I have to say it completely depends on the child/teenager...

I started working 25 hours or so a week when i was a junior in highschool.. With taking running start my whole senior year i was able to work 30 to almost 40 hours a week at the office... I was able to get myself a nice 95 BMW 325i. Put some money in it loved it.. no tickets. I graduated.. still working the same job (2.5 years at this point) and bought myself a WRX 12 days after turning 18. About 1.5 months ago (in february will be at my job for 4 years on the books, 6.5 all together) i bought my 350z... I love my car, but even more i love my job, i am working on passing my LPO Exam (put out by the bar association) and typically work 11 to 13 hours a day with some time on the weekends when needed. I am very lucky to have my car and job at such a young age (20 in july) but i have worked very hard for it and will continue to... in june i will be buying a pretty nice 2 bedroom condo also.. nothing great.. but better then throwing 535$ at rent.. when for a little more i can own my property (and i work in real estate so it really makes sense...)

Most highschooler cant handle a nice Z... but like others have said.. a kid is going to do 100 in a beat up truck or an 04 350z. neither is safe... but i will be buying my child a car when hes 16... nothing super fast.. but it will be safe... BMW probably..

Dave

 

Well I'm 17 and I had my Z when I was 16. For one thing the Z is a sports car. When others think about someone driving a sports car they really aren't as mature as someone driving a lexus? I know 24 year olds that act more like a kid than I do! Being mature and how old you are could be two very different things. Also there are kids out there that work to make monthly payments on their Z. If my son said that he would go out and find a job to make monthly payments for his car. Also if he has proven to me that he is responsible I would be willing to help him out as much as my parents has been to me.

For those who think just because they are young they are unworthy of having a Z. Its just like thinking someone who drives a sports car that they are childish and will die from speeding... its not always true.

 

Dude, just wait. Not saying you're not mature or anything, but when you're 22, you'll look back and think "man I was stupid when I was 16."

 

you just answered your own question right there. and coming from a father's point of view that has a 16 year old, there would be no way in hell i would buy my kid (yes i said kid) a 350Z as a first car. putting a inexperienced driver behind the wheel of any sports car is just irresponsible of the parents. I am still up for raising the legal driving age to 18, with a mandatory driving school that starts at age 16. no school= no license.

 

this is true i think about some of the stuff i did back when i first got my license.. it was rather dumb! too many kids died in my graduating class!

On the other side if a parent feels his child is responsible enough it can help him mature faster.. with the added resposibility of having a job he has to go to and keep, keeping the car in good shape etc etc... for me i never wanted to let my parents down when i got my BMW when i was 16.

 

age shouldn't matter at all, as far as giving a car as a gift.... whatever happend to earning something yourself. if you didnt work for it and buy it, its not really yours... there are exceptions like 35th wedding anniversary or you hit the lotto whatever but at only 24 yrs. of age myself i see sooooo many people that just dont realize the value of a dollar or what it means to earn one.

 

im 16 and i own a z,i dont think that age has noting to do with it.

 

you say that cause you are 16...
and i dont beleive you got this on your own....not sure you deserve it, but i just hope you are at least not being stupid while driving

 

.

 

time for english class sonny, thats a double negative. you are saying that age has something to do with it. highschool kids should drive neons, cavaliers, and pontiac sunfires.

 

i drove a bmw got one ticket for 10 over and no accidents while i was in highschool... should i have drove a cavalier...? Im not arguing that MOST HIGHSCHOOLERS would ABUSE THE **** out of a sports car... but there are some (like myself.. well used to, been out for 2 years) that were going to highschool, college and working 20-30 hours a week.... i dont know many 19-23 year old college students putting in that much effort... I realized before i was 16 you can die from one little move in a car... or one little move someone coming at you does... BE SAFE!

 

Im 19 and just got my Z. I've done some stupid stuff in my old cars but everyone does at least once, no matter how mature you are. But my biggest thing is that you need you earn a car like a Z... I have paid for every car that I have had and I've earned each one with my own hard work. I work 2 jobs and almost 70 hours a week to get what I want.

Those of you that are 16 and such that have a Z and that make the car payments are more than likely living at home with your parnets and dont have any other bills to worry about because your parents pay them. Also, if you are that young, then you defiantly didnt get the car by yourself. You had to have a cosigner, and since you have no credit, everything is based of your cosigners information.

So, I think its wrong for ANYONE to own such a nice car as a Z unless you earned it. Once you have a job, live on your own, pay your own bills, and don't have to use someone else's credit to get the car, then you have earned it and deserve it.

But hey, thats only my 2 cents worth!

P.S. And if your 16 to 18 and do have a Z and are making the payments, are you still going to be able to afford it, and the insurance on it, once you move out on your own??? Or will your parents still be paying all your bills for you then too?

 

yea i do believe its not smart to put somebody young behind a wheel of a Z but guess what.........IM 18!

 

15, when I Got mine.

No, I wouldnt buy my child one either
Id get them a corrola

 

I am 17 and my parents bought my first car for me for my 16th birthday. i see that a lot of you are saying that you shouldn't drive a Z until you can afford to pay for it yourself and thats when you will only deserve it. I call bs on that because my parents didn't even want me to get a job to help pay for it because they want me to focus in school so i can get into a good college. that way i won't have to work 2 jobs and 70hrs a week to get what i want and i am thankful for it.

 

then maybe they should have bought you a truck or something else that gets you from A to B since you make it sound that was the idea. What good is it going to do if you drive idiotic, do stupid races, and worry about ricing out the car(which wont help you focus on school) and something happens to you(hope not) in an accident....

plus the fact that you say that you wont work at all till you go to college is another sign that you are just going to keep milk you dads wallet but then for anything else and you wont be prepared to the college life where you do have to work and study hard as well.... unless you keep milking your dads wallet

 

When I was 17, I got a 300zxTT, Im 19 now and got a 350z...No one ver gives me probs.

 

Any age as long as you know your own limitations! OH YEAH and can afford the car and any repairs you might need. Don't buy something you can barely make payments on then if it breaks your srewed. You have to remember at a younger age you can afford the payment but in a few years when you hit the real world,rent,ins,food,elect, ect you might not be able to afford it.Again knowing your limitations in the car as well as in life.

 

todd_06track, not trying to hate on you but; In my mind, and I think a lot of others, you dont really deserve that Z unless you earned it. Just because your parents didn't want you to get a job to help pay for it so you could focus on school, doesnt mean that you deserve to have that nice of a car. And like IIQuickSilverII said, your not going to get anywhere in life if you keep milking your dads wallet.

 

At least if you're milking your parents' money, try to maintain a job while you're at it so you understand how money is earned.