The Z is not a good first car for a teen girl
Take our advice and remove the Z from the list...

There are plenty of sporty 4 cylinder cars out there idk why the Z is the one being chosen... especially for a teen girl...

 

buy her a tC or an Eclipse instead. She'll be much happier and alive.

 

Tc is a pretty cool car i do agree what about a Audi TT? not too bad and you can find one in the price range.... even though they can be expensive to repair..

 

Z has too short of a wheel base for a beginner. You accidentally get a z without traction control and she's driving on cold day, between the no temp in the tires and no traction Control and short wheel base she'll be backwards before she knows it.

 

G35 that girl but get her a 6 spd. Breed for excellence.

 

^this. The Z is absolutely not a car to start out with. I would never buy my son/daughter a Z for a first car. High powered rwd is not a good combination for a new driver.

 

Hi Rusty, the guys here are not being flippant in trying to discourage you from selecting this type of car for a 16 year old. They are remembering the kind of mayhem they got into as teenagers, and are reflecting on the carnage they would have caused with access to a powerful rear-drive sports car like a Vet or Z.

The people on this forum do have a great deal of automotive savvy. However, a straight A student would be a pretty rare commodity around here. We were more likely to be part of the fast & furious crowd than residing on the high school honor roll. It’s truly hard for us to conceive of a careful and prudent teen driver.

You know your daughter and if you’re confident that you can pass on the skills necessary to keep out of trouble in a quick handling sports car, go for it.

A couple of things when you test drive a Z: take note of the lack of rear view visibility. Depending on your daughter’s height this may or may not be a problem. In the years you specified, the Z came in 4 of 5 trim levels, for the sake of safety consider avoiding the base model. It lacks traction-control and stability-control (VDC). The traction-control is quite a bothersome nanny to me, as it immediately cuts engine power at the slightest hint of wheel spin. But for an inexperienced driver, this will keep the car out of trouble should they succumb to the temptation of hard acceleration on wet corners. Also, some of the better-equipped models have extra side curtain air bags.

I just sold my 04 Z roadster, I bought it new and it served me extremely well. In over 9 years of daily driving the only actual repair needed was the replacement of one light bulb. A totally reliable car and I enjoyed immensely. By the way, when I was 16 my dad bought me a sports car; he selected a vintage MGB for me. Considering the lack of passenger protection and the dearth of safety devices, I guess dad was a little remiss on the concept of child abuse. With the armor plated and built in safety devices in a Z, your choice could make you a candidate for a ‘parent of the year’ award.

 

pic of so called daughter?

 

Ill put it this way... when i was 17 i was driving stupidly and rolled my jeep.. my best friend was rushed to the hospital, a day later was declared brain dead. I don't believe a vehicle with this much power + the rwd is a good choice for a learning teen. Frankly i don't believe it should be a daily driving vehicle until she has practice controlling a vehicle and driving experience. (possibly take her and teach her how to drive a high powered rwd vehicle like your vett) any vehicle with capability inspires too much false sense of confidence. (I am only 19 and i have learned the hard way about dumb teenage driving)

 

G35 Coupe. Same thing as a Z buy far nicer inside and out and can be had within your budget. And is going to be a lot easier to find in a auto than a Z. A lost of cars if consider.

Newer Eclipse
tC
G35
A early to mid 2000's Beamer.
Genesis Coupe can be had for a little more in there base model. And there extremely nice IMO.

 

Read this; it will change your mind
http://www.statisticbrain.com/driver...-by-auto-make/

 

Good article

 

Wouldn't be a bad first car, reason why I say so is because, I had a Z when I was 16 and I didn't ever wreck, no fender bender, no hydro planing, nothing. As long as you have a responsible daughter, you should be fine. I'm 18 now and on my second Z and still yet to get in an accident of any sort. Alertness is key.

 

As the esteemed Sir Charles Dilke once quipped, “there are lies, dammed lies and statistics”. This little half page chart, endlessly scissor and pasted here, tells us nothing about the structural integrity of the 350Z. Although it does hint at the type of punks who buy and misuse them.

There have been many pictures posted on forums of Zs that have crashed and hit the ditch at triple-digit speeds. I’ve always been impressed at the number of drivers who walked away from those wrecks. Zs also fair well in head on crashes, as the Z has some very clever design features. Eg. In a frontal collision the engine and transmission mounts are designed to absorb a huge amount of energy and then shear off before the crash force can be transmitted to the passenger compartment. Unlike other cars, the Zs carbon fiber drive shaft also shears with this lateral force allowing the engine to be guided under the cab instead of into the driver’s legs.

 

I've got nothing against the Z's structural integrity. The point is more people die in Zs. Fast car + young driver = curiosity at one point or another (we all know this) thus sometimes and unfortunately, I might ad, yields devastating results. This coupled with the fact the Z is not a Hummer is why the stat is oddly higher than expected.

 

Rustyvette I need piks of you and the vette or just you. We need to see who we're talking too

 

I smell troll.

 

I have to agree.

Ban now or let it run it's course

 

NO,NO,NO!
If this is a serious post,not a troll(because your question is SO absurb),IMO
your may save your daughter's life by not buying a Z.
You may be a "car crazy" family,I can understand that you guys need
something other than a Buick to make a statement.However,the average
teenage girl is focused on other things than paying attention to the way
she drives.You are probably saying,"not my daughter,she's been around cars all her life/
she understands..."blah,blah.I am sure many forum members will chime in and share a story or two.Some already have.Mine is I bought a Eclypse turbo for my daughter
When she started driving.That was the hot car then.Had to have it!She was
"around" cars all her life since I owned tons of them.Well,it was a dent here,a dent
there.Then a call that she T-boned it around a pole.They had to cut her out of the
car.She was lucky,got out without any major injuries.
Think about it...

 

can someone tell me why a civic or even a scion frs or something isn't good enough for a first car? To this day i still don't understand why a 250+hp car is needed as a first car. Girls or Boys will play with their toys! when i was 16 i had a 1990 prelude sr, and to be honest that was enough power for a beginner driver!!!!

Be a cool mother and get her a civic, something under 200hp and know your daughter will be responsible and not tempted to race like she would be in a Z. All it takes is one guy to convince her and then it's to late.