370z new owner

mattkim85

hey
im not dwsq but i own a 370z.
IMHO, no i dont think its the right decision.
especially because the car is powerful AND its a rear wheel drive.
without knowledge of having to control the car , say in wet weather,
its very easy to lose control of the car since its a rwd.
He should be ALOT better off with a FWD or even better yet AWD.
dont show this post to your son. he might start flaming on me

epod86

I agree. As a 22yr old out of college, high horse RWD can be a lot of car for a starting ride. Everyone will be very tempted to 'let her go' at some point, but a young driver won't have the experience to react properly. My grandfather use to take his girls to the snow-dump parking lot and make them drive through snow drifts so that they had experience with it. My dad took out to some roads by the lake and let me pound through the gears. He also use to tell me to do 'silly' stuff, like gun it from a light in wet weather so I would have experience with fish-tailing. He knew the circumstances and was making the decisions to be 'reckless' so that I didn't have to but would still experience a car on the edge of the performance envelope.

With a high performance car, and a young male driver, everything is a risk assessment. Age, experience, RWD, sportiness of car, safety features, these all go towards higher insurance premiums because there is a higher probability that the policy will have to pay out. They are price gouging you but the trend is none the less valid. That said, I took my test with 12hrs driving experience because my parents knew I was ready. My dad traded a boat sedan for a sport coupe with a manual because he knew I was ready.

The decision is yours. My recommendation would be to test drive the car, then think about the car, your son, and what the two together would mean. Then maybe I would see if you can get an overnight test drive, and take him for a test drive in it, and explain your concerns. Communication is key, right?

inTgr8r

dwsq - Congrats on the new ride

inTgr8r

I agree with the posts above....

IMO, your son may be mature,
but that has nothing to do with having the neccessary skills for a high performance car like this.

Sorry to be blunt, but if you value your sons life, buy something more conservative for him to learn on.

dwsq

The question is should a 16 Year old be allowed to drive one or own it. Well my take is heck yeah. If you have the means to buy your 16 year old a 370z then do it.
What would be the difference in buying them a ford focus or something else, the dumbest, fastest drivers on the road are the ones in the little ***t boxes we all see running around.
I am 42 and grew up with GTO's, Chevelles, Corvettes and I always got told to much power, etc... buy the 16 year old the car and get them some advanced driving lessons. Teach a young adult some responsibility, give it to them and see what happens, I have yet to read of an accident in my area with thousands of drivers daily with some young adult in a sports car, nope always the econo box loaded with friends and no appreciation for anything or anyone.
I plan on giving this car I just bought to my Daughter when she turns 16, she is 12 now, by then she will have grown up driving tractors, ATV's, heck she even drives my Yukon around the property now. She will have complete trust in me that I trust her judgement..

Last point, with the safety features in this car and only two seats they aren't going to be carting to many friends around. You give a 16 Year old a car like this and they will worship it, like we old guys would had our dads given us a Mustang or a Camaro back in the day..

Let the debate begin or not.

Thanks,
D

mattkim85

lol that sounds more like let him learn the hard way

FairmanZ

Tell us if you still feel the same in 4 years. Imagine your daughter getting into a car with her jock boy friend who's parents just gave him a brand new 370z as his first car.

I'm 46 and have a teenage son who drives. While I do trust him and can afford to buy him a new car, I'm from the school of thought that any kid needs to earn his or her stripes. My first car was a 60's muscle car, but it was used piece of junk that I worked to buy with my own money.

subterfuge242

Wow - I just cannot wrap my head around a 16 year old being given a 330 hp+ sports car. The two main reasons being; at that age you simply do not have the requisite road experience inorder to handle a performance car. Two, there is something to be said, as alot of us "older guys" can attest to, for earning your own set of wheels. Especially something you will cherish like the Z. Academic accomplishment and emotional maturity do not equate to mature driving skills and a healthy appreciatiion for the machine you are piloting

I'm 35 now but had a 1980 Oldsmobile Cutlass that handled like a tank when I was 16 or so. Honestly, I'm sure I would of wrapped myself around a tree a couple of times if I had access to that kind of power and handling at that age. It does feel good to know that the 370Z I will soon be purchasing will be due to of my own success and acheivements, plus I probably won't wreck it in the first month.

Just my 2 cents. Cheers.

LenZToy

+1 - I couldn't say it better. I'm 47 and have 3 teenagers. My first car was a 1968 Chevelle (got it in '78 or '79 rust and all). I worked hard for it and it meant a ton to me to know that I bought it myself and fixed it up the best I could as a 16 / 17 year old.

dwsq

Yep heard it all before,
Kids today are smarter and more educated then we give them credit for, love the line of I had to earn mine, fix mine, buy mine, so what, your kid will look back and remember what? that you walked up the hill each way to school when you were young through six feet of snow barefoot. Teach em the right way and they will do right by you as parents, Far as my daughter getting in a car with a 16 year old boy with a new 370z, not likely as they in there minimum wage jobs couldn't earn it, fix it or be able to buy it...

D

shumby

^^^^ I don't get what you are trying to say

__________________
Originally Posted by SAM@GTM
Engine detonation is not normal and it should never never happen, and whoever told that need to do something else for living .
Sam

LenZToy

I'm unclear what your point is;however, I'm proud of my children and they do "right by me". I guess what I'm saying is I've spoiled them a bit...i.e., bought them cars. My hope is my kids will look back and appreciate hard work and what that can do for them and their future families.

dwsq

Didn't really have a point, just speaking out loud, or should I say writing, I am pretty much a liberal guy and can't stand when adults say kids should earn everything. Because when it comes to cars, thats a hobby we should get all young adults into so they can save all these classic cars....from the scrap heap...

So no real point..

D