soontobered84

Doc,
Congratulations on raising a great kid!! My daughter totalled 2 cars before she turned 18. My son drove a '73 MGB for 6 years and never dented a thing. I think the important thing is to make sure he know that while driving a great car can be very gratifying and exciting, it can also be very dangerous, and the danger may not be of his own making.

Good Luck

Catfood

Im not gonna lie, when my dad let me take his car out I would look for races and I found some and I never got a ticket, but Ive matured now and I never broke anything so thank goodness.

EspritS4s

It sounds like you have a great son, so congratulations. However, a 17 year old 330 hp Porsche is not a "safe" car especially for someone learning to drive. Much safer would be something with moderate power, airbags (I know the GT has airbags), and electronic stability control. The car is a beast and can quickly get an innattentive driver into trouble.

Also, I don't doubt the maturity level of your son, but why put him in a position to be tempted on a daily basis? How many of us resists the temptation to stretch our car's legs out or to respond to the occasional streetlight challenge. It's asking a lot and may not be fair to expect a 16yo to show such self restraint. I went to one of the top univerities in the country, and I knew a number of kids who brought expensive cars with them to school either due to the generosity of their parents or through their own hard work. Very few of them showed the level of restraint that seems expected in this situation.

All that being said, I wouldn't have turned down the car when I was that age, and I'm sure your son will do his best to live up to his end of the bargain. Also, if you've already given the green light, it will be difficult to change your mind now. I just don't see the 928 as being a "safe" car as an argument to make it a teen's daily driver. This reminds me of a conversation I had a few years ago at a Hummer club trail run with a father who bought a brand new H1 wagon for his 16 year old son because he wanted him to have a safe ride.

-Gary

Warren928

I agree with the others about making some HP disappear. It all depends on the kid.
Some kids will take it too far, with either getting obsessed over the car or taking it to the limit too much, while others will see it as a piece of rolling art, to be respected and appreciated but leave their life in proportion. If you have the kid with the aft ideals, then your going to be okay.

The other thing is other kids. Are they out of control at his school and/or into punishing kids who drive nice cars to the lot? Your insurance compnay may hate you later for it.

One last thing, if he turns out to be the u-boat commander type, do you have REALLY good insurance and your posessions in a trust? He is on your insurance and in your car, so you are partially liable for any accidents.

heinrich

Doc, I would consider a GPS unit to track his speeds. For now. Give him the car by all means, it is very cool and he likely deserves it.

bigs

Because he has not yet (I presume) had the opportunity to prove his trustworthiness in driving a car by himself.

i.e., trustworthiness in matters "A," "B," or "C" does not necessarily translate to trustworthiness in matter "D." At least not yet.

I've had some great, trouble-free, straight-A kids myself. I still wouldn't trust them with a Porsche as a daily driver at age 16. As someone here mentioned, if it turns out to be a mistake, you might not get a "do-over."

I'd use it as a potential reward down the road. If he keeps his record clean, both in driving and academics for a year, I'd let him use it for special occasions.

If he keeps his record clean for a second year, then maybe let him use it as his daily driver. That way he earns the privilege by demonstrating specifically his trustworthiness in matters of driving a car.

Shark Attack

I would have a few fears here.
1 the kid being 16 and in such a car.
2. a class mate keying it
3. the kid being 16 and in such a car-acctident
4. the kid being 16 and in such a car-death
5. the kid being 16 and in such a car-death of others

Im sorry to be so blunt and graphic. My cousin works for the fire dept. I had a girlfriend years ago that worked as an EMT. I had another that was an ER Nurse. They ALL have horrid stories of young kids in hot cars. 5 classmates when i was in HS got killed in an IROC Z that the driver got for her 16 birthday. A co-worker of my wife just lost his 16yr old daughter in a convertable bmw in a roll over from speeding on wet roads.... TAKE MY ADVICE, at least for a year go buy him an old $500 caddy, fill the fenders with cement and turn him loose. I dont care "how good a kid" he is... peer pressure is sometimes more that dads pressure.

Fogey1

My dad got rid of the fast cars when I was just 15 and didn't go back until my younger brother was 20 plus.

I broke a fair piece of stuff anyway, and only luck kept me from breaking myself or somebody else. (or else my preternatural skill, which do you think is more likely?)

A car like that at that age needs a driving school (Bondurant?) and track time. The first to teach some of the skills and the second to show how quickly he can get beyond them. And - talk about great bonding.

Are you keeping an eye on the mileage? I remember the roads west of Ft. Worth. It's kind of embarrassing when the 13 year old son of the friend you did the day trip to Archer City with says, "Dad! We went 120mph today!!" His Mom had been with us and it had been a smooth pass of a lot of traffic that disturbed neither her nor my wife in the back, but ... I wished I'd turned off the instrument panel.

Nicole

Coldn't your dad tell by the number of bugs on the car when you brought it back?

Just kidding... Klamath Falls was my worst bug experience ever in my driving career.

WICruiser

I think it has all been said by others but I think there are a few points that deserve repeating.
I don't think there is a high school that has a place you can park a car, any car, that everyone in the school will not know what it is, how fast it can go, etc. etc. and the very best of kids at sixteen (or twenty for that matter) are very easily enticed by peer pressure. Your son may be totally responsible and have the best of intentions but get three of his buddies together and they will be pressing him to see what the car can do.
Having trust in your son is a great thing and more power to you, but trust is earned and a sixteen year old student probably doesn't have enough seat time to be really on top of all the things that can happen in a very short time. I know I started driving off road (dirt and ice) when I was 15 and thought I knew how to handle things. I didn't get to far off track but I was also not driving a car with 298 type performance.
If you stay on your current path, what ever you do, remember the rules you set down and don't either let him, or others make excuses if/when the rules get bent or broken.

Last but not least - good luck and keep us posted.

docmirror

He took a girl to a friend's house tonight, said he'd be back at 6PM. Was thirty minutes late, which in the big scheme of things isn't a deal breaker. But, I called his phone and he didn't answer because he was driving. the old good news bad news scene. When he got home, we discussed his scheduling, and after reading the comments here - thank you all BTW, very insightful, we've decided to get him a truck or large beater for a few years.

So, for the next month he's going to go easy with the 928, then we'll have him in something else for a year. He's okay with it, provided I let him drive the Porsche to keep up his shifting skills(a skillful 'dodge' on his part). It's not a punishment, but both of us feel better if he's in something less valuable, and fast. He is going to be fine with whatever he gets. He's never been a gearhead, and I'm going to require that he help out with the maint which is a part of ownership he's not interested in. So, it'll work out for the best all around.

Thanks again for the discussion. Good points and well taken from all of you.

Doc

Bill Ball

My 16 y.o. son has been in my 89 during some of my burnouts. NO WAY am I going to let him drive the car! He gets the Mazda Protege.

heinrich

You are going to be glad you made that decision Doc. The life of one's child is more precious than any value he might possibly get from the Porsche.

Andre Hedrick

Doc,

An 89 Saab 9000T four door is a great car for the cheap!
You just have to make sure he does not redbox the beast, cause then the power curve really jumps.

tdelarm

Doc,

Thank you for posting this question. I’ve been watching the responses to see what others felt as I’m sure it has gotten a few of us to consider our own potential situations. Personally, for my comfort Zone you’ve gone the direction I would have.

As a former TV new photographer for over 2 decades, I can’t count the number of incidents involving teens and high powered cars that I had to cover.

The teen years…We’ve all been there. And we all know how we handled it through the younger years. Some more daring than others.

I like the drive it maintain it program you employ.

And Nicole says’s it best…once you’ve experienced a 928…where do you go from there.

And yes Nicole, you are no doubt in Socal what you drive.