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Smart Shopper Best Car for a new teenage driver
554 messages, Last post on Nov 08, 2009 at 7:33 PM
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| I would suggest a used POS of any make or model with as little horse power as possible. When they learn to drive for real then they can get a decent car. | |
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Replying to: qbrozen (Jan 24, 2007 12:33 pm) I'm betting that it dropped off in front of him.  jmonroe
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Replying to: explorerx4 (Jan 24, 2007 3:16 pm) we are enablers if you think about it. yes, you are giving her an advantage, but that is your choice. she certainly isn't entitled. a necessity for her to have her own vehicle? i don't believe so... but this is your way of letting out the rope. that's fine. i personally think today's children "grow up" a tad too fast. quotes intentional. children are given too much autonomy and often are involved in TOO MUCH after school actvities with people and at places we can be ignorant of. maybe they could be comming home, doing their homework, helping to make dinner or do other housework chores around the house... i presume if one has a daughter or son, by 15 or 16 they can grocery shop, cook for themselves, do their laundry, balance a checkbook... it's encouraging to hear your daughter got a lot of driving experience BEFORE she got her license. that's really good. questions: does she check all four tires before she sets off to drive? does she check her oil and other fluid levels periodically when she fills up the car? does she check for spots on the ground underneath where she parks? would she know how to check and correct the tire pressure, oil and other fluid levels in the car if they were low? does she check that all the bulbs on the vehicle work? would she know how to change one? and would she know what to do if she hit a patch of ice, got caught in a torrential downpour, came up upon some thick fog, entered an area with many deer crossing the road? what if she was being tail-gated? what if someone in front of her was acting out in road rage, was involved in excessive speeding or making excessive lane changes? does she keep appropriate following distances? can she recognize when some other driver may be falling asleep or is distracted? does she have good mirror scanning behaviors? does she even know how to set her side view mirrors properly to limit her vehicle's blind spots? |
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Replying to: explorerx4 (Jan 24, 2007 3:16 pm) Resourcefullness is a good lesson to be taught, too. No bus after practice? I guess I'd have to ask how you and your kids deal with that now? Certainly, they didn't start practices just when they turned 16. Resourcefullness will go a long way to alleviating that issue. No car in college? From what I'm hearing, rules are different for every University. I know when I was going to college, if you were a Freshman and Sophomore, and you lived on campus, you weren't allowed to have cars. It's still that way today at my alma mater. That doesn't mean some didn't flaunt those rules, but those that did have a car, put more effort and energy to hide the car from the campus cops than they did getting to class. I can say that I walked...and walked...a lot.....when I was in college. I can also remember taking the invariable (and dreaded) early a.m. classes, and being one of mayby 30 kids walking to class, on the entire campus (all the rest of the students were smart enough to sleep in, getting into later classes). To make it easier, most colleges have shuttles, now. Kids just have to plan a little better to take advantage of them. When I needed to come home, it was either my parents coming to pick me up, or Greyhound (on my dime). Didn't have any issues with any of that. I'm not saying I had it tough. My parents had become much more successful later in life (like after I graduated). But, when I was going to college, they didn't have the wherewithall to pick up every little expense I had, so they picked up none of it. If I wanted to go to college, I had to pay my own way. It proved to me how much I really wanted that education. Same way with a car, if I wanted one, they didn't stop me from getting one. They just didn't pay for it. Truth told, some of my fondest memories in school were surrounded by those times when I hoofed it....in the early morning hours....on freshly fallen snow, to get to class. It cleared my head. Plus, it kept me in shape. During the Fall/Spring, I used a bike (sometimes in the winter, too). Speaking of resourcefullness, I finally did buy a beater for my junior/senior year, when I was living off campus. Bought it during the summer with summer job change. I thought I was the "schiznits" since I had now graduated to having a car (for mostly beer and pizza runs). I learned resourcefullness with that car. It ran (or should I say, sputtered) about half the time. I learned auto mechanics with that car (if I wanted to keep it on the road). Did you know when you have worn brushes on a starter that a good whack with a heavy wrench will gain you another 5-6 months of use out of it before replacing it? Do you know you can buy perfectly serviceable batteries, brake pads, etc at the junk yard for about 1/20th the price of new ones? Add a few scraped knuckles and you're good to go. Did you know that instead of a tune-up, you can pull the plugs out of your old heap, sandpaper the tips, put them back in and get another 10K miles out of them? Growing up has as much to do with resourcefullness as it does anything else. We all know this. Sometimes letting our kids figure it out for themselves is the best lesson (as opposed to bailing them out of trouble each and every time). While most of my tyring times with a car were viewed as "damnable luck" when they happened, I view them fondly, now. Plus, I'm no worse for the wear. I hope I'm not coming across as an "oldster" here (I'm "just" in my 40s). But, my teen (and early 20s) years taught me a lot about resourcefullness, drive and ambition. A portion of those lessons were surrounding the buying/maintaining of a car (as humble as it was). I'd be remiss if I didn't pass those same lessons on to my kid (he hates it when I call him "kid"). They are good lessons to be learned.
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Replying to: graphicguy (Jan 25, 2007 6:18 am) i too can remember walking to early classes in snow, sometimes stinging as it blew horizontal, and sometimes up to my waist in the drifts. i can remember lectures in classrooms where the steam heat was so uncontrollable, we had the windows wide open to make it remotely comfortable, and with the wide open windows - it snowing in the classroom! right of passage? yes, college built true character in me. i think the kids today have it entirely too easy. i'm sure our parents thought we had it too easy back then also. i think if explorerx4 wants to get a good reliable car for a son or daughter, that a parent's perogative. but i'm all for what you are saying. there's got to be a balance in all things. i just think setting up expectations in a child (and at 16,17, 18 that's mentally what they are) for a car easily gotten and easily paid for and maintained is a disservice to both parent and child.
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you are just beating me up! i didn't grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth, i was lucky if i had a spoon! i'll make some random comments on some of the previous posts, which i know were made with the best of intentions. my daughter does not check the tire pressure or the oil level. it is still my vehicle, and i do that. besides, it does not use any oil. i want point out again, that giving my kid a car to drive to school is a convenience for myself and my wife. my kids schedules change every year. we live about 7-8 miles from the school, so walking is out. sometimes she has to be at school early, before bus pickup. sometimes late, after last bus pickup. i figure taking ap math and physics, being on student council, playing violin the the school orchestra(back row, though), rowing on the crew team, attending chuch youth group meetings and teaching religious ed to 2nd graders is a pretty fully plate. i'm sure i missed a couple things and am glad we don't have to drive her to all those activities. her first quarter grades were her best ever. too bad she says 'like' every other word.  she put in an app at some school in oxford, oh. can't quite remember the name. 
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Replying to: explorerx4 (Jan 25, 2007 4:42 pm) that's great, but the point we were trying to make ultimately is there are many things about vehicle ownership and driving you need to teach her. yes she should be doing those checks, even if it's your car. i'd start by showing her the dip stick and the zen of oil... not as intellectually challenging as AP Math or Physics, but a worthy subject.
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Replying to: user777 (Jan 25, 2007 5:30 pm) maybe i should ask her to check the transmission fluid on the explorer she drives. 
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Replying to: explorerx4 (Jan 25, 2007 7:24 pm) i'm not surprised by these forums to learn how many people don't read their car manuals, so no, i'm not surprised that many wouldn't know how to find the hood release. you can start by showing her how to open and secure the hood. then, yes, how to check the transmission fluid level. but don't stop there, besides the oil and transmission fluid, show her how to locate the power steering resevoir, the coolant (and how to safely check), the brake fluid, and the windshield washer fluid level. they all can significantly impact her ability to safely get to her destination if they are low. then, show her how to use a good tire gauge and an air chuck. show her how to check for a problem with a headlight, taillight, or the center-mounted stop light. show her how to use the emergency flashers. if you're feeling particularly adventurous, show her how to properly use a car jack on level ground, and put on the spare tire. tell her about the hazards of changing a tire on a highway or a busy or poorly-lit road. it's basic stuff, i know, but it could save her from being stranded, or out the expense of the vehicle or a large repair bill. and proper vehicle operation and basic maintenance could mean the difference between an accident and none. with all sincerity, don't cut corners. with a car comes a great deal of responsibility people don't think of: for property (yours and hers) but more importantly the safety of oneself and the other people on the road with you. and if she gets involved in a serious relationship with someone else, you want to assess and assure that person also has the predicate knowledge that comes with vehicle ownership. your daughter and your future grandchildren are riding in it as well. 
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Replying to: user777 (Jan 25, 2007 9:22 am) As mentioned, my son is 20. Yes, he's an adult. But, as I remind him all of the time, until he's out on his own, making his own way, without "the old man's wallet", he hasn't made it, yet. That said, I'm very proud of him. He's going to school full time and on the dean's list. He's working part time to keep out of the free cheese line and to keep his wheels on the road. All he has to do is to take care of what I ask him to take care of (the car and it's expenses). I've got the rest covered. He's still learning and I'm still teaching. Some of the lessons he likes, some he doesn't. All of them are good lessons, though. explorer...as I said, I'm certain you're a fine parent. I've got two sisters. I can remember my late father having heated dinner discussions with them about societal inequality of the sexes. My sisters' stance was always pointed towards the "females get no respect (or equality)" part of the debate. They were right. But, so was my father. He stated that there is no respect or equality just given to you in this country. Equality had to be made by each individual. Regardless of race, gender or creed, he felt all individuals had to be proven worthy of respect/equality. That's why he didn't have different rules for any of us. If they didn't get a car, I didn't get a car. If they wanted something, they had to find a way to get it. So did I. Owning a car for a teen (or 20s) idividual teaches those lessons, if they're responsible to find a way to get it themselves....be they male or female. The overall lesson....you want something? Go out and get it. Don't wait for someone to give it to you. Can't think of a better time to teach that lesson than at 16 when it comes to cars. When I lifted my son's license after his wreck, it was more of a hardship on me having to haul him around for school and extra-curriculars, than it was for him. For my son, it was just embarassing having his parent haul him around, or God forbid, he had to take a bus. But, a lesson was taught, and learned.
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