Dear Group,
My daughter will turn sixteen, therefore resulting in a drivers license, next April. She presently has a learners permit and is actually a better driver than my wife.
I have had six BMW's and presently own two mini vans (want to buy a 96 Sport model?), a 97 Volvo 960 (our first Volvo and presently @ 203,000 mls) and a
84 BMW 633 CSi (my weekend car, five speed manual). My daughter wants a BMW and I want her to have a Volvo. I've wrecked or have been in wrecks with both the BMWs and the Volvo. Volvo is a much safer car, hands down, in a wreck. Almost fun to wreck a Volvo.Her high school lost four kids who were seventeen and eighteen this year to auto accidents. SUV's and small Japanese cars in all cases. SUV's are unstable on the road, IMHO, and the Japanese cars just don't do well in crashes. These kids just don't have the experience at driving. I want my daughter to call me to tell me she has wrecked the car and not get a call from the police to tell me my daughter is dead.
The question is which Volvo should I start looking for? Five thousand is all I want to spend and she, of course, wants something "kewl". More is possible but not desired. We live in North Carolina, USA.
This is a good kid who will probably get a full ride to any university she applies to so I want to keep her safe but also give her a car she will be proud of and want to keep through college. Convertibles and two doors are at the top of her list. A-1 Abrams are at the top of mine.
TIA mjb