First vehicle for 16 y.o. daughter

My daughter is 6 and she announced today she wants an Audi when she turns 17.

I'm screwed.

 

got mommy's 98 forester passed down to me as my car in college. head gasket was toast at 125k.

 

Renee's first car was a hand-me-down.... My 90 Buick Park Avenue with 230K on the clock. I stepped up to a 93 Park Avenue with only 150K.

When the 90 decided to meet the big junk yard in the sky (the car still ran great, I just didn't trust the frame anymore)... Along came the $800 Pontiac 6000 4 door. Great gas mileage, protected her well when she hit the deer, and only cost $75 in junk yard parts and two weekends of dad's time to fix.

She's got over 'what will my friends think' real quick when she realized that this was the only transportation available to her unless she buys her own.

Dawn

 

Whatever it is, make certain it's got rear wheel drive, manual transmission and enough power that they can learn to drift it. Otherwise, what's the point of driving?

My daughters drove a 74 GTO with 4-speed Muncie. It had some primer and a little rust, but since it was a GTO, it wasn't too embarassing. And the first time it snowed after they got their license, we went to a school or church parking lot so they could practice bringing it out of a spin.

 

GSXR 1000...
I keed.

 

My vote is for a 1974 Ford Ranger. I can tell you from experience that they will take on a tree, a woman pulling out in front of you and stalling her car, and repeated trips into every muddy ditch that is in sight. I still miss that truck.

 

Draik's 11, he'll be getting the Jetta we have now. I figured a gutless motard will be some cheap transportation too...

 

You can probably get a good deal on a used one of these in 11 years.

 

My kids are 13 and 12. They both have their own ideas of what they are going to get. Those ideas are far off of reality. My 13 year old son wants a 1969 Mach 1 Mustang, and my daughter wants a 80's Toyota Land Cruiser. I am thinking 1980's Crown Victorias for both of them.

 

Your son has excellent taste.

 

Ya but if they break the valves fail closed so NBD if you have AAA Plus!!

 

I took my daughter, and then my son to Bob Bondurant's School of High performance driving within one week of turning 16. They have a teenage driving course that really teaches car control.

It is amazing how they have these kids performing in just two days. They drill them on safety and make them think about situations that they may face one day. It is the difference in the guy on the bike that had to "lay her down" vs a road racer who can brake hard and/or steer around the problem.

I was racing formula cars with the SCCA at the time, and would much rather have gone to school myself, but I still consider this one of the best investments I ever made for my kids. Well that and the barbed wire in my daughters back seat.

 

Summit point conducts a driving school for new drivers as well. I watched it a couple years ago. Really interested to watch. They use RWD cars and a (frozen) skidpad.

 

I like my 01 Wrangler that my parents gave me in 03 (they were trying to keep me from buying a motorcycle... ). Takes a ridiculous amount of abuse, the 4.0L is bulletproof (I BEAT THE CRAP out of that jeep and have for 8 years) but I did have to have the transmission rebuilt last year. People say they roll but that's only true if you jerk the wheel at high speeds, otherwise it slides much more easily and is ridiculously predictable when sliding.

One good thing for a parent, you can't get away with much in a Jeep, EVERYBODY will recognize you. Only reason I got busted for leaving school early in HS was because the administrator saw a jeep leave and I was the only student that drove one.

definitely teach your kid what to do when it starts sliding, but more importantly PRACTICE IT. The only wreck I've ever had was a few months after I started driving. It had just started raining and I was on an interstate onramp, a long tight uphill off-camber ramp. As I was accelerating to merge, the rear broke loose and, being a dumb kid, I hit the gas instead of the brake. Did a 360 in the merge lane, hit the guardrail with the front and rear bumpers (no real damage, just dented the plastic ends of the bumpers). I "knew" what to do in a slide but I was inexperienced and panicked. These days I drift that jeep all the time, it's ridiculously easy to control in a slide.

that said, they are an acquired taste and people still consider them dangerous so YMMV

 

All I can say is that if I have a daughter, her first car will be one with no back seat. :tut:

She can have it when she's 40.

 

What did that cost you? I think that's a great idea. Between that, the bunny, and the rear-seat razor wire I think I'm set.

 

Olivia tells me she is getting a Shego green Jeep like the one below. She is 8.

 

If you're in an OS situation hitting the brakes is only going to make you spin faster.