bcdavis

I was an honor student, very responsible, and a smart kid. Compared to other kids in school, I was a great kid. No drugs, no drinking, etc. Never in trouble with the teachers or with the cops. But I sure as hell did crazy things with my first car. Which happened to be a VW bug. But even with minimal power, I still would go drive into dirt fields with my friends and do donuts, drive 90MPH downhill on the freeway (top speed). And once I had my next car, a 280z, and actually got into speed, I would top it out at 130-140mph, street race, do burnouts, and crashed the car two times. Both fairly seriously, and both potentially deadly crashes. I was just lucky. So seriously, don't delude yourself into thinking your "perfect" kid won't do anything irresponsible in their car. If you are the one buying it for them, get something safe and fairly slow for the first 3-4 years. When they are over 18, and on their own, and want to buy a fast car, you can't tell them not to. But while they are still under 18, and living at home, I'd stick to something safe and slow.

Shark Attack

He is either going to kill himself or almost kill him self and learn before its too late.

Lucky for me, It turned out to be option 2 for me with a Triumph tr8 , Sadly 4 of my friends in an Ironc z28 in high school were not so lucky. Then the one in the mustang gt, He lived-sorta. Another one of my buddies hit and disabled a guy in his Cuda. 2 other friends were in an accident in a speed machine, I forget what it was.... They lived and had a full recovery. But dont remember the accident at all.

another I knew of in the GrandPrix killed him self in it. Dont know the full details He was as *******.


So in my 40 years, thats my experiance. Hopefully he will be as lucky as me.

Oh yeah 2 years ago someone my wife works with> His daugter was killed in her convertable m3 BMW. She was 18, it was her graduation present.

So your call. Choose wise.

Shark Attack

I have more on this,,, I am sure he is a "good kid" or your wouldnt even be thinking about it.

But lets say you had a hot chic at your office and every time you saw her, You knew you could step on her gas pedal and not get caught..... Day after day... and she hot, I mean smokin. Everyday she lets you know she is willing and able... I dont care who you are, at some point you are going to step on her gas pedal.

Landseer

I had a Volvo 145 in HS.
Eventually got my hands on dad's 1800.
Got it airborne with three passengers once.

terry gt

I bought my son a volvo 240 2 door manual trans . We got it in top shape , he turned the wrenches , I supplyed the parts . I told him that this was the last car I was going to buy , if he crashed it , he walked . That car was a tank . His drunked buddy broke his wrist trying to punch it . He put it into a tree in the snow , no damage except to the tree . Did you know in managed to hit 104 mph one nite on the freeway? The volvo took a long..............................time to get there ! .There was no racing with a volvo . Could you imanagine what he could have done with a 928 ?????

Hilton

Work out how much you have in the car, then pick a value about $5k lower, and suggest to your wife that giving him the 928 would be the equivalent of giving him a brand-new [insert european car of correct value here].

Then suggest that your existing 928 would make a more suitable coming-of-age car, than a first-car.

This has two elements - first is she'd appreciate how much your 928 is actually worth to the family, and secondly, in her mind she has the option of the decision being seen as "good idea dear, but lets do it in a few years", so she doesn't feel like she has to fight you on this

Depending on your son and his friends, I'd hunt down something like a cheap E36 BMW coupe - looks good, only has 2 doors (helps him avoid becoming the taxi for all his friends on nights out), is rear-wheel drive, and is safe/big enough.

Of course, you could buy a cheap 928 beater for him now, and start looking for a nice Euro S, or 86.5 for yourself.. and upgrade him when you find the right car

Viperns

Here's what I did to my first car at 17. I wasn't even racing, I just had to take it to school and show off in the winter. But everyone is different, It really all comes down to what you want to do.

axis of evil

Let me get this right, you don't really like the kid, you have him insured for enough to retire to the bahamas,and be comfortable for the rest of your life, why not? go for it!

Temekun

My son got my 2003 Saturn Vue with 142,000 miles on it. 4 cylinder, CVT(it was on it's second). First day he drove to school he clipped his friends car at a stoplight. He was distracted and not paying enough attention, $5,000 damage that he paid the deductible. He also paid the difference in his insurance rate when we got the next bill.

My biggest fear with him was not him racing, that just can't happen beause Volvo are quicker. I was robably more afraid of him being caught in a situation that he didn't create and couldn't control. He's attended Driver's Edge twice, the first time was the week he got his permit.

He's 20 now and this summer finally got up the nerve to try the 928. It's a great car to learn stick and I took him to a private trucking road that's wide, half a mile long, flat and empty on Sundays. I showed him how they do it on Top Gear, you know that long smoking tire powerslide.

Now he knws what he was missing and he told me thanks for keeping him away from the Porsche. Unfortunately, he's cheap, still has his first communion money and knows that he can go out and buy his own 928 for less that 2 new Civics. He's worked on mine and has a good understanding of how it works.
He'll make a good 928 owner some day.

On the other hand, my 18 year ol daughter scares the bejeepers out of me and I'm glad she'll never save enough to get out of the old Saturn. I never should have let her become a Formula 1 fan.

Mark Anderson

Ok here's my .02. I went down this road with my son 4 years ago. As some of you may have seen he just sold his 91 AT on ebay this week after it being his daily driver for 4 years.
I'm not saying it's the right choice for all kids but I'm happy we did it. Having seen lots of wrecked 928's I felt much better about him driving it over a Toyota or Honda. I did want it to have air bags and ABS which it did and I reprogrammed it to have less HP and use regular gas.
One of our deals was "any speeding ticket for 15 mph and over the limit the car gets sold" No discussion. I did enroll him in a few drivers classes and he drove on the track a few times.
It has been a very good 4 years but it's time for a change as he is hoping to be going away to med school soon.

waiting for PDK

I had an auto TR7 in high school. Probably slower than walking. I won precisely one stop light race--against an old lady in an Escort who didn't realize we were racing. Any kid will eventually test any car and with a new driver plus all the texting and cell phone usage by teens why risk it?

Best bet: a used grey Camry. Boring, safe, slow, not too much room in back and somewhat embarrassing to be seen in, plus cheap to fix the little scrapes that will come.

Z

There's a guy that recently bought an S4 5-speed with a Murf supercharger kit installed on it for his 15 year old son. I haven't talked to anyone who thinks it's a good idea.

Temekun

You have to ask the 15 year old.

antsmands

Started with a 71 VW. Move up to a rotary RX7 and almost killed myself even though I knew better. Start him with something less powerful that your 928. Reliable, safe transportation. If he gets the 928 he is gonna want test it and show off to his buddies and the ladies no matter how level headed he is. Us boys can't help it!

docmirror

I have to bow to peer pressure and agree that for almost all kids of 16 the 928 would not be a good choice. Too much power, handling and stopping power overall for a first time driver. I found the VW Golf with 6 airbags to be the best bet for students. It is the lightest car with a 5 star crash rating. They get about 30MPG, and are kinda cute. I got my daughter one, and my son now has a GTI which is a 2 door Golf on steroids.

Save the 928 for later or special occasions.