What is it with the “mommy and daddy are buying this Z for me..” stuff?

Buying your kid a car is just fine and dandy these days, but what is it with getting them a $25K+ Sports Car? There are so many reasons not to do this;
- $25K+ for a Kids First car is a lot of Money for 95% of the Population.
- Repairs for the car are going to be very expensive, as everyone makes “Mistakes” when they are first learning to drive, for at least the first 5 years.
- Insurance is also through the roof.
- I would not trust any Teen with a 300hp RWD… Im 25 and I still could get in to trouble with it.
- Promotes the “YOU MUST Give me everything I Want!” attitude that is running rampant with Teens over the last 3-4 Years.
- The “Real World Wakeup Call” will be a shock when they have to start making their own payments and cant afford to buy a bar of soap.

There are probably a dozen more reasons why…It just makes no sense for most people. Especially those families that makes less than $200K Total.

 

That in itself makes it all worth it for me. At some point, the cord will be clipped, and they will get a LARGE dose of reality up the mother f'n ***.

 

Frankly, I don't care what you make. It doesn't make any sense. My parents earned a bundle when I was a teen. My first car was a Ford Escort. And I was grateful that they bought it instead of making me make payments. Any child of mine may have to settle for a Sentra (or something like it).

 

I Agree, My father let me "Borrow" his 10 year old S-10 and I was thrilled. Made me work hard to get where I am so that I could get what I want, Not the other way around.

Adding: This topic isnt for those folks who's parrents have an Enzo in the garage of their summer home in the Hamptons. You Will most likley never live off your own merrits and probably dont care one way or another.

 

I come from a comfortable family. When I was 16 I got 1983 toyota tercel with a banged in driver's side door and loose head gasket. It took 1 qt of oil every few weeks.

Complete POS but it was mine and my parents were nice enough to pay my insurance.

The one great thing about the car: if you were pissed off at the guy behind you, you could downshift hard and hit him with the "smoke screen."

 

This thread is bound to get out of hand real fast.

 

Well im 17 and i had to work for my Z....i spent 4 years working for my family..day in and day out..no one bought me anything

 

I like that this thread will get out of hand fast.

God forbid I sound like one of those "When I was your age I walked uphill both ways in the snow. . . . . .etc etc"

But when I turned 16, I saved up 500 dollars (of my own) and bought a 1972 Volkswagen Bus, Westafalia Camper Addition. I restored it, repaired it, and got it running. Not only did i learn automotive repair and restoration, but i appreciated the **** out of that car becuase I was the one who got it running. Then the F'er burnt to the ground after I had some guys install a new muffler.

After that I borrowed my dads 1963 Ford Falcon (NOT RESTORED). That car was pretty original. . . original in the way that made you very modest.

After that I bought a pos streetbike with the remainder of the insurance proceeds from the Bus, a 1990 katana 600.

.... I digress....

Bottom line is, when I see a 17 year old driving a Z around, i often wonder if he really understands, or appreciates the car, and what it is his parents have done for him.

If its at all relevant, I came from a meager family of meager means. My folks didnt have enough money to buy me in style shoes, much less a car.

/shrug/
~AJ
(aka bstufgtfomrfn)

 

Walked? We had to crawl, with dogs nipping at our feet ...

 

yeah it's scary especially with a lot of teens playing racing games on playstation 2 etc.

it's difficult enough to learn to drive properly and have it be almost 2nd nature let alone a 300hp sports car.

Good thing the Z has great crash test ratings.

I know there's a lot of mature kids out there, and some even have quite a bit of driving experience by the time they get their license.

If a 16 or 17 year old works their *** off to try to afford a Z or their parents work out a deal to pay half of whatever he decides to buy - ok that at least makes them work for their car.

I didn't have a car of my own that I made payments on until I was in college and I loved it and respected it way more than the SUV my parent's let me drive in high school.

 

this is by far the dumbest post ever...

Got my Z at 16 after driving a truck for six months. Have not recked it or scrathed it, nor have I gotton a single ticket in it. Why not get an amazing car at 16 as long as you respect what it can do and respect how fortunate you are for having a car like this. Sorry if your parents didnt make enough money to buy you a car like this and or just felt like you didnt deserve a nice car, because you probably did not.


Please dont make stupid comments.

 

i drove a van until i was 18 and now pay 200 a month to my dad for the car so i guess im in the middle of the buy it your self and get it for your sixteenth b day. o well i know im very lucky to be driving it.

 

hahahahah

 

Originally posted by SoBe now THAT'S a pointed statement

are you prepared to argue with countless people who's parents in fact DID make plenty of money. Quite possibly even more money than your parents, but thought it would be more responsible of them to have their son drive a truck or SUV instead of a fast sports car?

Originally posted by SoBe What makes you more deserving of a sports car than someone else? So you work hard at school, get good grades, work a part time job, are involved in activities outside of school. Lot's of people do that. Don't try to pull off the "I'm better than you were when you were my age" crap cause it won't fly with a lot of us here. You're not the only one to work hard you know.


I was like you when I was your age. Came from a well off family (my dad spent over half a million on off-road vehicles and Jay Leno was interested in one of his custom built machines) made good grades, national honor's society in a large 2800 student high school, bla bla bla so what. My parents never spoiled me though. In fact, my dad spent all his money on himself mainly. My mom eventually divorced him because he was so focused on his money. I grew up in a huge house and HATED it with all my life. It always felt awkward having my friends over. Needless to say I bussed tables in high school to support my interests/hobbies because my mom didn't believe in handing me stuff for free.

You'll think differently when you get older and start thinking of how you'll handle parenting situations. As a parent, just because you CAN give your kid a sports car when they turn 16 - does that mean you SHOULD? Absolutely depends on the kid of course with how responsible they are. I wasn't into cars when I was young. I had other hobbies

The real issue at hand here is probably jealousy. Some people are jealous that some parent's just hand their kid a sports car whereas they maybe had to work really really hard for it and it was a real achievment for them.

Maybe someday you'll learn that many people have the capability to make tons of money or actually used to, but elect to work a lower paying job because they enjoy it more and value that more than money. Money doesn't = happiness


Also, people are born into whatever family they're born into - they can't help the situation. I'm more impressed by a kid who really makes himself into a great successful person in life if they grow up from a poor family than if they grow up in a rich family and have the best everything money can buy paid for them by their parents...

 

Well, I could say that you all got it good by even having a car at 16.

My parents had bought (used) a small street motorcycle (100cc) that I rode until I was in college. My sophomore year, I bought a larger (200cc) motorcycle and rode that until my fiancé and I bought our first car -- a Chevy Sprint (less than 1 liter of "pavement-pounding" power).

The point being that parents buying their kids a car does free them up from having to play "chauffeur" at the expense of not knowing where they are or what they are doing.

I'd rather play "chauffeur" -- at least until they are capable of rational thought. There's a reason that insurance rates are higher for 16-25 year olds...

 

I believe the only reason insurance is high is because the USA can't properly teach kids how to drive.

Not to mention the "What goes for one goes for all" standard the USA sets.

Also, the reaction time of people over 50-60+ is not much better than 16-20 year olds.

To add my comment on the situation of young adults getting 350Z's, that's just the way the cards are dealt, that's life. Life sucks, but we don't need people starting a new thread everyday to remind us of something we already know.

 

If you are old enough to drive, you are old enough to buy or be given any car to drive. There is no age limit on what type of car you can legally drive or own. If you or your family can afford it and decide to purchase it then you have the right to do that.
WELCOME TO AMERICA

The real problem lies within the people who have a problem with others exercising the freedoms of being an American...THAT should be the topic of discussion: Whats wrong with the people who are making judgements on others.

 

Agreed.

 

well my parents did have the means. and did i own a car like that? hell no.

my parents combined clear over $250,000 a year.

lets see........... i have worked since i was 12 (reffing soccer games) started working construction at 15.... in the summers held two jobs (while running 1000 miles a summer for cross country), worked all the time during the winter (mon-friday nights, sat and sundays as well) pulled straight A's in HS, never got into any trouble... and what was my first car? my $500 1984 pontiac 6000LE.
no help from the parents (except it was the car i bought off my dad because he was buying a new one)

all my other cars, mods, etc have been paid for by me. i didn't have the first mr2 until i was 19, (it was $3500... it wasn't turbo'd until i was 22

you learn to appreciate the things you have a lot more when you work for them yourself.

oh and yea, i also paid for all my own college tuition.....
and still can't afford a Z (mostly because of the $40,000 i spent on the mr2's)

so dont' make judgements about us older people Sobe. come back in a few years and give us your opinion once you hit puberty, your ***** drop from your stomach, and you still aren't sucking your momma's tit. maybe by then you will understand what it means to work for what you have.

 

yeah teens - myself included when I was a teen, think they're great drivers. They got an A in driver's ed (oh so hard) and they passed their driving exam

They don't have experience though to recognize potential dangerous situations on an instictive level. A lot of times they'll forget that it isn't themselves they gotta worry about driving, but how others on the road are driving.

I'm more afraid of someone else doing something stupd or unexpected than I'm worried about me doing something dumb


and yeah elderly people are usually slow to react. I know a lot of great 50+ year old drivers. Not many 70+ year old drivers though