First Vehicle Considrations for 16 year old -- What do you think?
02-02-2009, 10:21 AM
#11
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It all depends on your son's maturity level. Any car is acceptable as long as he understands the value of the gesture and is willing to contribute consistently towards maintenance costs, gas, lease/finance payments and insurance.
Simply giving him a vehicle would not be wise. He would not be able to learn the value of money or hard work.
Ideally he should work, save his money and buy his own vehicle. That's the best approach.
That's just my 2 cents
Simply giving him a vehicle would not be wise. He would not be able to learn the value of money or hard work.
Ideally he should work, save his money and buy his own vehicle. That's the best approach.
That's just my 2 cents
02-02-2009, 12:04 PM
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Originally Posted by BMW4Ever' post='783320' date='Feb 2 2009, 02:21 PM
It all depends on your son's maturity level. Any car is acceptable as long as he understands the value of the gesture and is willing to contribute consistently towards maintenance costs, gas, lease/finance payments and insurance.
Simply giving him a vehicle would not be wise. He would not be able to learn the value of money or hard work.
Ideally he should work, save his money and buy his own vehicle. That's the best approach.
That's just my 2 cents
Simply giving him a vehicle would not be wise. He would not be able to learn the value of money or hard work.
Ideally he should work, save his money and buy his own vehicle. That's the best approach.
That's just my 2 cents
I would not say that "any" car is acceptable to a 16 year old, or even a 19 year old for that matter, there is no such thing as "maturity" level at these ages...we were all that age and we should still remember how stupid we were, and just reading through a thread from last year over on the M5board.com on the one year anniversary of a tragedy again points this out... 18 year old takes his father's M5 out to a party and runs wild, killing himself and 4 others on a runway next to John Travolta's home...parents must not give their children the opportunity to destroy themselves, and a very fast car at under 21 (if not older) is just looking for trouble...be careful no matter who is paying
02-02-2009, 12:27 PM
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Originally Posted by midwest bmw' post='782171' date='Jan 31 2009, 11:40 PM
My son is soon to turn 16 and he's been learning to drive on daddy's 550 
As long as he keeps his grades-up and behavior clean, we've promised to get him a car. Safety and reliability top the list of considerations and of course it needs to fall in a given price range too ($14k or below)...
My neighbor has a 2002 X5 with the 3 Litre six banger with about 82kmiles on it. One owner vehicle in uber nice condition. Safety ratings on that vehicle are fantastic and I like the size too (not to big and not to small).
My concern would be putting him in a bimmer as his first car (a little spoiled??) and the speediness of the X5..
Thoughts?
Other vehicles being considered are Escape, Rav4 and Honda CRV. All would need to have ABS, side/canopy bags.
As long as he keeps his grades-up and behavior clean, we've promised to get him a car. Safety and reliability top the list of considerations and of course it needs to fall in a given price range too ($14k or below)...
My neighbor has a 2002 X5 with the 3 Litre six banger with about 82kmiles on it. One owner vehicle in uber nice condition. Safety ratings on that vehicle are fantastic and I like the size too (not to big and not to small).
My concern would be putting him in a bimmer as his first car (a little spoiled??) and the speediness of the X5..
Thoughts?
Other vehicles being considered are Escape, Rav4 and Honda CRV. All would need to have ABS, side/canopy bags.
02-02-2009, 12:35 PM
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Put him in a volvo until a) he buys his own car or b) his driving experience increases. Volvos are the safest cars on the road. If I had a child I would never put him/her in a car thats not capable of protecting them with the most advanced safety features God forbid somethings happens that they werent in control of. No one wants to look back and wish they spent the extra bucks on a safer car.
02-02-2009, 12:38 PM
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Originally Posted by m630' post='783298' date='Feb 2 2009, 01:47 PM
and with all due respect to Krozi, at 16 (or 19 for that matter) you should not be driving a 545, whether you can pay for it yourself or not (which is not possible at 16 but that point is moot), its just not a car for someone who has very very limited driving experience 
I'm safe driver and you can trust me on this one: I driver better than anyone in my class. my friends are really not that smart. They think it's cool to lean their seat all the way back to the point where you can not see over the steering wheel any more and never check their blind spots. Checking my blind spot is muscle memory by now. Just like putting on your seat belt first thing when getting into the car. I try to be the best driver I can be. I use my blinker, I don't drive like a jack-ass, and I don't cut people off like an idiot.
I agree that the 545i is tempting and definitely a car to get lost in. It is easy to speed up but by know I have a much better understanding for the car and know my speeds.
And BMW's, having the best electronic stability control in the industry, are very safe cars. That stability control really helps unexperienced drivers like me.
02-02-2009, 12:43 PM
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I think that Jeep's are also worth a look.
http://www.carmax.com/enUS/view-car/defaul...6f-5fda09a774d0
http://www.carmax.com/enUS/view-car/defaul...6f-5fda09a774d0
02-02-2009, 01:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Krozi' post='783393' date='Feb 2 2009, 04:38 PM
I know I have plenty to learn on the road and that I am not by any means a very experienced driver. But that does not mean that I am not a safe driver.
I'm safe driver and you can trust me on this one: I driver better than anyone in my class. my friends are really not that smart. They think it's cool to lean their seat all the way back to the point where you can not see over the steering wheel any more and never check their blind spots. Checking my blind spot is muscle memory by now. Just like putting on your seat belt first thing when getting into the car. I try to be the best driver I can be. I use my blinker, I don't drive like a jack-ass, and I don't cut people off like an idiot.
I agree that the 545i is tempting and definitely a car to get lost in. It is easy to speed up but by know I have a much better understanding for the car and know my speeds.
And BMW's, having the best electronic stability control in the industry, are very safe cars. That stability control really helps unexperienced drivers like me.
I'm safe driver and you can trust me on this one: I driver better than anyone in my class. my friends are really not that smart. They think it's cool to lean their seat all the way back to the point where you can not see over the steering wheel any more and never check their blind spots. Checking my blind spot is muscle memory by now. Just like putting on your seat belt first thing when getting into the car. I try to be the best driver I can be. I use my blinker, I don't drive like a jack-ass, and I don't cut people off like an idiot.
I agree that the 545i is tempting and definitely a car to get lost in. It is easy to speed up but by know I have a much better understanding for the car and know my speeds.
And BMW's, having the best electronic stability control in the industry, are very safe cars. That stability control really helps unexperienced drivers like me.
just keep your head on and avoid temptation, seen it go bad too many times, if you can be tempted, you will be...and though bmws have lots of safety features, they don't protect you from yourself...be safe
02-02-2009, 01:50 PM
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Originally Posted by m630' post='783449' date='Feb 2 2009, 05:41 PM
just keep your head on and avoid temptation, seen it go bad too many times, if you can be tempted, you will be...and though bmws have lots of safety features, they don't protect you from yourself...be safe
02-02-2009, 04:18 PM
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Originally Posted by MiamiPhill' post='783384' date='Feb 2 2009, 03:27 PM
Start the boy out small forget the SUV, here you are...... http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u...;standard=false
Thanks MP -- I love VW's (had a bunch of bugs growing-up) but I've narrowed it down to something with a little more steel and AWD (living in MN)
I looked up that rabbit and in 4 door trim, that generation actually gets GREAT crash test results.
02-02-2009, 04:32 PM
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Originally Posted by tblck543' post='783388' date='Feb 2 2009, 03:35 PM
Put him in a volvo until a) he buys his own car or b) his driving experience increases. Volvos are the safest cars on the road. If I had a child I would never put him/her in a car thats not capable of protecting them with the most advanced safety features God forbid somethings happens that they werent in control of. No one wants to look back and wish they spent the extra bucks on a safer car.
+1
Volvo is part of the consideration set...just wish they had better reliability ratings..