best parents or what?????

[austinjames]

Originally Posted by Brokinarrow

Not really feasible unless they have a job, and even then you'll probably spend more money on repairs than the car would would be worth. I had a '93 camaro V6 for my first ride, and I had to pay half (about 1300). And when I sold the car, the money went back to my parents (my choice actually). But you bet your @$$ that I got the keys taken away when my grades slipped. Being forced to ride the bus again was a POWERFUL motivator to keep my act together.

Anyway, bottom line is that as long as you're making sure your child understands that they have to WORK to get their vehicle, you're doin it right.

Not feasible....I beg to differ. I bought my first car for $10,000 (used civic) my senior year of highschool after working 4 years at a pizza place doing dishes. Worked 25 hours a week, and still graduated with honors from High School. And, I didnt have any problems with that car all through college, no repairs at all. Then After college I sold that car for $7,200, and that went towards my camaro. Its completely feasible, if you work hard.

[knitetrain05]

Crazy Post. the whole thing.

[motorhead]

Originally Posted by Iroczlover

how old are you??? according to most US government officials we are not suppose to be alive now. No seat belts until the 70s & not even mandatory until the 80s (or 90s) Heck my dads arm was my seat belt lol.
dont know how many times I hit my head on the dash of my moms 70s ford pick up bouncing around the farm or riding on the tail gate of it holding on for dear life not knowing when she will stomp on the brakes or gas.

I'm old enough to have owned vehicles from those days and have seen that they are not built like today's cars. It's from those days that gives us the safe cars we enjoy today. My daughter is the most important thing in my world, and she won't be driving around in a car that isn't as safe as possible. It's your kid do what you want. I know for me I'll be scared to death to send her out on her own the first time no matter what car she has. I will make damn sure that it's as safe as possible and reliable though. From seeing some of the gen 5 Camaros posted on this forum that wreck,and that most walked from them, I would put her in an SS gen 5 Camaro before I would put her in that truck. (In reality she won't be in either)

[austinjames]

Originally Posted by motorhead

I'm old enough to have owned vehicles from those days and have seen that they are not built like today's cars. It's from those days that gives us the safe cars we enjoy today. My daughter is the most important thing in my world, and she won't be driving around in a car that isn't as safe as possible. It's your kid do what you want. I know for me I'll be scared to death to send her out on her own the first time no matter what car she has. I will make damn sure that it's as safe as possible and reliable though. From seeing some of the gen 5 Camaros posted on this forum that wreck,and that most walked from them, I would put her in an SS gen 5 Camaro before I would put her in that truck. (In reality she won't be in either)

+1

[Brokinarrow]

Originally Posted by austinjames

Not feasible....I beg to differ. I bought my first car for $10,000 (used civic) my senior year of highschool after working 4 years at a pizza place doing dishes. Worked 25 hours a week, and still graduated with honors from High School. And, I didnt have any problems with that car all through college, no repairs at all. Then After college I sold that car for $7,200, and that went towards my camaro. Its completely feasible, if you work hard.

Ok, now one question for you: How much driving experience did you have before you got your first car?

And also, I must agree with motorhead - the safety of today's vehicles far exceed those of a couple decades ago. I'd have much more peace of mind with my kids driving a '90s model vehicle than an old 50's era vehicle. I've SEEN pictures of crashes from back then, not pretty.

[austinjames]

Originally Posted by Brokinarrow

Ok, now one question for you: How much driving experience did you have before you got your first car?

Well, I learned to drive stick on my dads property at 14. Drove ATVs since I was a kid, and got my license at 16. Then drove my moms van every chance I got. Including many trips to north carolina, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland. I basically drove my parents everywhere any chance I could. And, when the van wasnt in use by my parents Id drive all my friends around. So, I had a lot of hours and thousands of miles of experience by the time I got my car. And, let me just say driving around a van all of highschool will make you appreciate your own car thats for sure, but Its still better than nothing at all. But, I still had to pay my own gas and car insurance while driving the van.

[Brokinarrow]

Originally Posted by austinjames

Well, I learned to drive stick on my dads property at 14. Drove ATVs since I was a kid, and got my license at 16. Then drove my moms van every chance I got. Including many trips to north carolina, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland. I basically drove my parents everywhere any chance I could. And, when the van wasnt in use by my parents Id drive all my friends around. Driving around a van all of highschool will make you appreciate your own car thats for sure.

Alrighty, good on ya. Now the issue I have is that SOME people don't let their kids touch a steering wheel till they are in driver's ed. Definitely think that parents should try their hardest to get their kids behind some sort of steering wheel from a fairly early age.

Anyway, this whole thing really boils down to the parent's choice. Like I said, as long as the kids aren't GIVEN a vehicle outright, as long as their made to understand that they have to work for that privilege, that's the important part. That plus safety of course.

[austinjames]

Originally Posted by Brokinarrow

Alrighty, good on ya. Now the issue I have is that SOME people don't let their kids touch a steering wheel till they are in driver's ed. Definitely think that parents should try their hardest to get their kids behind some sort of steering wheel from a fairly early age.

Anyway, this whole thing really boils down to the parent's choice. Like I said, as long as the kids aren't GIVEN a vehicle outright, as long as their made to understand that they have to work for that privilege, that's the important part. That plus safety of course.

I agree 100%

[Zhawk]

Guys, believe me when I say that noone is more concerned about their children's safety than I am. If she gets this truck or one like it, it won't be the first or even second vehicle they drive.
Right now, we have a 2000 Bonneville and a 99 Silverado that we are teaching her in, just like we did her brother. She wouldn't start driving the truck until we knew she could and would drive safely.
But, I am not about to wrap her in bubblewrap. I plan on giving her ALL of the tools and knowledge that I can to help her as she grows up.
I'd rather her learn to drive defensively and intelligently than to do what a lot of people seem to do nowadays, expect the car to get them out of trouble.

[SIM Curly]

I think they are just pointing out that for that price you could easily find a safer vehicle because accidents do happen.

[With envy]

Tammy, Mag & I think the world of your daughter. She's a good kid, and I'm not going to weigh in on whether or not you should get it for her. I don't want try to influence your decision either way. Because the next time I see her, I don't want her thinking we had any sway in how you decided. Knowing her, I'll bet she's got her hopes up.
We've been wrestling with getting our 16-year old a car, but only out of necessity. He's going to college, and with us both working, no public transportation, no one to ride with, he needs to get his license and drive himself.
I always vowed I'd never buy my kid a car. Because my parents didn't buy me one, and it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I had to work to earn my money. I had to buy something I could afford. (1969 Camaro- $350)
It barely was running when I got it, so I had to learn to fix it myself. I had to pay for my own insurance, tabs, gas & parts (and parts, and parts...) What I got out of it, would last me a lifetime. Sad to say the Camaro wouldn't.:(
The problem I have with my son is more a symptom of his instant gratification generation. He hasn't had any interest in driving like we did. His whole world is in that damn little box. So I pretty much know he'll never appreciate anything we get him, or appreciate what it took for us to get it. But we have to take advantage of this opportunity for him to go to college. We always want our kids to do better than we did. And I often think he'll get the advantages the college education that I could never afford when I was that age, but he will lack so much in the life skills that I gained the hard way.

[Zhawk]

Originally Posted by With envy

Tammy, Mag & I think the world of your daughter. She's a good kid, and I'm not going to weigh in on whether or not you should get it for her. I don't want try to influence your decision either way. Because the next time I see her, I don't want her thinking we had any sway in how you decided. Knowing her, I'll bet she's got her hopes up.
We've been wrestling with getting our 16-year old a car, but only out of necessity. He's going to college, and with us both working, no public transportation, no one to ride with, he needs to get his license and drive himself.
I always vowed I'd never buy my kid a car. Because my parents didn't buy me one, and it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I had to work to earn my money. I had to buy something I could afford. (1969 Camaro- $350)
It barely was running when I got it, so I had to learn to fix it myself. I had to pay for my own insurance, tabs, gas & parts (and parts, and parts...) What I got out of it, would last me a lifetime. Sad to say the Camaro wouldn't.:(
The problem I have with my son is more a symptom of his instant gratification generation. He hasn't had any interest in driving like we did. His whole world is in that damn little box. So I pretty much know he'll never appreciate anything we get him, or appreciate what it took for us to get it. But we have to take advantage of this opportunity for him to go to college. We always want our kids to do better than we did. And I often think he'll get the advantages the college education that I could never afford when I was that age, but he will lack so much in the life skills that I gained the hard way.

She knows that this may not happen for a while, if at all. It all depends on whether we can find a deal and a truck we all like. Plus, some other things in our life. Since we are starting looking now, we have plenty of time to find something. It's no rush.
Also, as we have stated, we aren't just buying a truck and handing it to her. She's going to owe us half the purchase price. Plus, she's going to have to be elbow deep in any maintenance or restoration of it. She's been involved in working on most of the vehicles we've had so, I doubt that will be an issue.

I know that our kids haven't gone through anywhere near the crap that Tammy and I have and I thank God that they haven't. There's limits to what I am willing to make my family deal with.

Hopefully, you all can realize that we are trying to raise our kids responsibly and even if it isn't exactly how you would do it, you can give us the benefit of a doubt and trust that we do have some decent judgement.

One last note; about vehicle safety. I know my daughter and even if I went out and made sure she had the safest vehicle in the world, I know that once she reached adulthood, she would go after a truck like this. By going this route, I can ensure it is built up to be as safe and reliable as it can be.
She's going to learn how to drive front-wheel, rear-wheel, and four-wheel drives. I'll teach her to drive small cars, large cars, trucks, whatever and how to deal with the different sizes and peculiarities of different vehicles. She's going to understand how to deal with vehicles with or without power steering and brakes.

[Iroczlover]

Gary, Zhawk is Dan & UNCLE scott is weighing in on this alot as well.


OK when we started to look for vehicles for Mike, Our insurance agent said go 1976 or older because if you bought a 16yr old a car or allowed them to drive, then the insurance cost would be rated on the newest vehicle on the place, at that time it would of been dans corvette now it will be athena but if we went out & got an older vehicle then they would just go on that. so Mike if he gets his license would only have to pay $50 a month for insurance on this truck. same thing for annie.

Dan & I have been over this many times, going back & forth over this. out of our two kids annie is more likely to go out & work on the vehicles than mike, (for the most part) annie is always putting her self out there. Heck at the next show we are at, ask her about her going rate for cleaning your car during show hours lol.

[With envy]

Yeah, I figured that out when he replied to my post. I was just replying to your original message. I just glossed over the last two pages because the comments were getting a little too snippy for me. I just went back and read some of the posters and realized Annie was here! Hi Annie!


And double word points to Dan for using genuflecting! That'll send non-Catholics running for their dictionaries!