Temporary Car to learn driving?
Living in Seattle I never felt the need to own a car. All that changed when my wife started learning driving. She wants us to buy a cheap car so that she can learn to drive and then we can buy a good one. I find it too much hassle. I was thinking why not buy the car we like in the first go. Also, my biggest reason to buy a new one is because of all the new safety features it comes with like: blind spot monitoring , lane keep assist etc etc. Which becomes more important as she will be a new driver. What do you guys/girls think should we do? Go for a cheap car ( but relatively unsafe ) for an year and then upgrade or get a new one in the first one. If we buy cheap we will go with 2007+ Honda Fit (7-10K) If we buy new we will go with 2018 Honda Accord EX. (26K+) Any help appreciated.
You'll get dents and scratches on the car if you're a new driver. But it really depends on your attitude - of you plan to hold your car until it falls apart rather then upgrade to a new one every 4 years, then just get a car you want.
Also, those "safety" features you mentioned just make you lazy and less attentive on the road.
Get the cheap car so you aren’t upset when it gets scratched and dented. Also 10 year old cars are perfectly safe.
I’d recommend buying a used car (< 7 years and 80k miles) that you can own for like 5 years. You are guaranteed to get into a wreck and/or get a major dent given the very tight parking stalls in Seattle (stationary objects has higher chance of causing an accident in your first car than a moving object- You won’t be as bummed when that happens. The safety features you talked about are more expensive to fix when they get damaged).
Buy a small new one such as Honda Civic. Maintaining an used car can be a lot of hassle. That can be quite stressful if you are not familiar with a car. New car is much more fun to drive with all the music and fancy features. Rear view camera makes a huge difference as well. With all the rode rage incidents, you want to minimize any stress.
Don't drain your money in the car. If you don't believe in whoever's driving the car buy Tesla for the autopilot, else rest of the cars don't matter much. Maybe choose better built quality of the car body itself than relying on all these software features.
Additionally buy a certified used car, you don't have to worry much. Yes there's a hassle on finding the right car for you with used cars, but you'll save money. Take this suggestion if you are not rich
If she has a license, just rent a vehicle for ~25 days and purchase all the insurance. Some of these car rental companies may have discounts for Amazon employees, or wherever your wife works. If she doesn't have a license, she should take driving lessons. It does not take more than 25 days, including weekend road trips, to learn to drive.
Are you asian? 🤦♂️
Why is cheaper car unsafe? Just curious? Most cars really are just a giant metal encased with airbags in it. If you want a temporary car you can consider leasing.
Relatively unsafe. New cars have some slick tech like forward collision warning, lane keep assist etc. I really liked these features
Newer cars are objectively safer