Question: My teenage son is an exemplary student and highly responsible. We told him that we'd be willing to spend $10,000 to buy a car for his use. He scanned the Blue Book and discovered that some of the earlier BMW Z3s fall into that price range. They apparently have a good safety record and crash-test results, and cost less to insure than other, more-conservative cars. I just can't get rid of the nagging feeling that buying a car like that for the use of an almost-17-year-old is nuts!
Answer: It may be nuts to buy a Z3, but insuring it would be surprisingly inexpensive. State Farm grades cars on their relative insurance costs in three categories: damage and theft, liability and vehicle safety. The 2001 BMW Z3 earns high marks in all three, so insurance premiums are significantly lower than average for vehicles in its price range.
You can look up State Farm's vehicle insurance ratings for the 2003 to 2006 model years on its Web site (www.statefarm.com). To compare premiums from other insurers, go to www.insweb.com.
Your son may be disappointed to learn that the least expensive cars to insure are much less cool. Among the 20 best-selling cars and small trucks for the 2005 and 2006 model years, the cheapest to insure are the Chrysler Town & Country minivan, Chevrolet Cobalt, Dodge Caravan and Chevrolet Impala, according to Insure.com.
And you might consider a GPS system as a future graduation gift. GPS navigation systems can be invaluable to male and map-phobic drivers, both of whom tend to wander off the beaten path. Now there are even systems that provide a little help for the harried commuter caught in the daily Cone Zone. Both the Garmin Nuvi 350 ($857) and the Magellan RoadMate 3000T ($600) are GPS navigators that can receive real-time traffic reports via FM radio.
By retrieving frequent traffic updates from subscription services, such as Clear Channel TMC and Navteq Traffic RDS (which cost $60 to $80 per year after a 15-month free trial), your son will be alerted to upcoming road snarls. And if he enters his destination, the system will check traffic reports and suggest alternate routes.
Each GPS device has a color touch screen that is easy to read in sunlight, comes preloaded with maps and includes a so-so MP3 player. The Nuvi even announces street names.