My first car was a 1985 Pontiac Parisienne Safari Station Wagon with a tow package and when I got it, 173,000 miles. It was brown with a brown interior. The 5.0-liter V8 cranked out (maybe) 140 horses and it didn't even have a tape deck. It's a wonder I like cars at all. Of course here in LA you see lots and lots of high school children driving 'round in a shiny new BMW 3-series. Lexus IS's and new Mustangs are popular choices, too. On the other hand, there are the parents out there who feel safety is priority one, and arm their spawn with heavy metal in the form of Expeditions and Denalis. Then of course there is the little turd who cut me off this morning in a Yellow H2. Man, would I like to smack his father. Yeah, so, what should kids drive?
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Any 5-8 year old midsized sedan or station wagon with the smallest engine offered. Taurus, Camry, S60 and Impala come to mind.
Make sure the tires and brakes are in good shape.
A 5 year old Japanese 4 cylinder beater with airbags and without anything more than 120HP.
A beater with good brakes good tires airbags and manual trans. and “I will help you, but you will do the maintenance and repairs” (within reason)
If you want your child’s love and are too cheap to pay for college: get’em an Evo
My solution was a 1994 2WD, Ford F150, driver’s airbag, 4.9L 6 cyl, 5 spd manual, electric nothing. I figured, It was big, cheap, had an airbag, and he would have to learn how to drive a standard trans. And, he is less likely to load up all his friends and go cruz’n the back roads.
It was cheap (sort of) to insure, it is easy to fix, and I rent him and his truck out to all of my friends when they need hauling done.
Most kids should be enjoying the arts of walking and bicycling, and exploring the world of mass transit. The majority of them have no business driving anything at all. For your average teen, having 150 horsepower is 151 too many.
We steered my 21 year old son to a new ’06 Civic LX coupe couple of years ago..full airbags, crumple zones, decent handling, reliable. In 30k miles he has put on 3 sets of front pads and replaced the tires; otherwise perfect. His first car was a ’94 4.6 T-Bird; youth and rear wheel drive do not mix with slippery roads.
An old Volvo 240, of course!
@Jazzman
3sets of front pads in 30K miles, yikes !
I’m pondering this question myself, although the choices will be vastly different I suspect when my 9month old gets his license. I’m thinking, something along the lines of a slow minivan with all the passenger seats removed -in brown, of course.
From the point of view of my safety, I want them to be driving a manual transmission, simply to make it much more difficult for them to use their cell phone. Distraction from yaking on them is bad enough, but the text messaging craze truly scares me.
A 94 honda civic. Great gas mileage, too tiny to fit friends into, will survive one accident, dirt cheap to replace. That or an old CRX, then you have the hatch. A manual transmission is good but not required.
Put the kid in too safe of a car and they’ll think they’re invincible. Better to teach them how to drive instead of teaching them right away that the car can make up for all their shortcomings as drivers.
What they should drive is something they paid for themselves, with money they work to earn. We wonder why so few people today are willing to take responsibility for anything? Why would you when you are used to people just giving you stuff.
My first car was a beat up old ’72 Chevelle that I bought for $450 when I was sixteen, with money I earned working part-time. I paid for my own insurance and my own gas (of which I used a lot with that 350). Nothing was sponged from my parents. My parents taught me that you don’t take anything for granted.
I suppose it depends on what kind of driving skills one wants to impart on the kid. If they’re of the mind to learn how to use a standard shift, I second the Volvo 240. Barely over 100hp to push the thing around, and they’re built to stand up to abuse. Parts are cheap and plentiful, and (speaking from experience) most fixes can be done right in the driveway.
A five year old Buick LeSabre would fit the the bill otherwise. Cheap to fix, pretty good mileage, and in standard form unlikely to be used for much hoonage. The size of the back seat might be a sticking point for some parents, but the kid has to have fun somehow…
Since we’re divulging first rides, mine was a ’68 Chrysler Newport Custom purchased from the original owner in Arizona. That big C-body was a great highway car (I had a 17 mile rural highway commute to high school), but in Minnesota winters it was a challenge to drive. Still, my dad sold it for two grand more than he originally bought it for after five years of use, with pretty minimal repairs.
Much as I loved the power of the RB big block, I’ve been driving Volvos ever since. I blanch at the thought of what I’d be paying for in fuel prices if I had the Newport today.
This is a tough question. When I was 16, I was put in a 18-year-old Jeep CJ-5. Last year out of nostalgia, I just bought myself an old CJ from that era and I can’t believe how scary it is to drive. I guess it helped me become a good driver because it was manual everything (no PB or PS) and if anyone has driven one you know there’s no handling to speak of. But then that thing is so dangerous, I couldn’t, in good conscious, give a kid one to drive as his first car. I guess if there’s a safeish car out there with no power and is very hard to drive, that’s what I’d choose. You don’t want the youngins being spoiled.
I’m glad I don’t have to really worry about this for another 9 years, we asked her just last night if she would drive us home because we were tired, she refused something about not having a license and she can’t reach the pedals.
If she stays as responsible as she has been so far she will probably get the Subaru Legacy GT we have now (that she wants) which will be well used by then. Chances are she will change and I will stick her in an old Merc. 300D tank.
RWD was a bit scary for me when I was 17. A good older BMW is fine I see now though. The 92 Accord was great for my first car. Although I think I pushed it to 9.5/10ths the night I crashed. hahahalol. I dunno, fwd seems safer to me for a first car. A good handling and responsive FWD. A Honda. I’m not 100% sure though. I hate to give up RWD as an option.
I think my parents got it right. They vetoed my choice of first car (1969 firebird ‘vert) and instead got me an early nineties corolla. The car had a small enough engine not to get me into too much trouble and high enough handling limits to allow me to get out of the trouble I did get myself in. Nowadays, too many ‘family sedans’ come with too much power and poor handling limits/ steering feel. That can get someone inexperienced into trouble. Hell, I can’t hit the gas to make a quick turn in my dad’s v6 Camry without breaking the front wheels loose. You need to know your limits in that car. In the old ‘rolla, it was never an issue because the engine is what held that car back and that is the easiest thing to learn to deal with.
Honda Civic/Fit hatchback. Cheap to buy, cheap to maintain, easy to maintain, with the hatch they can move things on their own (important to college kids). The first car teaches important lessons in what the real function of a car should be, and how much fun can be had with little horsepower and less luxury. My ’89 civic dx hatchback showed me that more $$$$ doesn’t mean more value or even more performance in real life conditions.
I’m going to go with the default ride of my old high school. An 8 year old Pontiac Grand Am.
I drove a 95 Neon; the only reason I had that was because the dealer didn’t have the Corolla he thought he was going to get. But that damn Neon survived 3 rather aggressive teen drivers.
Many of us would agree that the 17 year old kid in a BMW M3 is a bad sight. And that we’d recommend an old Taurus for safety and preventative (you can’t go to fast) reasons.
One fantastic car for spoiled children that actually WAS a car for spoiled children was the past generation VW Jetta (Mk4). Most of the ones you see on the road are 115 hp, and it had 6 airbags. Pity about the reliability…
Hot Wheels.
Mazda3. Safe, handles well enough to help them get out of trouble, auto lights/wipers so they don’t have to be distracted, reliable, and trendy.
The problem with station wagons and minivans for kids should be obvious – they may not be fast or cause traffic accidents – but they will enable other risky behaviors that can be just as dangerous in “submarine watcher” lane.
I still think there should be requirements for high performance vehicle driving including experience and training requirements. And probably also for vehicles over 5000 pounds.
My daughter, when she was in her early 20s, drove a substantially modified ’83 911SC track car, after getting out of the Neon Twin-Cam I bought her when she turned 16 (and sent her to Skippie with, for both the driving and performance courses). And yes, she frequently took the 911 to the track. She’s a much better driver than I am. Faster, too. Years of letting her–from the time she was 16, maybe even 15–quietly drive every high-performance car I ever had on test created a skilled driver who would no more use a cellphone in a car than I would. And I don’t even own a cellphone.
Kids should be kept from driving big SUVs. They shouldn’t be allowed to drive high performance cars without supervision unless they have a caution gene. (I have that gene. It makes stupid driving behavior much less likely. My brother’s son also has it. I wouldn’t be surprised if my sister’s older boy has it–don’t know about the younger one.) I’d probably allow a large sedan or wagon.
The problem with station wagons and minivans for kids should be obvious – they may not be fast or cause traffic accidents – but they will enable other risky behaviors that can be just as dangerous in “submarine watcher” lane.
When I was a teenager, I had sex at home. If I had kids, they’d have approval for that with steady lovers. So as far as driving, wagons, minivans OK.
I still think there should be requirements for high performance vehicle driving including experience and training requirements. And probably also for vehicles over 5000 pounds.
The paradox here is the probability that people who have had performance driving classes will push the limits of that, instead of merely pushing the limits of nonperformance abilities. Still, I guess I’d be inclined to send any kids to such classes.
Well, I plan to be living somewhere that offers some sort of bus service when I got kids and they’re old enough to drive. Hah, my brother turned 16 last year and needed a car so he could get a job. So the whole “Make the kid buy the car himself” argument doesn’t work so well when the closest employment is 10 miles from the house.
The Mazda3 is a bit dangerous for the wrong kid (then again, so is probably any car). It’s so much fun that it makes you want to push its limits.
I have a 2005, and it was my first car (I’m 22 now). It’s the smaller engine (2.0L) model, but man, it’s a blast.
My first car was a silver 1984 Mazda 626. I got it in 1987. Did the job but didn’t stand up to well to my hoonery. Busted the steering rack first, then blew up the radiator.
There’s a 19 year old kid living next door to me (still under mommy and daddy’s roof) and here’s what he and his friends are driving based on what I see parked out on the street:
Late 90s Ford F150; late 90s Mustang GT (gulp); jacked-up mid 90s 2 door Tahoe (gulp); mid 90s Volvo sedan; early 90s Volvo sedan
All in all these kids are in more danger of going deaf and/or rattling their beaters to pieces with the ridiculous subwoofery they all seem to have than going ludicrously fast.
I’m surprised that a group of individuals so ready to declaim that our national driver-training standards are abysmal have said so little about teaching their children to drive. “Put ‘em in this beater” or “Buy ‘em that Volvo” seems to be the solution.
I’d say something fun and cool but not too fast. Maybe an old CRX or Civic or even an Integra. Must be a manual.
Under powered; over air-bagged; manual transmission; lots of attention to safety but not big SUV that makes them feel invincible – think old Volvo or Saab…
Sanman, my parents got it wrong. Well, sort of… My first car was 68 Camaro Convert, but with a 230 ‘Turbo-Thrift’ inline 6 and a 1 bbl Rochester Monojet Carb. Three speed manual. It could not get out of its own way but it looked gorgeous. It made me be a better driver by cherishing my cars. Stephen W will probably yell at me because I still wax my cars four times a year. But for all those out there insisting on getting thier children shitboxes, there is something to be said about respect for something nice…
With my youngest daughter I did a BMW 325e manual.
It had ABS, no real horse power, good brakes and I put Eibach pro springs and Bilsteins in it. Then took her to the BMWCCA parking lot clinic to understand the dynamics of the car. It addicted her to a proper car (manual trans) and She bought a 2001 330ci when she got out of college. I created another car addict!!
I have to concur with pcb101,
Kids should walk, bike and ride public transit.
If they want to have a car teach teach them fiscal responsability… Let them buy the car they can afford. Of course DO NOT under any circumstance help them or pay any repair, towing, insurance, etc…
I bought my first car, a Mercedes 240D of all things!!! at age 23 when i could afford insurance, emergency repairs, etc…
@ Stephan Wilkinson
In my part of the country (Minnesota) starting your kid in a RWD Volvo constitutes good parental driving instruction. The car is very catchable in the snow but still teaches the kid how to drive in the powder properly. Putting them into a underpowered FWD Civic or similar won’t teach them much about driving in the half of the year when the road isn’t dry.
At the same time, because a 200 or 700 series Volvo doesn’t have much power, they have to learn how to better use what they’ve already got in all kinds of driving conditions. Barely 100hp in a 3000+lb car means learning how to overtake effectively without simply relying on 250+ horsepower to vault you ahead of the car you’re passing.
Insurance on the car is probably about as low as you can get for a driver of that age, which is a pretty big consideration for parents on a budget (particularly when you start adding in the cost of extra gas and maintenance of the kid’s vehicle, if you’re inclined to pay for that).
Finally, there’s more to just learning about cars than driving them. There are few cars as easy for young shadetree mechanics to work on as old Volvos (5.0-equipped Fords might be another option here). Even if you’re just teaching the kid how to change the oil and do a brake job, it’s an excellent choice.
Something slow and safe with a AAA card just in case. If it breaks down, that should help the little darling learn something about a)maintenance, b) repairs, and c) budgeting. I also expect the child should pay for gas, insurance, and all repairs as well, just like it was for me. I expect them to learn a little bit about how responsible adults behave in the real world and making them start to pay for any unnecessary extras as they grow up is my way of easing them into the real world. Cars and cell phones are not necessities, by the way. My wife is actually quite a bit harsher. She says that were not even going to pay anything towards the car in the first place.
Since we’re divulging first rides, mine was a ‘68 Chrysler Newport Custom purchased from the original owner in Arizona.
I remember trips in the backseat of my grandfather’s ’69 Chrysler Newport custom (California).
A pair of Nikes.
seoultrain:
My 20-year-old cousin bought a Mazda3 Sedan.
She was on the freeway, somehow missed some exit, went for it too late, and wound up bouncing over some sort of median and blowing her tire.
Rather than stop, she decided to drive with no front tire. For 2 miles. She didn’t even stop to look. She did tell me that she was worried because the car felt, “weird.”
She needs a new tire, wheel, rotor, brake caliper and knuckle. About $4,000 in all.
And she’s blaming the car.
I’d say an older Mercedes or Volvo would be a good choice. Safe, reliable, and not too high-performance but yet still reasonably ‘cool’.
my 1st car was a 1986 VW Golf. 2drs. 1.8l 95hp on a good day. slow. very very slow. perfect for a new driver.
I’m wondering if ANYONE here had a car with less performance than my first 3 vehicles. I started with an Austin A40 – 848cc if I remember right and 0-60 on a good day if the wing windows were closed.
Then I upgraded to a Renault Dauphine with the “automatic” which was actually a 3 speed normal transmission that shifted using solenoids and a magnetic wet clutch.
Finally I got a Triumph Herald convertible. I think that was about 950cc – the biggest engine of the three. When the rear axles weren’t bent and the engine had enough compression, it could nearly get up to 70. Zoom.
Between the 3 cars the total horsepower was around 110 total. None had 40 hp. And I don’t think there were any seatbelts in any of them. But I still manged to learn to love cars, driving and working on them and didn’t get hurt in any accidents.
1991 Miata with rollbar.
Stephan Wilkinson :
March 21st, 2008 at 6:10 pm
I’m surprised that a group of individuals so ready to declaim that our national driver-training standards are abysmal have said so little about teaching their children to drive. “Put ‘em in this beater” or “Buy ‘em that Volvo” seems to be the solution.
That’s what I’m thinking! An Aveo can top 100 mph and can be driven just as badly as anything else. It’s almost as likely to injure/kill someone in a wreck.
I’m tailgated constantly by early-90s Civics. Has absolutely nothing to do with the car they’re driving.
America doesn’t teach us how to drive at all. The tests are nonsense (I drove around a parking lot for about 3 minutes, they checked my mother’s car to make sure the lights and horn worked – the longest part of the “test” – and parallel parked once). Freaking ridiculous. A learner’s permit is even more a waste of time – they show you a red sign that says “STOP” and ask you what you’re supposed to do when you see it.
The problem – like most of America’s problems – is bureaucratic.
I’m 22, by the way.
nopanegain,
The car I was looking at had a v8 and probably wasn’t the best choice for New York weather. BEsides, I found enough trouble with the ‘rolla. It actually taught me about small, light cars. But, I bet you got more looks in the highschool parking lot than I did. As for taking care of a car…. It might been a beater, but it was my beater. I paid for it and it was well known that no replacement was coming if I crashed it. Fear of the big yellow bus kept me in check (at least somewhat). To this day, I worry about my cars because I pay for them. I can’t fathom 4 wheeled snow drifts in a new wrx, unlike friends of mine. A beater subaru and a parking lot are more my speed.
Steven Wilkinson
I’m surprised that a group of individuals so ready to declaim that our national driver-training standards are abysmal have said so little about teaching their children to drive. “Put ‘em in this beater” or “Buy ‘em that Volvo” seems to be the solution.
Excellent point – and props on turning your daughter into a driver.
For most others, I think a driving course is a must. A good way to weed out inane puff courses is to look for those that offer manual transmission instruction. And don’t scrimp. So many will spend $10-20K on their kids’ cars and balk at spending $1K on good driving instruction.
While many here are probably good drivers, many (like me) probably have shortcomings when it comes to driving instruction. Especially when it comes to family. A perspective from an instructor who does it for a living is necessary.
Doesn’t it really depend on what they learned driving in? I mean some may have learned in a little 4-cylinder beater, but in my family lessons came either in my mom’s Equinox, my grandma’s Deville, my uncle’s crew cab Silverado or my dad’s GX470. More to the point, my family says that I drive better in bigger cars because I’m more comfortable in them. Just saying “stick ’em in a slow sedan” seems a bit all-sweeping to me.
readingthetape :
March 21st, 2008 at I heartily concur with your intent, but knowing my offspring, the manual shift would be the distraction. You cant stop the tide of progress.
One small victory. My kids will yell at me if I shift into D without fastening my seatbelt. If you can get your hormone poisoned, 10’tall and bullet proof, chances to continue your genes, to buckle up, it is the best thing you can do. It is the icky stage of child rearing. You are reaping the angst you put your folks through.
Sanman,
The car I was looking at had a v8 and probably wasn’t the best choice for New York weather.
True- my Camaro also lived through snowy NY winters and even had traction problems with the anemic 6. A V8 would have been a death sentence. But glad you took pride in what you owned and had respect for it. That was my main point.
Good aside to the story though about owning a semi-classic: Of all of the cars in the high school lot, mine was the only one that APPRECIATED, not depreciated.
Live in Santa Cruz, Ca. so Volvo wagons were an easy sell (surfer dude car). When oldest reached 16 got an 85 245 stick with 220K miles for $500. It is still running strong at 280K with only regular service needed. When the younger reached 16 found a 93 945T. $4500 dollars. Both prefered the 945T for handling and power but liked the 245 for image (Santa Cruz again). The kids are out of the house now but I still use the 245 as a daily driver. Gets 25/27MPG, lots of room and I can do as much of the servicing as I want. I am going to drive it until it falls into little rust pieces around me.
My daughter inherited Mom’s old A4 Quattro – started senior year of HS and now drives in Boston at college. Advantages: small yet stout, 150 perfectly adequate HP, good brakes, bigger wheels/tires than my Carrera 4, and as others have mentioned, the 5 speed requires paying attention to actually, you know, driving. Disadvantage: you vill do ze maintenance or suffer ze consequences. I don’t mind that. It has always escaped me why its a good idea to put the family’s least experienced drivers in beaters of potentially dubious reliability, or cars with more power than they can handle, or SUVs that feel deceptively good right up to the moment when they ground loop. If my daughter had been a little older, she’d have inherited a 1st gen Sable – but I’m glad she had to learn on a manual. Bonus – none of her HS friends could drive one, so I knew she was the driver. Works with a responsible kid.
my first car (in 1989) was a low mileage 1983 toyota tercel 5-door with a 3 speed auto. no power steering, no AC and oh yeah, baby blue. very little action under the hood and absolutely no action in the back seat. the car vibrated violently at 65 mph and was so tinny it scared me into driving safely at all times.
still, it was insanely reliable and saw me through my senior year in high school and schlepped back and forth to college from new york to kentucky for four years.
i don’t miss that car at all.
8 year old Volvo S70 with a 5 speed, it has airbags, ABS and a is safe in an accident. Having a stick shift will prevent many other kids from driving it as most of the 17 year old nitwits can’t figure it out. Your kid will have to learn fast or walk. Its decent on fuel as well. The last year that Volvo made the 240 was 1993.
I believe you can keep your kid from hooning with the right car. If you live somewhere without snow, get them a 4 cylinder Tempo/Topaz.
My first car at 16was an 88 Chevy Corsica. That sounds dull, but this one had the V6 with something like 130 hp, 160-170 torque, a 3-speed auto, and weirdly fat tires. The gas pedal was almost binary, so I would smoke the tires from every start. It was terrible in the winter, and my first winter I spun it 360 on a deserted highway, while going straight. It had a top speed of 90 due to the transmission, but it would get there right quick. Killed by neglect.
My Second was a manual 1.8L 94 Protégé LX with 120 hp. It was slower off the line, but would do 110mph with 4 idiot dudes in it. I loved how small the car was, and how I could do power slides straight out of Mario Kart on the SNES, fwd be damned. What a car. Hit by a drunk in a Camero.
Third Car was a 91 Tempo with 95 hp and 3 spd auto. This car was so slow, it put a stop to my hoonage. I went received no tickets for over a year! A very comfortable ride until the frame completely rusted out and one of the rear wheels tilted out at over 25 degrees, making straight line driving very hard.
Forth was a 97 Protégé Automatic 1.5L with 90 HP. This car was slow as hell, and the transmission sucked. It also looked like a Neon mated to a 2nd gen Saturn. However, it had the most direct steering I have ever felt in any car. You literally pointed the top of ther steering wheel where you wanted to go and the car followed. The interior was ridiculously roomy for a car of this size too. Hit by a Nissan XTerra that ran a red light red light.
Current car is an 03 Protégé ES with 130hp 135 torque and autostick(sorry, I’m lame).
Steering isn’t as direct as the other 2 Proteges, but the suspension is very ridged and the twin trapezoidal rear suspension is fun. Also, the seats are more comfortable than anything in my house.
Kids should all drive old Subarus. They are inexpensive, fun to drive and plenty capable, not to mention some of the safest cars on the road!
Stephan Wilkinson: great point!
I’m very tempted to say my offspring will get the same car that I learned to drive on: a 1985 Mercedes 300D. But they probably won’t experience the dubious joy of a 20-second 0-60, because I’ll probably give them something newer that has airbags (esp. side curtain & torso airbags), stability control, and ABS. The 300D has none of these, just a heavy steel body and a carcinogenic exhaust system.
Regardless, they don’t get anything above 160hp.
Make that a diesel 240 wagon! No hoonery potential, zero theft risk, and plenty of room to haul junk off to college.
Jordan Tenenbaum :
March 21st, 2008 at 4:11 pm
An old Volvo 240, of course!
I don’t think there’s a single correct answer.
The question is, if you give the kid a car capable of a certain feature, will they exploit it, or passively benefit from it? Which is to say: Would the knowledge that the car has airbags make the kid driver faster? What about enough power to get out of its own way, or handling that isn’t terror-inducing? Or performance training?
That’s all kid-dependent. Some kids will have the ‘conservative gene’ expressed above and some won’t. Which vehicle you buy should depend on which kind of kid you have.
And there’s another factor to balance: the other fools on the road. Even if the kid’s personal driving habits would suffer in a more capable car, such a car may still be preferable to a lesser model that would fare badly in a crash, or be unable to avoid one.
For most kids, I’d favor large, heavy, family sedans from 1995-2000 with lots of airbags, an automatic, poor straight-line performance, and low handling limits. FWD is preferable because it promotes understeer.
For conservative kids, I’d move to something smaller, lighter, and with a manual transmission and RWD, but nothing more than a 4-cylinder.
The car on which I learned was a maroon Olds Cutlass Cierra station wagon from 1995. It was 3300 lbs, FWD and around 150 HP, with forgiving handling and a soft throttle. Very easy to drive and a great choice by my parents.
It also had a sensation of speed, which is more than I can say for their 2004 Camry. That car combines serenity with terrible handling. It’s so unobtrusive that you can go 80+ without even noticing, and unlike the Euro sedans, the suspension isn’t designed to cope with evasive maneuvers at that speed. That’s one reason I favor older and less-refined American cars for new drivers; they’ll let you know that they don’t like going fast.
You guys jump to conclusions when you see a kid driving a new car…
i turned 16 last year (17 now) and my mom decided that i was responsible enough to handle a new car. I have a job earning almost $15 an hour and need a car for school and work. I love cars, and so does she, so she let me decide the car…but it had to be less than $25,000….and have a cheap lease. I decided on a Pontiac Solstice. It’s fast, it’s fun, and it has a stick. I’m in heaven. I’ve never gotten a ticket, never texted while driving, never even EATEN in my car…
it all depends on the kid behind the wheel.
“You guys jump to conclusions when you see a kid driving a new car…”
This is why:
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Columns/articleId=124526
Everything was just fine, right up until it wasn’t. Here’s a quote from that kid:
“I do sometimes make bad decisions but I am young and I do drive safe and I will not endanger the lives of others.”
Most kids probably wouldn’t do what he did, but the point is minimize the temptation. The line between safe and unsafe is so easy to cross even without it, so what parent would poke at fate?
@KnightRT
He’s just retarded. I’m not. Ya, I’ve done a couple dozen miles over the speed limit-on the express way-at 3:00am, but i’m not dumb enough to take my car that far. I’d rather die than face my mom after that….
Intelligence had nothing to do with his accident. It was purely a result of ignorance and temptation.
If you’re willing to do 30 MPH over the limit at night in a 180 HP car, there’s no reason to believe that you, or someone like you, wouldn’t go quite a lot faster if you had access to a more powerful car.
The lowest highway limit is 55 MPH. Have you seen what happens to cars that crash at 90 MPH? They’re reduced to parts, along with the drivers. Clearly you shouldn’t be a in car that attains that speed so easily.
There’s another almost universal teenage trait in play here: an underappreciation of consequence. To you, the worst thing that could happen to you is your mom’s disapproval. That’s both trivial and temporary. When you’re piloting around a car, the list of consequences with long-term effects increases dramatically.
Here’s a small consequence: wadding up your car. And here’s a big one: wadding up someone else’s car, with them inside it. Ignoring the likelihood that the ensuing litigation would bankrupt your family, and the possibility of the death of that party, you personally could receive an injury that would annoy you until the day you die. Even injuries as seemingly trivial as whiplash or a broken ankle can be life-altering, as would your personal guilt if someone else suffered from them.
And then there’s the impact of losing your license on your earnings potential, as well as the dramatic rise in the cost and ease of procuring insurance.
None of these consequences are trivial, and despite the fact that you’re under your mother’s wing now, you’d have to face them head-on. It’s hard enough to get by without these burdens; why risk adding them to your life?
The purpose of all this isn’t to lecture you, it’s to point out that there’s often a lot more at stake than is often immediately apparent, particularly in our litigious society. Dwelling on this fact would probably make you too petrified to drive, but the seed should still be there in the back of your mind.
@KnightRT
Lemme clarify the situation…
i was at a party…had way too much Sprite….i was driving down M-59 in MI and was about to piss myself, so i went 80, in an area where the speed limit was 65…i got off at the soonest exit and went to a gas station and relieved myself. It was the scariest situation I’ve ever been in, and will NEVER do it again because it was terrifying. I’m not trying to justify what I did, I just want you to know the circumstances.
I wasn’t about to pee on the leather…it’s a lease and i have to return it…
This note is for ross82694 and ALL other drivers under age 25.
My neice, then age 20, was temporarily living with us before going to university. After buying a 1990’s Oldsmobile 88 with air bags and ABS, which we and she and her mother thought would be about as safe as she could be, she found out that even one inattentive moment can change a life, or end a life.
She denies it, but we think she was perhaps putting a CD into her new stereo which she had just had installed the week before. Two miles from our house, she skidded on a dry two lane road and hit a tree just behind her front left wheel. She also had a bad habit of accelerating hard, which I surmise she had to be doing at the time she lost control, since it was 1/4 mile from a side road and stop sign which our house is on.
She was trapped in the car for about an hour, while EMS tried to extracate her. Her left leg was through the floor and on the ground, her right leg was smashed and squashed under the steering column, broken in both the lower and upper leg areas (lower leg compound fracture – that means her bone was sticking out of her leg). We were there within 5 minutes of the accident and witnessed the bravery of the EMS men cutting the B-pillar near her head (she could not be moved away from it) by putting his gloved hand between her head and the multi-thousand pounds of pressure on the metal cutting scissors. One slip, and the EMS guy could have lost a hand or fingers.
Once she was extracated (vertically out of the now convertible-ized 4 door sedan) they got her to the hospital where a lot of painful operations, including metal rods being put in her right leg. Also, her face will never look the same; scars. There was plastic surgery, muscle grafts, physical therapy, you name it. It literally took her almost a year to be able to walk with a walker. Her mother came over from Scotland, taking off work and putting her own life on hold, in order to help my wife and I cope.
Finally, after getting well enough to leave, she decided to skip college and leave to go live in a European country (though she could not speak the language), and while there, the still open wound on her lower right leg allowed a virus into her body, which travelled to her brain.
She got ill, her brain swelled up permanently damaging it, and after months of recuperation, she was airlifted back to Scotland. She cannot feed herself well, cannot walk, can barely talk, is unable to look after her own hygiene, and essentially has now got NO future and neither has her mother.
So, drive careful, you hear? People love you and want you to stay alive. One moment of inattention can result in a permanently changed life, or an end to life (and if you kill someone else but not yourself, just how will you feel?)
I guess this goes for everyone. I’m EXTREMELY sick of seeing idiot drivers everywhere I go.
Put down the cell phone; you can’t babble and drive well at the same time. Put down the food and drink. Stop tailgating. Stop running red lights and stop signs. Stop signs are to be stopped at, not just used as yield signs. Try driving the speed limit for a change. Get out of the fast lane if you are going to pace the driver in the slow lane. Pay 100% attention to your driving! And be courteous.
I will never make my kid pay for his/her own car, repairs, maintenance, etc. I’m in college right now and it’s absolutely clear that parents who emphasized a false sense of independence do poorly in school. There are exceptions of course, but when a kid has to deal with a part time job, a time-consuming car, paying for gas/groceries/rent/etc., they are just put at a disadvantage against tough competition in college.
These days it takes ambitious education, not an old fashioned “pick yourself up by the bootstraps” attitude, that will make a kid competitive. If there simply isn’t money in the family then that is a different issue, but a parent withholding money to teach their kid a lesson on independence is a mistake.
Back on topic. My first car was a hand-me-down red ’99 Toyota Solara V6. Horrible car for teenagers. It looked fairly racy and was fast, but had absolutely terrible handling limits and no steering feel. Very easy to overwhelm the chassis with the engine. Girls liked it though.
My first new car is a 2008 Honda Fit Sport, which I think is a great choice. Slow, efficient, reliable, roomy.. and the seats fold down to make a bed!
A lease? at 16? Now THERE’S an intelligent financial decision to teach a teen…sorry…I don’t get parents who think they are doing their kids a favor by allowing them to go into financial debt for their first car. Sure, at 16 I wanted a cool car (and I still think my 1978 Plymouth Arrow GT was cool!), but I’m not going to teach my son that making payments, much less renting, a car is a good thing. He has a 1997 Tercel with 172k miles on that is in perfect running order. When he gets his license, he’ll also be required to assist in some of the upkeep and regular expenses. Cars are not a birthright, but an earned privilege. The Firebird Firehawk his grandfather wants to give him can wait to be his inheritance…I can’t imagine a 17 year old driving that kind of car around (well, I’m sure I know how I would have handled it!)…
I should add that it’s really unfortunate kids even NEED cars. It’s just one of the consequences of suburban sprawl. Teenagers need independence in order to develop, but they can’t have any independence in the suburbs unless either they or their parents are burdened with the cost of a car.
My first car was a ’70 boss 302 mustang…at age 17. Didn’t kill myself, but that was cuz the Lord loves drunks and stoners, I guess. Lost my license though, after 6 months. Too much HP for a young inexperienced driver.
My son is now 18 and seems to possess the wisdom his old man lacked (at the time)He drives a 1992 Explorer, very sanely and safely. I began teaching him how to drive in the large parking lots of the local university (during summer sessions when they were empty) when he was 14. I made sure he had 200 hours of left-seat time in my Honda Accord before he got his license….
Safest car for a young driver would be any 4 cyl Accord or its like, with an I4….reliable, safe, good handling
If I had to pick a car for a reasonably responsible teenage driver, I’d pick a four cylinder, mid-size family sedan, ideally a new Honda Accord. Leases can make sense if the kid is responsible and the car is only needed for a few years. No matter what, I’d get the safest car I could afford for the kid. If I wanted to spoil the kid, I’d get them a top of the line 4 cylinder family sedan.
A manual transmission would be a plus, as would steering wheel audio controls (more of a nice little luxury/convenience). Indeed, the V6 family sedans today are far too powerful for many teenagers. The four cylinders are quite capable as it is. As long as the car can safely keep pace with traffic (not 100 MPH traffic, but normal highway traffic), it would be fine for my choice.
I got my license three years ago, at age 16, and I shared cars with my parents. There was no “third car”. Some of my friends received brand new or gently used cars, most of which were very nice (Acura TL Type S, Audi S4 Avant, etc.).
I took a few unique driver education courses; they didn’t. I was one of the only kids who was good at maintaining a safe distance from other cars, and being aware of the other cars around me. Most kids tried to go as fast as possible, especially on the highway; heck, one kid’s parent encouraged the kid to go 100 MPH and over (I was in the car when this happened), with the excuse of “keeping pace with traffic” as the rationale for his actions.
I’m still petrified of getting a ticket, so I really do my best to stick to the speed limit and drive sensibly. And I try to avoid serious conversations with passengers in the car, or any use of my cell phone. Heck, when the driving gets crazy, the radio goes off, and I try to focus as best I can on the road. Speeding is not worth the risks, nor the cost (of the extra fuel used).
Kids don’t *have* to get cars as soon as they receive their licenses. Graduated licensing can be a good thing, if properly enforced by parents (limited number of passengers, restricted driving hours and conditions). My parents phased in my driving privileges gradually, and it was a smart move.
And I’ve seen people talking on phones, and even eating, while driving stick. Don’t even get me started about fitting too many passengers into cars, not wearing seat belts, or doing stupid things that ruin good cars.
I think a B7 armoured Mercedes G-wagon could be a good choice…
It’s cool, it would survive a nuclear strike and it’s so heavy and slow that if you crash it you would have eventually crashed anything…
On crashing everything though, I live in the Netherlands and it has a very high population density, which means a lot of cars are on the road everywhere you go, eventhough moving about in a car is very expensive here due to many causes (that mostly come down to insanely high taxes).
Getting your driving license involves a theoretical exam and on average 35 one-hour lessons by a driving school, the age limit is 18 years and speed limits are carefully maintained by one gazillion speedcameras on most roads.
Still, a couple of cars hitting each other every now and then is inevitable. One of my cousins crashed 3 beater GTIs in maybe 2 years (one involved a multiple flip/roll over), and with all the luck in the world escaped unscathed. It’s not just him either, many people I know have already crashed once or twice.
I’m 22 now, and I don’t have the illusion it can’t happen to me when I start spending a lot more time on the roads in the next year or so, although especially in pedestrian areas (another thing that is very different here then in the US, since roads are generally less wide and overall space a lot more scarce, small children can appear after every parked car on the side) I deliberately try to drive cautiously.
My first car was a 1995 Honda Civic DX 5-speed. Great little car.
It was stolen and was never recoverd. : (
Whatever they can afford to buy. Which is presumily not much based on part-time minimum wage type work. I think the work towards aquiring the car is more important than the car itself.
BTW, mine was a I6 ’66 mustang that I had to overhaul to get running, but I loved it because of it.
My 1st car (bought it today) IS an 85 Parisienne. Helluva car.
When I was eighteen my father gave his Impala wagon to the local Kiwanis auction. I guess he got tired of me begging him to let me drive it. The Kiwanis sold the car for $35.
That would have been a good starting car. He also had a Chevy Celebrity which I didn’t get to drive because I didn’t get to learn how to drive stick in driver’s ed (go figure) and a Ford LTD wagon that he said that he would let me drive ‘some weekend’.