Hey this is my first post so.. Im 16 and Im thinking about buying this car, or the caliber..
Since im 16 obviusly i dont make enough to make payments on a commander or wrangler (my 1st choice)AND to pay for gas for them. Can anyone who has one tell me if they think its good for a 16 year old for a 2nd car ( my first one just broke). I need a car that holds my hockey bag, i can go to work and school and drive round w/ friends.
And plz dont say its too nice for a 16 year old cuz my parents arent buying it, i am, and ove thought about used but id rather have a car that will last me through college and still be under warrenty. Also that 0% is pretty sweet..
So what do you think!!??

I wish I could've bought a new car at 16:-))!! Good luck. Heck, my first new car was a 4 cyl. 1984 Chrysler Laser--I was 32. Then I splurged and bought a 1988 Dodge Daytona Shelby Z Turbo II, 5 spd stick.

ya i have a good job for 16 and i really dont have anything i have to pay for right now

You know when they offer 0% for new cars a bunch of people trade in used cars really cheap. I would also check out the sales tax, excise tax, and insurance costs. If you are planning to live near college check on those costs. You might find that it will cost you an extra $3000 per year to get a new car over a two or three year old trade in.

I would also stress caution right now on the 2007s as Chrysler is working out production problems. Don't think that a warranty covers everything. I don't know about you but it sounds like you have a busy schedule between work, school, and hockey. Warranty work may leave you without a car for a week or running around in a dealer provided car. Since you are under 25 they will charge you extra for insurance on that rental or dealer car. Since you are under 18 they will require someone else to guarantee payment. Dealers will also "assume" it is your fault if something breaks that may be due to owner negligence.

I know it sucks! Think of it this way - you have the flexibility now to buy what you want when you want to. If you buy a new car you will be locked in to keeping that car on the road.

1) Money aside, I think the Compass would well suit your needs -- especially if you get the fold flat front seat. I had a 92 Cherokee (about same size as Compass) handed down to me by my parents with 150k miles and I drove it in high school and for a few years at college. I had no problems lugging friends and I could easily fit all of my junk coming home for summer breaks and such. I am a big golfer and had no problems throwing a bunch of golf bags in the trunk, so I'm sure you'll have room for hockey stuff.

For the most part the Cherokee was reliable -- the only reason I had some problems was because my sister didn't take care of it (regular oil changes, transmission flushes, etc.) when she had it in college...

2) They usually only offer 0% to people with a good credit score. So I would assume that if you get a Compass, you would need your parents to buy it (assuming their credit is good enough) and you pay them. Otherwise, I highly doubt you would get the 0% since you are only 16 and probably don't have enough credit established. Also there is usually a minimum down payment to get that rate...

3) I assume that if you play hockey that you live up north where you will need AWD (if not, then I'm always happy to see hockey players from down south). But keep that in mind as that adds about 2k to the base price.

4) Like silvermike said, the sales tax, registration can really get ya on the overall price. Plus since you are 16, insurance would be pretty high (I would recommend getting on your parents insurance and just paying them the difference of you being added to theirs -- it'd probably be cheaper than you getting your own...)

5) First year cars always have their problems -- although I haven't heard anything negative about the Calibers, so perhaps the new engine is actually reliable. And like Silvermike said, Chrysler is having some production problems, so that may eventually translate to problems. But if you buy new, the problems may be covered under warranty anyways.

6) Don't forget to make sure that you can still make your payments (car and insurance) while you are in college. More power to ya if you can pay it off beforehand.

So the bottom line is that if you have a good job and know you can make your payments, I would buy it now while your expenses are next to nothing.

However, if -I- were in your position, I would buy used and pay for whatever problems occur. If you buy a vehicle for 12k, that still gives you about 6k worth of problems you can have before breaking even :-) I would tell you to get a 2001 Cherokee or a 2001+ Grand Cherokee, but I doubt you would be happy with the gas mileage. So (it pains me to say this as a Jeep lover..) that it may be beneficial to look into USED Highlanders, Rav4s or CRVs. You can probably still get a few years of warranty on a 2003 or later model...

Just my two cents...

ya ive lloked into it costs 1000 extra just for AC!!

I saw a 2002 Jeep Wrangler X w/ 44 k miles for 10 grand :) :) !!! I think ill get that but the compass is still an option as well as a caliber

Wranglers are awesome. But here are advantages and disadvantages:

Disadvantages:
1) You are going to be lucky to get better than 20 mpg (expect 15 or 16)
2) You will have to fold down or take out the back seats to fit your hockey stuff. When I graduated college, I was actually looking into getting a Wrangler. But I was used to the space in my 93 Grand Cherokee (that replaced the Cherokee) so I decided to fix it up (going to be putting a small lift on it tomorrow) instead of getting a Wrangler.
3) If you are used to driving a car, the Wrangler will handle SIGNIFICANTLY differently. You can't expect to take a hard turn going fast or else it'll flip. This is even more pronounced than other SUVs because of the short wheelbase.
4) Insurance will likely be pretty expensive because of what I just said.
5) It will ride very loudly compared to other vehicles
6) With the soft top, people can easily break into it, so don't keep anything valuable in it.

Advantages:
1) You can ride topless
2) Chics dig Wranglers
3) You can take it pretty much anywhere :-)
4) The I6 engine in the Wrangler (and Cherokee) will pretty much last forever with normal maintenance. The same is true for the 5.2L Magnum V8 in the Grand Cherokees (mine has 177500+ on it and is still going strong).

Although before going straight for the Wrangler, I would seriously look into a Cherokee, too. The Cherokee will have more space and is comparable in price. And believe me, you can do A LOT with a Cherokee off road if you desire to move off the paved roads. Granted this kids were literally trying to drive the Cherokee into the ground, but check out this video...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7270258632860038644&q=jeep&hl=en

The Cherokee would be the more practical decision, but chics dig the Wrangler, so you can't go wrong either way :D

Also, I want you to bear in mind that I love Jeeps, so my opinion is SLIGHTLY biased...

One more thing to add to the advantages. The Wrangler was recently rated (by Edmunds I think) as one of the least expensive SUVs to own (which takes into account maintenance and insurance costs)

...And just think of what the ten grand plus that you save one the 2002 will get you. Also in most places if the used car is a private sale no sales tax is collected. Depending on where you live that can be real money.

The only first year car I've purchased with no problems was my 97 Wrangler. I had one warranty repair - broken low fuel sensor due to corrosion - caused by a bad shipment of parts. On the other side I had one first year new car with parts on it not listed by the manufacturer for my car or for the following year's model but had been specially made at the plant to fix a problem on the line. Try explaining that to N.A.P.A. Btw: I knew that because the dealer's mechanic had to call the plant to find a part to get the car running.

If I didn't think the Compass & Patriot were great designs I wouldn't be here to reply. I may even be willing to risk first year problems. But I have 4 cars and recently my commute has been 20 miles to the airport. I can afford a car being down for a week waiting to diagnose and fix some esoteric problem.

...And anyone who knows what end of a wrench to stick on the sparkplug can tune up the I6.

Here are some I found
2002 Soft Top, But low miles (http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?&min_price=1&distance=50&dealer_id=476449&lang=&mod_bookmark_id=null&bkms=1156207940118&end_year=2007&address=48080&make=JEEP&start_year=1981&num_records=25&certified=&ref=srl&car_id=202521995&car_year=2002&cardist=35&max_price=13000&advanced=&search_type=both&model=WRANGLER&ref=srl#vdptop)
2002 Hard top, Auto, but higher miles (http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=203284101&dealer_id=1328042&car_year=2002&mod_bookmark_id=null&search_type=both&num_records=25&make=JEEP&model=WRANGLER&distance=50&address=48080&advanced=&certified=&ref=srl&ref=srl&max_price=13000&bkms=1156207940118&min_price=1&end_year=2007&start_year=1981&lang=&cardist=21)
Those both have warrentys.
Also, the 1998-1004 grand cherokees get 15-18 MPG, and even if they were the same price, I would take a Wrangler over a Loaded grand cherokee.

But they have also beeen advertising used 2006 trailblazers in the papers.. for 10000..

if you were considering a compass or a caliber then you're probably not planning on doing any offroading, or very low-level offroading, so a cherokee would be perfect.
i own an 04 grand cherokee and i get almost ~18mpg in the city and on the highway i usually get almost 23mpg and you can find a 2001+ grand cherokee for pretty cheap these days, ever since the '05 model came out.
so, if you want plenty of room, comfort, decent gas mileage (since the compass doesn't get amazing mpg either) then i would go for a grand cherokee

No i live in detroit there isnt any forests or anything for hundreds of miles

Sorry to burst a little bubble here but the 0% and other incentives are on 06's. There are no incentives on 07's as of yet. My credit rating is over 800 and the only way I could get 0% was to take a 3 year note.

This may make a stripped Liberty pretty attractive though. That would be a great vehicle for college outside of the mileage issue.

Cya,

-Beer

ew libertys are girl cars ill get made fun of so much..
ive kinda changed my mind, i might get a commander for 208 a month w/ 208 down, a used wrangler for 12 grand (2004), a leased wrangler if there are any incentives, or a compass lease.. i will prolly know this week. ill post pics of w/e i get