996 too much for a first car?
10-16-2013, 10:05 AM
#76
Rennlist Member
Why do YOU want your son to have a 996 as a first car? You clearly have your heart set on it.
All else equal, it is a bad idea. You know that or you wouldn't have started this thread.
All else equal, it is a bad idea. You know that or you wouldn't have started this thread.
10-16-2013, 10:14 AM
#77
Rennlist Member
For me, it's not the fact it's a very powerful car, it's the image. Of course our cars are relatively cheap, but they were close to $100k new. My 2 sons got cars when they turned 16 provided they had jobs and paid for gas and maintenance. The cars were provided to get them from point A to point B. When and if they wanted a sports car, they can buy it themselves with great satisfaction in doing so.
In our community, there are plenty of teens driving brand new $50k cars. That just goes against our values and the thought of me giving one of my kids a Porsche 911 as a first car just doesn't sit well with me. A car like that, whatever the cost, should be earned.
I gave my eldest a Jag S-type when he graduated college. It was 6 years old. I didn't want to rob him of the satisfaction of being able to buy his first car all by himself.
In our community, there are plenty of teens driving brand new $50k cars. That just goes against our values and the thought of me giving one of my kids a Porsche 911 as a first car just doesn't sit well with me. A car like that, whatever the cost, should be earned.
I gave my eldest a Jag S-type when he graduated college. It was 6 years old. I didn't want to rob him of the satisfaction of being able to buy his first car all by himself.
A friend of mine lost his 19 year old son in a car accident, and faults himself till today for given his son a powerful car.
In America you can drive at 16, other countries 18, and here you can only drink at 21, other countries 16. I would like my son to know how to control his liquor before he can drive a fast car.
My choice as a first car for my son, the slowest Volvo or MB I can find.
10-16-2013, 02:15 PM
#78
Race Director
might not want to speak in absolutes. A kid who works every day after school or has a particularly lucrative job (I taught tennis at a country club, and in two summers could easily have afforded a 996 at today's prices) could certainly pay for the car themselves.
10-16-2013, 03:52 PM
#79
Race Director
OK. How about "the vast majority of"?
15-year-olds who work "particularly lucrative jobs" are the exception - and even if this hypothetical kid did manage to sock away $15K to purchase a car, choosing one that is 14 years old and has a reputation for requiring extensive repairs (which can include engine replacement that can easily cost as much as the car is worth) is a tremendously stupid financial decision.
15-year-olds who work "particularly lucrative jobs" are the exception - and even if this hypothetical kid did manage to sock away $15K to purchase a car, choosing one that is 14 years old and has a reputation for requiring extensive repairs (which can include engine replacement that can easily cost as much as the car is worth) is a tremendously stupid financial decision.
Last edited by 5CHN3LL; 10-16-2013 at 04:18 PM.
10-16-2013, 08:19 PM
#80
OK. How about "the vast majority of"?
15-year-olds who work "particularly lucrative jobs" are the exception - and even if this hypothetical kid did manage to sock away $15K to purchase a car, choosing one that is 14 years old and has a reputation for requiring extensive repairs (which can include engine replacement that can easily cost as much as the car is worth) is a tremendously stupid financial decision.
15-year-olds who work "particularly lucrative jobs" are the exception - and even if this hypothetical kid did manage to sock away $15K to purchase a car, choosing one that is 14 years old and has a reputation for requiring extensive repairs (which can include engine replacement that can easily cost as much as the car is worth) is a tremendously stupid financial decision.
"didn't need it" Porsche and therefore totally relate to your closing statement.
10-16-2013, 08:46 PM
#81
Race Director
Heh. It's not tremendously stupid if you can afford it. However, there's a difference between "I have enough money/credit to buy it" and "I can afford it." 
10-17-2013, 01:35 PM
#82
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Getting a young new driver a high performance car is a recipe for disaster. If you get him a nice slightly underpowered FWD sedan he'll be far less tempted to push it to ludicrous speeds and be far more likely to survive long enough to develop the skills to properly enjoy a 996 as his 2nd car.
It's all about the responsibility of a driver not the age
10-17-2013, 02:30 PM
#83
Race Director
Absolutely not the case. Responsibility is incredibly important - but so is experience. At sixteen, the former is suspect and the latter is non-existent.
As I mentioned previously, a kid I went to school with died when he wrapped his turbo RX-7 around a phone pole. Within a year or two +/- of that event, one of the kids next door died at 16 when he put his car through a wall in the rain, and a sixteen-year-old came headfirst through the cinderblock wall into our back yard on his motorcycle. I saw him from time to time over the next decade puffing into the straw to drive his quadriplegic-friendly wheelchair around my neighborhood.
"Responsibility" - operating safely given all of your limitations, the limitations of your car, and the environment. At sixteen, perception and reality for these variables are inconsistent. I'm sure if you ask ANY 16-year-old who just wrecked his car if he was driving responsibly, he'd assure you that he was.
As I mentioned previously, a kid I went to school with died when he wrapped his turbo RX-7 around a phone pole. Within a year or two +/- of that event, one of the kids next door died at 16 when he put his car through a wall in the rain, and a sixteen-year-old came headfirst through the cinderblock wall into our back yard on his motorcycle. I saw him from time to time over the next decade puffing into the straw to drive his quadriplegic-friendly wheelchair around my neighborhood.
"Responsibility" - operating safely given all of your limitations, the limitations of your car, and the environment. At sixteen, perception and reality for these variables are inconsistent. I'm sure if you ask ANY 16-year-old who just wrecked his car if he was driving responsibly, he'd assure you that he was.
10-17-2013, 08:06 PM
#84
+1000 This is the serious and grave reality completely unrelated to a 996. 4 years ago a coworker lost her 18 year old daughter in a one car accident. Eerily, we had a discussion just weeks before about our fear of losing one of our new driver children in a car accident. My co-worker felt that she put her daughter in a very safe car, four wheel drive Jeep Cherokee, but she feared that this only made her daughter over confident and unfortunately her fear was realized. My son totaled his first car whie driving during bad weather and lost control on the ice and nailed a guardrail. Thankfully neither he, nor his passengers, were injured. But his inexperience was glaring when he told me that he did everything right because when he felt the back end sliding he applied the brakes but no matter how hard he pushed on the brake pedal the car wouldn't stop. Duh. The frustrating part was that we attempted to disallow him to drive that weekend; but he insisted that he knew how to drive and that he didn't do dumb crap behind the wheel.
While I was somewhat jesting about the financial aspect, the reality of the loss of life, especially a young life, has no potential for humor.
This is pretty far away from the OP's ask of opinion, but again, it is a reality.
While I was somewhat jesting about the financial aspect, the reality of the loss of life, especially a young life, has no potential for humor.
This is pretty far away from the OP's ask of opinion, but again, it is a reality.
10-18-2013, 12:51 PM
#85
Rennlist Member
+1000 This is the serious and grave reality completely unrelated to a 996. 4 years ago a coworker lost her 18 year old daughter in a one car accident. Eerily, we had a discussion just weeks before about our fear of losing one of our new driver children in a car accident. My co-worker felt that she put her daughter in a very safe car, four wheel drive Jeep Cherokee, but she feared that this only made her daughter over confident and unfortunately her fear was realized. My son totaled his first car whie driving during bad weather and lost control on the ice and nailed a guardrail. Thankfully neither he, nor his passengers, were injured. But his inexperience was glaring when he told me that he did everything right because when he felt the back end sliding he applied the brakes but no matter how hard he pushed on the brake pedal the car wouldn't stop. Duh. The frustrating part was that we attempted to disallow him to drive that weekend; but he insisted that he knew how to drive and that he didn't do dumb crap behind the wheel.
While I was somewhat jesting about the financial aspect, the reality of the loss of life, especially a young life, has no potential for humor.
This is pretty far away from the OP's ask of opinion, but again, it is a reality.
While I was somewhat jesting about the financial aspect, the reality of the loss of life, especially a young life, has no potential for humor.
This is pretty far away from the OP's ask of opinion, but again, it is a reality.
I my days (I am 46 now), the car I could drive was my mother's 240D Volvo Wagon (Diesel), no power lots of sheetmetal.
I am certain that more teens will die at the wheel of powerfull cars than at the wheel of safe strong reasonably powered cars.
If status symbol is an issue an entry level MB C class is a very trendy safe car IMO.
