Background: Our 21 year old son is ready to buy his first car. He is an exceptional engineering student, Dean's List, never given us a bit of worry, level-headed, practical, and already has over $20K invested.
When we bought the older two kids their cars, we shopped for something relatively new, low miles, and reliable. The purpose was to give them transportation and send them off to their first job with a paid-for car. We didn't really solicit feedback from the kids although the older kid found her Corolla.
Back to the youngest - He really, REALLY wants a Subaru. To find a newer model with low miles, we exceed our $10K maximum - by $7-$10K. To find low price, we have to find an older Subaru which has high miles and the head gasket issue. He has found a number of hail-damaged Subaru cars that are relatively new (2013 - 2014) with low miles (< 70K) and close to $10K ($12K - $13K) and he's willing to pay the difference.
I'm really struggling with putting $10K into a hail-damaged car. My son doesn't care about the radio, bluetooth, automatic windows, or any other bell or whistle. When we look at cars, he pops the hood and checks out the engine. He is a car guy - he is trying to get an internship at Koenigsegg for next summer. For fun, he goes to high-end car dealerships. He couldn't give a rat's a$$ if the car has hail-damage.
So - should I:
a - hold my ground. No hail-damaged Subaru.
b - back-off. It's a Subaru - who cares if it's hail-damaged.
c - some other option that I haven't thought about but you have - and you'll share with me.