I just need some general information.

[Mikie13]

Well, I have a 94 ford thunderbird right now and its slow as crap. I don't have any money, but I've always wanted a Subaru. I'm just trying to plan ahead and see what car I should buy later on. If you have any suggestions on what car, let me know. Thank you guys for the advice.

Now that's a different story...

But again, it all depends on what you want out of a car, and when you'll be able to do it. And obviously...budget is going to be your biggest talking point. How much are you looking to spend?

STI is more of a performance oriented version of the WRX...and certainly has more HP, but also touts better handling and better braking abilities, which are why it costs more. Insurance again, will be the killer.

[EJ257]

Insurance is high at 30...

Op I'm 34 years old, married and no tickets or accidents and I could finance another WRX for 60 months alone on the monthly insurance for this car.

We all know insurance rates vary based on lots of factors. I'm younger than both of you, with pretty high coverage limits, and while I'm not qualified for the AARP discount rates that Ray is, I'm under $90/month.

That said, I'm with the majority. Get something cheap/reliable/slow until you graduate college. After you graduate college and get a real job, then come back and see if a glorified economy vehicle is the one you want to own.

[wrx1234]

Your insurance alone will be enough to pay for a new civic and those vtech yo. I have read in several places that the WRX and STI have the highest insurance rate per dollar for the price of the car. Mostly this is because its a fairly affordable car with power meaning 16 year olds with a decent job can (could) afford one and shortly after wreck it after watching all the GYMKHANAs and need for speed movies.

Also 1 ticket and your insurance company will drop you at 16.

[jlinnell98]

Well, I have a 94 ford thunderbird right now and its slow as crap. I don't have any money, but I've always wanted a Subaru. I'm just trying to plan ahead and see what car I should buy later on. If you have any suggestions on what car, let me know. Thank you guys for the advice.

A couple cheap cars I would consider for my kid at 16: Scion TC, Civic, Mazda 3/6, base Impreza.
Cars I wanted at 16: anything fast. A pre 2009 WRX would be a nice car to start out with if it was stock, I had a crotch rocket at 17 and that was much worse than a pretty safe 227 hp car

[careercadaver]

I'd suggest an n/a Subaru. It's not going to be as fast obviously but less to maintain and insure. This will also familiarize you with Subaru in general and maybe teach you a thing or two as far as the service side is concerned.

[Ikana]

I'm surprised to hear so many reports of high insurance costs. As I've mentioned in another thread, I pay about the same to insure my WRX as my old 2005 Ford Taurus. If I chose the hatchback it would be a couple hundred dollars cheaper per 6 months compared to the same Ford Taurus.

If I could go back and choose a different car for my first, I would have chosen an old Miata. I have one now and it's a fantastic car. Great manual transmission, fun and easy to drive, and it's RWD. They're very popular as track cars (Spec Miata for one) and I believe they are an excellent choice for the budding enthusiast. I bought mine for ~$2600 and it has given me years of good service. They are very reliable cars and have lots of enthusiast and aftermarket support. They are also not likely to get you into trouble with excessive power. They are about half the size and weight of your average car, which helps them in all kinds of ways. Great first car in my opinion. When you grow as a driver, there are lots of mods out there for more power, handling and braking performance.

As a downside, they are probably not the safest car in an accident, being incredibly small and light, especially if you buy an older one and then add old technology and safety standards to the list.

I would still go with one over a boring econobox. Jumping from one of these to a relatively high performer like the STI is nearly as bad as going straight to the STI in my view, because slow, understeering FWD automatics are not going to teach you to respect a car's performance.