New Car for kid

[Bumble.Bee]

BUY HIM A 2SS. He is not a girl. And he will also be made fun of at school.

[stray bullitt]

There was a lad at our school, back in 1977, who was presented with a brand new Triumph TR7 on passing his driving test at 17, by his parents. This was a modest (by todays standards) 2 liitre, 105bhp, rear driive car, but he was the coolest kid in school for 6 or 7 months........ Sadly, he never lived to go to university, after flipping the car onto its roof.

[mgaspari]

Originally Posted by heRS

Thank you for your service and dedication. It's obvious you love your son. However, you're the one who asked for feedback so don't get all huffy because some people are actually giving you their honest and unedited opinion.
I just hope you don't get "the visit" from a couple of LEOs that your son failed to negotiate a turn at 90 and....

why would you even put that.. not even something to joke about.


Anyway, im 17, got my car last year and i am more than happy with the 2lt.

[Johny_RS]

Hey all that advice about a young kid with a Camaro is true I'm 18 I bought my car by my self with a lil help of dad (he knew the owner of the dealership I got a discount )..anyways my buddy has a 2011 2SS his 17 and a pretty chill person but when his friends tell hem to show off he goes crazy he almost crash for spending then he almost ran over a student on a parking lot showing off. I drive a 2010 RS so I'm not really crazy for power or showing off but the msg here is you can't trust a young person with a fast car.

[DRitchie]

I had a Camaro in high school, I don't think it was a good idea, and no way would I buy such a car for my teenage driver. At that age they believe that they are invincible and will do some monumentally stupid things to demonstrate.

I do not understand, even for a minute, the mindset of any parent who would put their kids behind the wheel of such a horsepower beast....it's like handing them a loaded gun and saying "be careful pulling the trigger".

To the original poster, apologies for coming off so harsh but I have seen four news stories in my area so far this year about teenage drivers getting killed in accidents involving Camaros, Challengers, and Mustangs.....

[Envy]

Another great example of a parent buying their kids STUFF to make up for the guilt of being an absentee parent. No matter how much money you spend...you'll never be able to make up for that time you didn't spend with him...so by all means buy your kid the car that he's more likely to die in and prove what a great Dad you are. I know that sounds harsh...but a rolling blind spot is dangerous...were any of those other cars you let him drive so visually impaired?

And look at the big picture here...isn't his graduation a much more important milestone than turning 16? Because turning 16 is a given and not something he achieved or earned...but graduating HS is very important and the dropout rate among boys in their junior and senior years is creeping higher and higher.

[NorCalStorm]

im 18 and got my mustang at 16. I have one speeding ticket for 77 in a 65. I did not have a job at the time so I was told I had to get one and pay back every cent or the car would be taken away and I would have to buy one on my own and pay for registration, insurance, gas, etc. So I paid her back for every cent. Not every kid is going to try to make a turn at 90 mph like in that picture above. Ive never gone over 90 mph and ive never been in an accident. however, my best friend has a toyota tacoma (a compact truck if you didnt know) and i have seen him push it to 108... another one of my friends rolled a 199somehting Jimmy because he was going 70 around a corner in a 45 zone. everybody that is saying he will only be reckless if you get him a camaro is either being ignorant or are extremely naive. It all depends on your kid, if he is reckless and crazy, he will be reckless and crazy no matter what car he has, his chances may be higher with a camaro though. however if you believe you trust him to be careful and you trust him to be responsible, then get him whatever car you want to get him. but just know that he will experiment with it like i have experimented with my mustang, but trust him to stop at 45 or 50 instead of 85 or 90... the decision is all yours.

i agree with the above post about graduation and the camaro might be a good graduation present however i also think the above post is completey idiotic and stupid because she is implying if you get your son a camaro he will drop out of high school because the drop out rate is getting higher and because its getting higher that means your son is obviously going drop out of high school and go kill someone with his camaro.. thats bulls***... he can do the same damage with a 95 accord that he could do with a camaro...

[Envy]

Originally Posted by NorCalStorm

i agree with the above post about graduation and the camaro might be a good graduation present however i also think the above post is completey idiotic and stupid because she is implying if you get your son a camaro he will drop out of high school because the drop out rate is getting higher and because its getting higher that means your son is obviously going drop out of high school and go kill someone with his camaro.. thats bulls***... he can do the same damage with a 95 accord that he could do with a camaro...

I didn't say or imply that at all. Did you pass you're reading for comprehension class??? What I said was giving him an incentive to finish HS was a good idea and then rewarding him for that achieved goal was even better...and anything else you said I was implying is absurd...lol

Clearly you're not this type...but I've had the displeasure of watching several bright straight A students get to their senior year and drop out of school for no reason other than they had no interest in going to college so why finish HS? And it had NOTHING to do with the car they drove. And check the statistics if you don't believe me...a new drivers chances of being killed in a car with over 200 hp are astronomically higher than those who aren't...period.

[mgaspari]

Originally Posted by Envy

Another great example of a parent buying their kids STUFF to make up for the guilt of being an absentee parent. No matter how much money you spend...you'll never be able to make up for that time you didn't spend with him...so by all means buy your kid the car that he's more likely to die in and prove what a great Dad you are. I know that sounds harsh...but a rolling blind spot is dangerous...were any of those other cars you let him drive so visually impaired?

And look at the big picture here...isn't his graduation a much more important milestone than turning 16? Because turning 16 is a given and not something he achieved or earned...but graduating HS is very important and the dropout rate among boys in their junior and senior years is creeping higher and higher.

[queenz700xx]

well if you had the eye for it also go for the SS. do it the right way the first time and dont look back. as long as you trust him

[jd10013]

Originally Posted by Envy

And check the statistics if you don't believe me...a new drivers chances of being killed in a car with over 200 hp are astronomically higher than those who aren't...period.

you don't even have to check statistics, just look at insurance rates.

[2012-1822]

Originally Posted by S3XPanther

THIS!

The amount of jealousy in this thread is ridiculous. If the guy has money, knows that his kid is responsible, and is willing to make his son happy, why shouldn't he buy him an SS?

Some of you guys think that just because you were irresponsible at your age that all kids don't know jack $hit about handling (moderately) high hp cars (in reality, 400hp is nothing special). Btw, did you guys see that video of the Pedderized 1LE being driven by a high school kid, setting faster times than a ZL1? Take a look.

Op, if you know your son is more than capable of handling the car, obviously get him the SS.

Wow you missed the point and my other post

I'm certainly not calling you an idiot, this is me resisting the strong urge to do so:frusty.:... .. ....:suic ide:.

[Thrillz]

For the ops reading pleasure http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66703

[S3XPanther]

Originally Posted by 2012-1822

Wow you missed the point and my other post

I'm certainly not calling you an idiot, this is me resisting the strong urge to do so:frusty.:... .. ....:suic ide:.

Couple of things. First of all, my post was perfectly in line with yours. Your point was that every kid starts learning how to drive at a different age, and that we obviously didn't know how well the Op taught his kid how to drive. He could be more than able to handle a new SS. That's where I picked up in my post. The jealousy part was not related to your post; it was in regard to all the people claiming that they had to "earn" their car and how they started out with beaters. This is where I disagreed.

The first few posts in this thread made perfect sense, claiming that only the op knew whether or not his son was capable of respecting a new SS. Then it turned into bashing. I know the Op wanted feedback, but when people say things like "I would never buy a 16 year old such a powerful car" you're just displaying your ignorance (and idk, maybe a little jealousy because you weren't afforded a new car at that age). However, maybe I should've articulated that this should be purely on a case by case basis a little better. Do I think such a car is suitable for every teenager? Of course not. But, if the statement about being able to handle his 700hp has any truth to it, then his kid should be fine at 400hp. Of course only the Op can judge whether his son can handle AND respect 400hp. Not all teenagers are so irresponsible and influenced by peer pressure as some in this thread have claimed. Again, only the Op would know this about his son. So to make the call that the Op's son shouldn't get the car based on age alone is stupid.

In addition, it's not like he's buying his son a 700hp lambo. The SS is a relatively tame car. Not to mention a safe car, based on crash standards of course. Definitely a much safer car than most beaters. But again, everyone is entitled to their opinion. So you guys can keep calling me an idiot (or hinting at it) or whatever, but that's my opinion. As far as it being common sense, that's subjective. To me common sense in this case is knowing your son well enough to know whether or not he can handle such a car. However, grouping one 16 year old's abilities with other 16 year olds' abilities is just taking the easy, ignorant route out. But again, say what you will. It's ok, I have thick skin.