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Random Quote: I had a few words with my wife, she had a few paragraphs with me.
I see nothing wrong with the kids being a part of the decision making process. This includes looking on the net, in the local paper, on the lots, Kelly Blue book, researching if that particular model is reliable and safe, what the insurance might be, MPG, etc, etc.
This way they learn and realize what goes into buying a vehicle.
But then again if money is not a consideration then buy whatever you desire and if you don't like it buy something else.
Different strokes....
I am going to show this thread to my kids, I mean my young adults (21 ans 22) and get their feedback on how parents really feel about their children considering trust, respect, responsibility, etc. With the mixed opinions it should be interesting. It should help them if, when they have kids of their own.
My best friends kid loved my Wrangler, he'd go sit in it and play for hours when I would come by. One day he said "Uncle Mike when I'm 17 I want to buy your Jeep" He didn't ask for it for free, I liked that. Fast forward 10 years and for his 16th birthday I gave it to him (still like new with 99k on it)... Fast forward another 5 years, the kid was grounded so many times, his dad is now saving it for him when he 'grows up'.... I don't think he used it for a month straight... Gotta do what ya gotta do
i know there's a lot of love for pick-ups on this thread, but you need to be careful with the older ones. it' been several years, maybe even 10 or so, but when they firt started doing the NHS crash testing on pick-ups they just about all failed miserably. pick-ups generally have been the last to the table for implementing safety features. just make sure you do your research on specific model years...
I fix cars for a living and swear by Toyotas preferably four cylinder models they are so easy to work on and very reliable. My daughter is on her second Jeep cherokee and has had good luck with them. I bought both needing work for peanuts. There are so many of them around here used parts are cheap.
It pays to be extra alert when driving in the city. I f you don't know yet, a third of all traffic accidents take place at intersections. Like any other traffic accident, collisions at intersections are caused by the drivers' carelessness and inattention. In fact, it takes only a split second of distracted attention on the part of the driver to miss a traffic sign or signal.
i let my kids be part of the decision so they learn how to buy a car, finace it, etc, fact is my son shopped much harder than i would have and got himself a pretty good deal. he pays for gas and insurance. he wanted to do the repairs himself and did for a while. I was the one who waqnted to take it to the dealer because he couldn't do it by himself and frankly, I have had my fill of fixing cars.
Daughter pays for all her gas and when not in college works her butt off.
So I think there is still plenty of room for teaching respnsibility while involving them in the purchase. Besides, I WANT them to see what it costs, they can always help me with boat waxing, yardwork,etc.
bought my spoiled daughter a new wrangler...my son got an old company jeep grand cherokee. Get him and SUV with some dings, he'll have more fun, and wont have to worry. My wifey and I are trying to buy him a new car as his is now a pile of rust and burns oil...the little bastard wont budge and give up the old beast!!
a crown victoria has a good 5 star rating NOW if you want a cool one look for the p71 cop car there cheep usually well maintained and have all the heavy duty components...there just really bad on gas once they get older
a mid 90s camry would be good there NOT fast theyr cheep to maintain and theyr length makes them pretty stable
I WOULD NOT suggest an older truck my best friend died in a car accident because of an old 2 star safty rated truck
Above all go for a 5 STAR safety rating chances are hes gona screw his first car up and at least he will come out of it OK
I didnt read all 20 pages so forgive me if I covering welol trodden ground.
Two thoughts on kids first car and the drivers test.
1) He has to pass my test first. That means he can drive a stick and back a trailer down the driveway. My sister and I both had to do this and we also had to take the state test in his (Dads (GRHS) POS Fiat stick that you damn near had to double clutch.
2) Get him a two seater. I dont care, car or truck. Peer pressure kills more young drivers than SUVs in intersections. With a two seater only one asshole friend at a time can be pressuring him to do something stupid. A sedan and now you have 4-5 little jerks in his ear.
Good luck, food for thought and God help me. My days are comming.
__________________ Baitkiller= Accredited Marine Surveyor
Bait fear me, fish just laugh.....
The little Dutch boy was just buying time...
I suggest if you want him to be responsible and take care of what he gets and not crash it you make him buy it for his self .If he wants a car / truck bad enough he will get a job and buy it his self . My first car i learned on was a 1979 z28 ttop chevy camaro with a wore out 350 and turbo 350 trans. spent 3000 on her. body was in great shape .well lets say i worked my butt off that summer and b4 the next school year the engine was rebuilt pushing 400 hp with a built turbo 400 tran and locker in the rear end .I had one of the baddest rides at school until my senior year when some rich puke showed up in a corvette that mommy and daddy bought him .the funny thing is he started talking sh@t and got his A@@ waxed by my camaro about a week later he totaled that corvette .moral of the story is make your kids buy there own rides and work on them they respect them more and less likely to hit some one when they know they had to buy it and work on it .
my next ride was a 98 z71 chevy 1500 on 44 boggers i drove it for about 3 yrs b4 i was stupid enough to let my ex drive it and she rolled it . note do not let chicks drive your truck or cars !!!!! she become a ex apox. 5 min after i found out she wrecked my baby
now i drive a 2005 dodge ram 2500 4x4 on 38's diesel and a 1996 Toyota Tacoma on 33's parents never bought any of my rides or payed for any of the broke parts on them . Never been in a wreck that was my fought .Dodge got rear ended by a hummer h2 with a 16 yr old punk driving bent my bumper and messed up my receiver hitch and ball crushed that little hummer front end and almost caused a 16 yr old to get his a@@ beat if the cop would have not pulled up right after it happened
Only me and my friends know what i did in my car and trucks growing up and still to this day my parents have only heard a few of the story's of what i have done in them . I am 25 now and still do stupid things in my ride some times . I know if my parents would have bought my car/truck for me i would have done alot more stupid things in them .
__________________ roll tide roll
Last edited by xtopdawg386x; 12-14-2010 at 12:59 PM.
I second everyone sentiments on getting him a safe, cheap, reliable vehicle. Nothing too sporty or crazy. My only suggestion is, will this be a vehicle he is taking back and forth to college in 2 years?
If so you might want to look at small wagons or hatch backs. You'll be amazed at how much laundry and junk from his dorm room he'll haul back and forth between school and home. Something along the lines of subru, mazda 3 wagon, focus 5 door hatch back etc. They are all reliable, get good milage and are great for a young guy hauling all his junk around.
I also like the idea of a small pick up or SUV, but as gas is close to $3 a gallon, $60 fill ups are a bit much for a teenager.
In 1961 my parents bought a new Chevrolet for the family and gave me the old 1957 Chevrolet to drive to school. Mine was blue and white. Loved that old car.
I don't know what the insurance rates are like in your area, but the price of insurance depends on what car is being insured. If the price of insurance is going to be of concern for either you or your boy then you'd probably be off asking your insurance company what are the cheaper vehicles to insure. Two door coupes are more than four doors. Stick shift is more than automatic. Sport coupes are more than sedans. etc....
I have two kids(son is now 23 and daughter is 17).
Son wanted some type of sports car and we picked him up a Miata and he loved that car, we went against my better judgment and added a body kit which set his car apart but for some reason was like a magnet. It was BACKED INTO 4 different times. Final blow was when a lady turned in front of him and total the car and yes he had on seat belt. This was right after he graduated high school
To replace that car we found him and lady owned Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder with V6 5 speed, he loves a manual tranny. This has been pretty good car and only mods he has done is aftermarket muffler and 20" wheels which he bought.
Daughter's first car was 99 Camaro convertible which I really liked, another lady owned low mileage car that was GREAT however about a month after 5 weeks after we got her that car a lady ran a red light and totaled it, very scary wreck but again seat belted in and cars can be replaced. We then replaced it with another Eclipse Spyder but her's is automatic.
Both kids have been very good and never get into trouble and both seem to be very good drivers, I own a teenage driving school so they better be.
So far the Mitsubishi's have been good cars, daughters just turned over 100K and only thing have done to it is change timing belt, sons only has about 80K on it(he really does not go anywhere but to work and golf course) but his is due for the timing belt change which I have told him to get done(he covers all his expenses since he is out of school and works).
My daughter is a Jr in high school and she likes her car but would like something like a small SUV and we will probably look at something like that when she starts college, kind of waiting to see where she goes and the price of GAS. More than likely she will attend Clemson University which is about 10-12 miles from our house and will commute more than likely.
The only thing I do not like about a SUV is high center of gravity for a beginning driver and if they loose control and over correct odds are increased for it to turn over but flip side to that is they can see much better.
For some reason my Daughter really does not care as much for the convertible top as she thought she would, you never see her's down much and I guess there is a safety issue with a pretty blonde teen girl riding around by herself with a convertible top down(she keeps pepper spray/mace in console of her car).
__________________ 210 CC Sea Pro
Yamaha 200 4 Stroke
Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 HEMI
Gotta do what ya gotta do 
