Dear Tom and Ray:

I will be 16 and getting my driver's license soon. My parents want to buy me a new car, but we aren't sure which cars to look at. Can you recommend a 1993 model with the following features, and a price of $16,000 or less? It has to have: automatic transmission, four doors, anti-lock brakes, AM/FM radio with cassette, power door locks, lots of cabin room, easy to drive, dual airbags, power steering, AC/heat/defroster, power windows, ample trunk space, and leather interior. Sumner

Ray: All those options and leather interior, too? Gee, Sumner, the only leather that touched my behind when I was 16 came from my father's belt. And it came often!

Tom: Seriously, you really are asking for an awful lot for 16 thousand bucks. But if you can bump your parents up a couple of thousand more, I'd recommend one of the new Chrysler LH cars--either the Dodge Intrepid or the Eagle Vision. Those are both very nice, large cars that are available with all of the features you're looking for.

Ray: Right. The other LH car in that series is the Chrysler Concorde. But you can't buy a Chrysler if you're only16, Sumner. After all, what will you have to move up to when you graduate from high school?

Changing your oil is the cheapest insurance you can buy for your car, but how often should you change it? Find out by ordering Tom and Ray's pamphlet Ten Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even Knowing It! To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

© 1993 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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