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Well I may have screwed up this weekend and took my 15.5 yo son out for a driving lesson in the CS! My son was pretty quiet about the CS on the drive, but once we got home he declared that he does not want to drive anything else and has to acquire his own Cayenne! LOL Perhaps I have destroyed his personal finances for automobiles for his lifetime!
Interestingly enough both our kids hate to drive Moms Escalade ESV as it is too big and hard to handle. Which makes sense.
In reality, my son will get his sisters Volvo XC70 or my old Cadillac DTS... Or sell them both and get a Cayenne V6... Hmmm
FWIW Even the wife isn't opposed to trading the Escalade for a Cayenne in a year or so. Granted it would be a newer S.
If the Porsche proves to be too onerous for insurance or your sanity in entrusting a sport SUV to a new driver, I bet a Touareg would be a good compromise.
A v6 wouldn't be a terrible option for a new driver. It is relatively slow, safe, and if he likes it enough he will take better care of it. How well do you think he will grasp the financial and time burden that driving a car like this will put on him? Does he have any interest in car maintenance?
For an adult, the insurance is pretty much the same between Touareg/Cayenne at least through USAA. For a kid that would be an interesting comparison!
Absolutely V6! And the interest in maintenance we will see. He is not naturally a gearhead, but I have not seen many kids these days interested in cars like when we were kids. Millennials overall apparently don't care and I agree with that observation.
As for the perception of XC70 vs DTS vs Cayenne V6... IMO all about the same as mid level luxury cars. All fairly worthless at this point = fully depreciated. When I was in High School there were a couple kids with 944s and 914s and at that point they were fully depreciated as well. You could argue that a 955 V6 is like giving him a 924 back in the day! LOL
Yea, I'm also in the "let him earn his own Porsche" club. He will appreciate it that much more once he gets there. Besides, do you really want to be footing his repair bills?
Also, your son is technically a Gen Z, not a millenial, if that makes a difference.
I've mostly been keeping my 914 for my son to drive when he gets old enough.
He likes to go to the regional Porsche events with me and has a huge interest in cars, so don't think he'll have trouble keeping it running and doing the maintenance. Helped me change the plugs at Okteenerfest last year when we developed a misfire on the way there.
Though as the time gets closer, I start having reservations about him possibly having an accident in the car I built over the course of a few years and may end up trying to find him a 944 or 968 cab we can work on together.
XC70 is a great car for a kid. Nice, quick enough, safe. Let him earn his own Porsche... a free XC70 is a sweet car.
This is coming from a kid who had (earned) a 400hp 944 turbo and a CBR600 at 16.
Very true on the XC70 and why we purchased it in the first place for our daughter. It really is a tank. Everything just feels hefty on the car in a good way.
Good lord! IDK if I would be alive if someone handed me a 400HP anything at 16. LOL
Also, your son is technically a Gen Z, not a millenial, if that makes a difference.
I feel behind the times once again... Gen Z is the Z short for Snowflakes? (JK, some of the HS kids now are high caliber young folks. Maybe there is hope)
Though as the time gets closer, I start having reservations about him possibly having an accident in the car I built over the course of a few years and may end up trying to find him a 944 or 968 cab we can work on together.
This 100%!!! Due to our age in life you start to hear about the HS and young College kids in the area that end up in car accidents and it becomes scary as a parent. On a rainy weekend you can count on at least one accident for a HS person. Now, not all of these accidents are the kids fault, but as you all know with greater experience they may have been able to avoid the accident IF they had better driving skills. Even if you are not the cause of the accident you are still screwed as you are now probably hurt to some degree, so it is a loose loose all around.
On the plus and minus, the press only covers the accidents as generic accidents as most all people live through the accidents due to higher quality crumple zones and safety features... BUT the people/kids in these accidents are still potentially super effed up! One of my daughters good friends as a HS Junior had an offset head-on collision on a narrow backroad (farm country) between her mid 2000s MB E320 and an older Explorer... The Explorer cavitated the E320 and the girl ended up in the hospital and rehab for months. Bruised organs, crushed pelvis, broken left leg, and multiple contusions... It was a mess. The Explorer driver walked away no problem (IIRC drunk and of questionable legal standing, but that is another story). I was shocked that the E320 did not hold up better as it is a competent car of solid build quality. Moral of the story... Put your kids in the safest vehicles you possibly can with excellent tires, brakes, handling, and when all else fails great crumple zones. Statistically speaking the Volvo XC90 from what I understand is still the "safest" car on the road per fatalities. (something like 15 total, it is an amazingly low number)
Petza, I was in the same boat on get the kids something awesome for their cars... But then FUD kicked in and I went boring. IMO find a semi-fun but ultimately safe "cage" for that young man.
Full disclosure, I have a few old cars that I drive knowing full well that they are completely unsafe in an accident compared to modern cars. You just take the risk on as part of the enjoyment of vintage metal.
03-11-2019, 10:24 AM
"Dad, I don't want to drive anything else"
