I agree and make sure he uses seat belts. I am sure my son would be in a grave had he not.

Word, no way I'd want my kid not to have airbags.

I had a square body suburban and put a lot of $ in it with an engine swap and other things. in the end not worth all the money or effort.

^^^^^^^

Lots of good info. The Tacoma is great, but they are the highest cost out of all the trucks we are looking at. I kind of agree on the air bags. I hadn't thought about that on those older trucks.

You need to give me info. I have to buy 2 in 14 yearsish.

With good reason. Bought my first son a F-150, second son a Tacoma. Both pretty equally aged, although the Tacoma had more miles and was about $3K more expensive. In the end, the Tacoma was WELL worth the extra cost since all we really do is change the oil, replace wiper blades, lights, etc. And I love Fords and have owned many, but we spent WAY more than the difference between the two vehicles in repairs on the F-150, plus it broke down on him a few times at and going back and forth to school. Just don't worry about that with the Toyota. Simply reliable. And even though you're spending more, they hold their value far better too.

Tacoma single cab. That way he can't pile a bunch of kids (distractions) in there.

Practice vehicles make good sense. Unfortunately, that son will be the most likely one in your household to have an accident. That's just numbers. Oftentimes, I see parents buy newer vehicles or get older ones and spend too much fixing them up. Get something mechanically sound and something that you DO NOT have to pay the high cost of collision on for a kiddoe. When and if going to college, you can then make the decision to either purchase something newer or fix up what he has. A lot of that decision should be based on what there there lil' varmint does between 16 & 18.

Room for 1 well-endowed girl and it's a distraction. 'Speak from experience. Had to pay very high insurance premiums after that, for quite a while, for that boy.

One well endowed girl is still less distracting than 3 well endowed girls!

I'm curious why the limitation of a truck. Will he help with carting around stuff for you? Will college be in Texas or different climate? Are you expecting him to secure a rifle in the vehicle?

My first vehicle was a used Jeep. It survived tree impacts, a roll over on the side, curbs, train tracks, buried in 6 ft of snowstorm, and college. Wearing seatbelts is blatantly obvious. Yes, maintenance was frequent, but kept me busy on weekends and I got valuable skills. Applied some of that knowledge from the classroom. I'd recommend a decent used Jeep.

Consider the envioment the in which the vehicle will live. Dont get to attached to it. It could be a throw away.

If he doesn't bang it up, his peers will hit it with theirs.

It’s gonna cost You well over double, triple the initial 3 grand to do everything in your list of projects. I’m either going to have the updated safety features in a 1/2 ton or at least it’ll be a 3/4 ton truck for my kid’s first vehicle. Hopefully both

If I can find a rubber tire tank, that’s what he’ll get.

Go Crew Cab....4 doors, more hors...

I bought a S-10 for Cathy.

I'm gonna buy my son a used, but reliable truck in a crew cab platform. He's gonna do alot of stuff for me including but not limited to, hauling his brother and sister around. Plus he will need to be able to haul gear and whatnot.


I would have killed for a crew cab truck when i was 16 and it wasn't because i wanted my buddies with me ( we would load them up in the bed of the truck anyways ) but for all my gear i hauled around

Hard to keep a handle on those 88 horses the S-10 put out

You have been lucky. I know of two people from my area that are in the graveyard from Jeep rollovers.

My son has been in good used GM pickups since day one. However, a few years ago my son, who is the greatest driver ever (sarcasm), came in one night after being out in my 05 LJ Wrangler. He was a little rattled. He said he would never drive it again. He never fessed up to what scared him. I bet there was daylight under a tire or two that evening. He is out in my 2018 4-door Wrangler as I type this. I'm still not 100% comfortable with him in that one.

I've had enough of my own scares in it to consider getting rid of it. They just seem to prone to rollover, especially the pre-JK models.

All I know what when I was 16 my truck was my ticket to freedom. No way was I gonna let anything happen to it if I had a say.

I had buddies who ragged out and wrecked their cars/trucks but that was just a reflection of their character.

First son drove an Expedition (battering ram) and hit a new Lexus suv his first month with his license. Insurance premiums thru the roof even with liability only on it. 2nd son drives a Honda sedan.

Be careful about giving a kid a 5k lb v8 battering ram that is difficult to park and stop. And don't be shy about unleashed constant feedback on his driving.

I bought #1 a 2010 Tacoma w/ 85k miles for $17k in 2014 when he was 15. #2 a 2008 FJ Cruiser w/85k in 2015 for $16k when he was 15.

We did a 4" Spindle lift, bumper and 33" tires/wheels on the Tacoma and new Tacoma take-offs on #2 (he has no interest in his vehicle appearance).

#1 backed into a car at Tom Thumb about 3 months into his license. #2 backed into #1's Tacoma a year after his. Thankfully no other accidents.

#1 is in College Station (3hr drive home) and #2 is in Levelland/Lubbock (5-6 hr drive home)


We have done nothing to those vehicles except engine oil/transmission oil/filters, tires and they are both about 150k now doing great. (knock, knock)

The kid fix-up project is a great idea, when they have another ride. Not having to fix/troubleshoot things so they can get to school/work and to be confident in what they're driving when they make those longer drives home is 100% worth it.

Charlie

Both of mine drove older "rough" trucks in high school. They both ended up with newer vehicles around the time they went to college. Any question why...just drive them to school someday and take them into the student lots. Do that and you will understand why they shouldn't drive a "nice" vehicle

My kid will drive what he wants within reason. I survived driving all 1960-1970’s vehicles in high school. Respect the vehicle and pay attention to the other drivers.

YOU are an anomaly. Almost like a cat.