid not total a new dream car like the BRZ.

I guess the real question is, how comfortable are you with losing either vehicle...

hehehe '91 prelude not too bad tbh (just searched it up) first cars dont always have to be the best thing out there. with 4ws, you could brag about it too XD

no, not trolling. i really am considering those two cars.

i have had driving experience before and i do know how to handle myself. yes there can be mistakes that happen on the road and it can be the other road users too. not just the young one.

the plus of me kinda being like james may in that i like to keep things sorted, neat and clean and babying my stuff.

not very comfortable at all. i never like the sight of seeing a wrecked car.

i do baby my things, try to keep it for as long as possible with a few modifications here and there. yes it sounds like im defending myself from the comments saying "a 16 year old whos going to ruin his car" but stereotypes re stereotypes. it doesnt apply to all.

with cars like the supra, skyline, brz/86, nissan s-chassis, rx7, rx8, etc etc, its not uncommon to own one of them at an early age here. gotta love seeing your mates rolling around in them though.

if i werent able to own one, i can still just keep me dads car (toyota landcruiser prado -grunty beast-) as i do love it too. maybe with it i can get enough money to make it into an offroad machine hehe :thumbup: dreams are dreams though.

on a side note, i dont know how to multi-quote on this so excuse my many posts up^ there

I don't think either of these should ever be a kids first car unless you were one of those kids who grew up racing and already have a lot of driving experience. With that said you are going to do what you want to do. I'd say the 86 is a better choice because it has less power and is a safer car.

As someone who's worked in the Financial industry for the past few years, I'd like for you to seriously consider this purchase - a little more thought than just a few forum posts and/or day-dreaming. The car is usually people's second biggest purchase is their life next to a home.

You're 16 years old, who is going to be paying for the car? You mention, "a brand new car like the BRZ, it's gonna be a lot more to pay for (around $40k and insurance, not easy for a 16 y/o)". What do you mean by this? Will YOU be making the payments yourself by working part-time/full-time minimum wage job?

I never discriminate because of age, because there are people who are 20 years old making more than someone who is 45 years old, it happens. But are you in this situation? What is your capacity? How is your job security?

In my humble opinion, I would buy the cheaper car (if buying is the only option), the Supra is already a great car, and 12k is much more manageable than a 40k car.

My advice? Take your dad's old car, save up, and then put it towards the down payment or even pay the car off in full.

if you feel confident in your respect and road manners then you buy whatever you can afford, that's really all there is to it.

yea i agree with this above statement







first time i ever drove a car with boost, the torque steer almost killed me and i was 18,


i remember driving to high school and hearing nothing but stories about peopel crashing there mommy and daddies Mercedes or BMW ( i live in a rich area)

i don't understand parents concept of giving a BRAND NEW driver a BRAND NEW car!

first car i had, at 15 was a 99 dodge neon 5 speed, loved that car, was so happy just to have a car, at that age i didnt care about anything else but just owning a car, hell i even saved up all my money to buy a car!







are you going to be buying the car with your own hard earned money, or is mommy and daddy buying it for you???

with all the cars ive owned in the past 9 years of driving, they have all been bought with my own hard earned money! and i appreciate it more!

if your making mommy and daddy buy you a car, start off small, used, old! i can tell you the truth that 90% of kids who have there parents buy them a car, dont appreciate what they have, atleast thats with my experiance

I'd go for the BRZ. It's newer with less power and a lot safer.

It's never too early to own/drive a sport car if you can afford all the associated cost and responsibility. Owning either of these cars will be your marathon up Mount Everest.

At age 19, I barely made it out alive with a 99 Civic Si with fart-cannon.

MK4 Supra all day

I'm a big fan of Supras though, so my opinion is rather bias

Not a bad situation to be in at age 16, but I imagine your insurance costs will be exceptionally high

Nick C.

get him an AE86

Ok just for clarification, because there seems to be some confusion here.... OP you are indeed the 16yr old in question correct? Or is this the dad asking for his son?

Dunno how anyone thought it was the father, from the way he's written the posts it's clearly the 16 year old in question. And disregard the "mommy daddy payment" crap, everyone has their own situations that give them the cash to make decisions like these, OP was asking for insight not a life lecture. IMO go the BRZ over the Supra, safer and warranty, and of course go 86 over BRZ - more money for later on.

true, but we gotta start somewhere though. not every good driver started out on a racetrack at the age of 7. certainly not here.

i agree with you on this. a brz would NOT be easy to live with in terms of payments etc and i will have to get a good paying job to get what i want when i can (planning to be a mechanic mainly because i want to be (yes 16 y/o working on your car stereotypes coming) i hear they get good money here too)

yep. true.


i see what you mean mate. yes i admit i am one of those kids with things out of mommys and daddys money but i do wish to start earning my own money to save up and getting things with it.

so with cars, in this case, maybe dad giving me his when he cant drive any longer (which is soon sadly.) or going something cheap as well. a supra would suffice with space for 4 people (me, me dad when hes observing my early driving, and young bros when taking them to school hehe).


its probably a lot harder to live nowadays. even worse here in aus with pretty much everything way more expensive than they should be.


hehe MK4 supra!!!

idk a lot about insurances etc so i cant say much apart from knowing that its a lot of money. i should do research.


yes, i am the 16 y/o posting.

sorry for the said confusion.


thank you for that mate. everyones opinions are different (or could be same given the stereotypes).

tbh, i think i would be a bit (idk what word to put here) spoilt(?) to just say that there are too many 86s on the road compared to nearly no brzs seen here which made me go brz over 86. i do love the 86 though. i think theyre around the same price point of $40k now (the 86 went $2k cheaper after the spec change last year here i believe) so i dont think that last one would do much.


thank you everyone for your posts :)

edit: the SZ-R is a non-turbo mk4

yeah that'd be fine.

when (not if) you get in your first wreck, it's still kind of an expensive lesson. maybe a silvia Q's would be cheaper?

If you must have a sports car as your first car at 16yo, then get an 86.

In the early 2000s I drove a 1993 Civic LSi for 1-2 years, a Forester (non-turbo) for 2-3 years, then only got a Legacy/Liberty turbo.

In his defense I had a 550whp 3000gt that weighed 2870lbs and I never got into and accident or messed up the car. Actually it ended up getting totaled by a trucker who rear ended me (crash bars are there for a reason). Anyway point is not all young kids are irresponsible. Also my parents didn't get the car for me as you're probably thinking. I started working when I was 14 and saved every dollar until I was 16

Mate, is there no middle ground here? You're jumping from a 12-15k car straight up to a new 40k car? Why not look at a couple of used BRZ's or 86's? I'm sure there are few around the place. You can pick a manual BRZ for $30k, GT for $25-26k Or a GTS for around 28k, with a truckload less km's and safer than a 12 year old Supra. Oh the BRZ/86 is going to use less petrol too.

yeah it probably is. a silvia would be nice too but i would want something i am already familiar with just so i can work with it easier.

its not really a must. just a want. i could go for like a old hilux and turn it into a mad offroad 4x4 if i wanted to but nah. sports car for the young wants, then later, a offroad suv that doubles as a good family car to drive kids to school too

exactly. some kids just look at a car and say they want it, then wreck it later because they cant handle it. then theres the others who are very into the car stuffs and actually know things etc and wreck it because some other guy on the road was being an ass.

tbh, i actually didnt think of that lol. hmm good idea! to carsales!

You need to understand it is alot more than just having a good paying job. I mentioned job security. Meaning, if and when you do get this job, will you have it for at least X amount of years to make the payments?

I know you're excited, but why not work a year or two, maybe less depending on how you manage your finances, and then purchase the BRZ?

This is going to sound weird but hear me out.

Get a Volvo R of some sort. Not the new R-design because they are shit. Im talking mid 90s to mid 2000s.

They are tanks on wheels, I shit you not. My first car was a 97 850 R wagon. I got it with 136,000 miles on it for like 4,000 US dollars. I then recharged the AC, Paid 800 for a new exhaust, new tires and alignment.

I drove this car hard and fast every single day for 4 years. I was 15 when I got it when I only had a learners permit.

I crashed into curbs, went off the road twice, got T-boned (not my fault), hit a few snow banks, and always walked away ok. The car had the nicest leather seats ive sat in to date, comfort wise over a long trip.

It is your first car. It will get some dents and scraps most likely. If you want the supra and can afford it go ahead. But think about taxes, insurance, registration. That adds up quick.

You have all you life to buy cars and it will suck if you ever have to take a step back in the evolution. My friend in high school had a badass 3000 vr-4 that he put over 6k into, then he crashed it, and could only afford a honda civic :(

My cars so far, Volvo 850 R wagon - 07 WRX - 14 BRZ.

Save you funds. If you can afford a supra or a BRZ now, in three years why not buy a M3? If I had the funds I would have bought an M3.

I believe you have already made up your mind though, being 16 and head strong you own't listen to us slightly older guys, at least I would not have :cheers:

Edit = I passed my volvo on to my younger brother when it had 199,460 miles on it, and I realized that the odometer had broken. He drove it for another 2 years before my uncle took it as a parts car

Yes I know it's going to take a lot of time too. A lot of thinking, time, work etc will go into buying a car for the first time so I can't be too hasty.

Hehe when I saw "Volvo", I knew you were going to say how they are like tanks on the road and made me smile a bit :thumbup:

The M3 will have to wait until I get that much money. They're pretty expensive here.

With the "I believe you have already made up your mind though, being 16 and head strong you own't listen to us slightly older guys, at least I would not have :cheers:" though, I think I'm mature enough to listen to the wiser, older people as they have lived longer and can teach us young ones how we can make the most of our lives. :thumbup: still deciding though.

Haha I always thought the same but its called hormones, and when your 16 they are running like wild.

Wish you the best of luck. My other Idea is to buy a cheap project car with relatively inexpensive parts and improve your mechanical skills and understanding of automotive systems. I did this with a 1952 Jeep M38A1. Rebuild the block. Installed an overdrive. Converted the electrical system. Replaced all the brake lines and components. Bought it for 500 from a guy who used it hunting.

haha thanks mate :)

im more of a toyota guy so with a cheap project car, i should just find a run down classic 40 series landcruiser, rebuild and restore it then turn it into an off road beast XD but thats just another dream.

My buddy had a late 90's land cruiser. Got 8mpgs but we could fill it up with like 10 kids haha.

haha we had and have the smaller landcruiser prado (a '96 and a '06). can fill it up with people and still go strong. grunty v6's toyota makes xD

Seeing as though you're from Melbourne, I'm assuming you've got your learners permit since you're 16, meaning you won't be able to drive without a full licensed supervisor (ie. mum or dad) for at least another 2 years..

Just wondering why you're buying a car now and not later, when you get your p-plates and are allowed to drive by yourself?

From what I know, I think it's get the L's first, drive around with dad or mum or someone who's got a full license for about 120-200 hours (dunno if they've changed it yet), then get P's after I've finished the hours and am 18.

Why I'm deciding to go for a car now if to practice in it, get more experience in a different car and get better at driving.

Buy a Civic, learn to drive.

No use buying a brand new car when you are 16, as rad as it would be, you won't be able to drive it by yourself for 2 years or till you get your full license. So you just wasted 10-15k depreciation on 2 years of lessons with your dad.

Also, Civic is cheap, heaps of parts and you can take it to motorkhana's, hill climbs and track days, thrash the fuck out of it and it will be cheap to fix when you stack it, blow it or rub one out in the back seat in it.
And you will learn great car control too! Then when you are 18 and bumped up to junior supervisor at macca's, go buy your 86! (providing the laws for P platers don't change like i hear they are going to and you can still drive the 86)

When I was 18 I had a single turbo MK4 Supra making 550hp at the rears. I never got into trouble.

But alas that was a different time. Before the cops in Melbourne clamped down on that sort of thing.

Agree with Fudd. Wait til you're 18 before you buy the car you want. No matter how cool the car is, nothing kills the vibe more than having to roll with your parents.