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      10-03-2006, 02:00 AM   #1
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Kids and Cars. What should I buy them?

this is my take. Kids are going to drive crazy no matter what vehicle you give it to them. So as parents, you should do this.

-Don't get your kid a car with HP/TQ more than 200. This minimize the risk of kids flooring the gas pedal and the car getting out of control because of the power. Cars with good low-end torque doesn't help either. Also, such low horsepower vehicles usually come with low top-speed.

-Don't get your kid a $3000 garbage car. Chances are, these cars are very un-safe. If they get into an accident, they'll die. Buy them something safe. The vehicle your kid is driving should be just as safe as your wife's. dual front airbags, side curtain airbags, stability control, traction control, etc DON'T TELL THEM HOW TO DISABLE THESE SYSTEM!!! (though chances are, they'll find out)

-Don't get them a RWD car. FWD, in general, are easier and safer to drive for novice drivers. Understeer is, again, in general, easier to deal with than over steer to newbies. RWD cars are now just as easy and safe to drive, but law of physics exist. When these kids learn how to disble those traction/stability controls, chances are, they'll try to do some fast and the furious action. aka, drifting or power-sliding. which 99% of them don't even know what the hell it really is. One more thing, FWD cars are proven to be easier to drive during extreme weather conditions compared to RWD. (when chains aren't available)

-NO convertible! "Top-down baby" scene might be appealing to the little girls they are in love with, but not in terms of safety. Driving top-down during the summer when weather is extremely nice, will make these kids really hyper. The word "Driving" and "Hyper" shouldn't go together.

-Stay away from SUVs. Higher center of gravity can easily cause tip over situation when corner or curve is taken too fast. You can tell your kid billion times to NOT take those corners fast, they wouldn't remember a single word you said the next day. Kids will prefer sedan/coupe anyway. two birds at once.

-Smallest car you can find = Bye bye my son. Studies show(common sense anyway) bigger car > smaller car in an accident. Such cars as Honda Fit or Toyota Yaris might sound like it fits into all the categories above, but won't really look pretty when an accident occur. An impact caused by a bigger car to a smaller car will simply call for a sandwich party, including your precious child inside of them.

Conclusion: An entry level Volvo sounds good.
Anything else?

Please add anything that you think its necessary.
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      10-03-2006, 02:19 AM   #2
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My first car was an 04 mazda rx8. No problems--minus that of recalls and awful fuel mileage...

i think... parents in general should be able to gauge their children and know what is appropriate. If they believe that their child can rock a sportscar w/o problems, kudos. If not, well so be it...

It really depends on the child... and the parent.
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      10-03-2006, 02:50 AM   #3
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My first car was a Pontiac Grand Am. It was the most uncoolest car..but it was a safe decent car to drive.
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      10-03-2006, 03:15 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SE3P_to_E90
My first car was an 04 mazda rx8. No problems--minus that of recalls and awful fuel mileage...
Whoa, started off nicely.
Im more of a pontiac AM background also.
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      10-03-2006, 04:14 AM   #5
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I will admit... flashy cars make kids do some stupid thing -- that's without a doubt... but from experience, it has taught me a thing or two on being responsible, reasonable (within limits), as well as enjoying the pure thrill of driving on its own...

It was a present for getting into my school early--on top of getting a tremendous amount of scholarships (athletic/academic) in a pricey school.

I mean, if you believe in your kids, it's a great start to fueling their love of driving...

Personally, when i turn into a parent, I will probably be getting my child (son) a reasonable sports car provided they do well in school... One slip, better yet, two slips, and the car's going to turn into my toy (lol).

Cars like RSX's, RX8's, TSX's, GTI's, Accord Coupes are great choices IMHO. This is because albeit those cars are somewhat underpowered, there's room to play around (fuel creativity), in addition to being nifty little [well] handling cars.
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      10-03-2006, 08:10 AM   #6
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Just keep one thing in mind when you think about buying your kid a car. It seems that all older people think that to buy a kid a sporty car is the end of the world, it really isnt as long as you have raised your kid well and have not given them a reason to rebel in driving you should be fine with a nice sporty car, but that is beside the point if you buy your kid "the safest shit bucket" you can find you will have funded all of the other kids enjoyment by giving them a huge prop for them to do their own jackass stunts with.
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      10-03-2006, 09:31 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lux.sh
Please add anything that you think its necessary.
How about having your kid make some type of financial contribution to the vehicle? Whether it's the full payment, portion of the payment, insurance, etc. Having their own finances invested in something will cause them to respect and care for it. It's human nature to take care of what's "yours". If you buy the car, toss them the keys and say "enjoy"; chances are it'll be wrapped around a tree (or another car) within a month.
I split the payments on my first car with my parents; they paid during the school year, I paid while out of school for the summer. Taught me to appreciate my car.
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      10-03-2006, 09:35 AM   #8
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I still maintain, its about the proper experience, training and upbringing. I don't believe age and hormones is a big factor once the proper knowledge/training is in place. I will invest in a proper driver training course, that is the route my kid will follow. Of course, my son will get his training/chalk talk early from me...by age 3
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      10-03-2006, 10:38 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nmulax
How about having your kid make some type of financial contribution to the vehicle? Whether it's the full payment, portion of the payment, insurance, etc. Having their own finances invested in something will cause them to respect and care for it. It's human nature to take care of what's "yours". If you buy the car, toss them the keys and say "enjoy"; chances are it'll be wrapped around a tree (or another car) within a month.
I split the payments on my first car with my parents; they paid during the school year, I paid while out of school for the summer. Taught me to appreciate my car.
Very good idea, if your kid has a means to pay for it. I would buy my kid a reasonably safe car but probably no more than $8k total price.
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      10-03-2006, 11:39 AM   #10
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Volvo S40, Mazda 6, Acura TSX, Toyota Camry for new cars
used, I would get them an e46 sedan. hey maybe my kid will end up with my 3 series haha...no that would be really old lol.
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      10-03-2006, 12:24 PM   #11
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some smart stuff. haha but i mean when buying a car for a kid... alot of it depends on the parent's background... where they work/what they believe in etc... i mean i've driven a '94? sel420, '98 e320, '05 e500, and a '98 sienna on and off for the two years i've been driving and the e90 is my first personal car... i guess my first car that i can really call mine... i mean i gotta admit im spoiled cause i get what i want... when what i want is reasonable to my parents... yada.

but im a good driver... for the most part
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      10-03-2006, 04:55 PM   #12
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my dad made the mistake of buying me a 325is when I was 17 - I wanted a wrangler - now BMW's are the only thing I want.

*sigh*
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      10-03-2006, 05:09 PM   #13
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My sister who turned 16 this past summer has a 06 325i. She does not care at all about bmws, rwd and hp. My parents got her this car because it was affordable for their budget, extremely safe, has amazing brakes, all maintenance included, good mpg, comfort and lastly attractive inside and out.

For myself, my first ride was a 2003 Infiniti G35. However I did care about rwd, hp, tq, handling, and looks. While I had my permit I was learning on my parents 300+ hp V8 engines. If you trust your kid to handle a faster then normal car depends on the individual and how much self-control one has.
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      10-03-2006, 05:20 PM   #14
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if i could afford to i'd buy my kid an M6 and then have the speed limited to 85mph.
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      10-03-2006, 05:30 PM   #15
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I've always heard, and agree, that the best way to learn car control is an underpowered undertired car. You learn control, without really being able to go fast enough to get into trouble. Think first gen miata.

But I learned to drive in the 80's and things were much different then. The only "SUVs" on the road were Wagoneers, Blazers, Surburbans and the odd Land Cruiser. These were few and far between, and were typically much slower than road cars. And mostly driven by people who really needed them.

There was no such thing as traction control/stability control; you had to learn how to frickin drive. ABS was just coming in on expensive cars ... so you also had to learn to threshold brake. Lost art. 200hp was the realm of near super car, and 0-60 under 8 sec was bigtime quick. No airbags either.

FWD vs RWD. Kind of a toss up, when you really overcook a corner with FWD you're plowing face first into something. But yeah, in today's world I'm not sure I've give my son a RWD car to start off with. He's going to be going to racing schools (if he wants to ... because Dad wants to have fun) before he even has a license. But still. I remember how tempting it was to show off for your friends.

My first car was a 1984 Civic CRX 1.5 with a whopping 105hp. Looking back that was an impossibly small car and it seems like the things I did in it should've killed me. But 80mph was tough to manage, and I'm pretty sure what I thought was cooking along was really only 15 over posted at best.

Tell you truth, I'll probably buy my son something like a few year old smallest engined BMW or Audi. I don't think Volvos really have the safety edge that they used to. It's also my personal opinion that Japanese cars aren't all that safety focused. I have no factual data, that's just from the feel I get when I'm in them.
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      10-03-2006, 05:43 PM   #16
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This is probably a bit premature considering my wife and I will be having our first child in January 2007, but I agree that a first car shouldn't be anything too expensive or too powerful.

I didn't get my own car until my junior year of college (my wife got her first car when she graduated from med school and paid for it herself). It was a 1988 Mazda RX7 (it was 6 years old when I bought it). At the time, I thought it was a very fast car, but it only made 146hp (I did a few mods that probably bumped it up to 160-170hp). By that time I had already been driving for about 6 years and had enough experience to handle that car.

These days, people get cars with twice the power as soon as they get a license, which I definitely don't agree with. I think something along the lines of a used Honda Accord would be reasonable for a first car. My kids won't be getting a BMW until they are GRADUATING from college.
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      10-03-2006, 05:46 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KL2DC
I still maintain, its about the proper experience, training and upbringing. I don't believe age and hormones is a big factor once the proper knowledge/training is in place. I will invest in a proper driver training course, that is the route my kid will follow. Of course, my son will get his training/chalk talk early from me...by age 3
My son will be Karting at age 2.
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      10-03-2006, 06:15 PM   #18
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I vote for a Bus Pass. Or loan yours out from time to time.

Facts don't lie. The problem is we think we're unique, it's the other kids that will get into an accident. More than we like to think, it's not.

We're very much more alike the we often realize.

There were 198.9 million licensed drivers in the United States in 2004 (2005 data not available). Young drivers, between 15 and 20 years old, accounted for 6.3 percent 12.5 million of the total, a 6.2-percent increase
from the 11.8 million young drivers in 1994.

In 2005, 7,460 15- to 20-year-old drivers were involved in fatal crashes – a 7-percent decrease from the 7,979 involved in 1995.

Driver fatalities for this age group increased by 4 percent between 1995 and 2005. For young males, driver fatalities rose by 5 percent, compared with a 1-percent decrease for young females.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15- to 20-yearolds based on 2003 figures, which are the latest mortality data currently available from the National Center for Health Statistics.

In 2005, 3,467 15-to 20-year-old drivers were killed and an additional 281,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes.

In 2005, 12.6 percent 7,460 of all the drivers involved in fatal crashes 59,104 were young drivers age 15 to 20 years old, and 16 percent 1,699,000 of all drivers involved in police-reported crashes 10,832,000 were young drivers.

Among 15- to 20-year-old drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2005, 30 percent 365 of those who did not have valid operator’s licenses at the time of the crash also had previous license suspensions or revocations

For the same age group, 28 percent of the drivers who were killed in motor vehicle crashes during 2005 had been drinking.
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      10-03-2006, 06:22 PM   #19
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My first car was a 90' 5spd 6cyl Jeep Wrangler when I was 16. It didn't have much HP but had a ton of TQ. My 2nd car was a 02' Celica GT-S which tcompletely disproves your theory of cars under 200hp/200tq will keep kids out of trouble and can't go too fast. I feel I'm an above average driver(doesn't everyone) but I have the time to prove it.

My family business is all about driving. We put about 30K miles a year on cars, so I had more than enough time behind the wheel when I had my temps let alone my license. I would put money on the fact that I prolly drove more my first year of driving(1/2 temps, 1/2 license) then some of you combined between your driving from 16-18y/o.

I could get in any car and drive it no questions asked. My jeep did everything I wanted it to. I could even offroad it and do better than some friends lifted jeeps because I knew where to put my car.

That being said with enough patting my own back, you should gauge your car choice on the experience of your child. If you can sit them in a manual and they can learn it within a half hour then they can have a manual car. Take them to a snowy parking lot and let them have at it. I pretty much learned how to master traction and placement in one long night of getting yelled at by my dad.

Kids are also going to speed no matter what you do, so better yet, teach them how to "properly speed". Watching what the cars are doing not just immediately in front of you, but several cars ahead as well. Learn how to break down traffic without being the maniac cutting through traffic. Learn how to visually scan for police not just trusting some junk hanging in your windshield. I could go on all day long obviously.

My personal opinion... EVERYONE needs to be manditory tested on their driving skills every 5 or so years. Or have to take driving schools every couple years. This in turn will make everyone a better driver, speed limits could be raised, and the state/government can bring in some more money from the fees associated with the tests. If you fail a test the next test if more expensive, longer, and you can't drive until you pass it. Then maybe just maybe the highways won't be chalk full of stupid fucks who can't drive. This is me in a car 10 hrs a day talking.
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      10-03-2006, 11:03 PM   #20
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Lol, whatever they can afford to make the payments on.

An older Buick or Oldsmobile would be good. Very middle of the road cars, and some can be quite dependable (my last car, an Olds, had 292,000 on it). And if they do break, the kids can use it as an opportunity to learn about how their cars work.


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      10-03-2006, 11:16 PM   #21
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If I get rich, I'm going to buy my 15-year-old daughter a Pagani Zonda F even before she gets her permit.
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      10-03-2006, 11:21 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shimshimhada
If I get rich, I'm going to buy my 15-year-old daughter a Pagani Zonda F even before she gets her permit.
Pagani Zonda and 15yrs old daughter eh?

God bless Shim's future family.
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