Spoiled Teens - Am I Just Getting Old?

[Embraer]

This is my first car (still have it). It was given to my dad in the 80's as payment when one of his clients couldn't pay up. The car (or shell of it) sat on our property for 15 years, just growing trees around it. When I was 12, I asked my dad if I could work on it. His response: If you can make it drivable, on your own, with your own money, on your own time....it's yours. So yes, my dad "gave me" my first car, hahaha.

Anyway, after saving every penny for 5 years, luckily being able to buy 2 complete parts cars for $500, getting a job at a paint supply place when I was 15 so that I could mix my own paint (I was never paid in money...I was paid in paint and materials) and learn the tools of the trade, this is what I drove my senior year in high school....

BTW: I probably have $1800 of actual cash invested in this car....the rest was broken knuckles and sweat



Circa 1994:





Circa 2000 (My senior year of HS):

[Az911]

Yes, you are getting to be an old man. If the parents can afford the car and the kids are not getting in trouble why do you care? It seems like the only people that resent kids for having something nice are jealous or know it alls that think they can raise kids better.

[kaisen]

I think there's more to it. I've helped a lot of friends, relatives, and neighbors select cars for their kids. Invariably, safety is a concern. Parents are worried about accidents so airbags, ABS, 4wd/awd, etc are important, and some of the 'older' cars don't have them. But it goes further. Parents are also focused on reliability. It is just too dangerous to be broken down somewhere. Want your 16 year old daughter in a mall parking lot with a car that won't start?

Around here, parents start out telling the kids they're getting a cheap beater. But then they start seeing what $2000 buys and quickly change their tune. Of course, it's easier to make $300 payments than shelling out $10K cash, so they usually start justifying a new car for themselves and give their kids their 'old' 2 year old still-reliable (still-making-payments) car.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by RWebb

the real problem is that those kids will have a hard time in later life from being spoiled

I agree, and this goes for all the kids younger than high schoolers' if this economy continues it's free fall. I know of very few of my friend's or familes kids who don't get all the "necessities" as soon as they come out; spendy shoes and clothes, expensive phone, the playstation, spring break vacations, yadda yadda yadda. I gotta figure that the party will end and some of these kids won't be able to handle the fallout.
Old farts like me (and a lot of you'se guys) went to work early in our teens to join the consumer parade; yeah, I was jealous of the kids with merchandise that I or the parents couldn't/wouldn't afford, but I have what I need now, and I live well below my means. I'm not cheap, just know what I want, and pay as I go to get it.

(but there will always be kids who have filthy rich parents - fact of life)

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Embraer

Nice car. TR250?

[Embraer]

Thanks! it's a TR4......gratuitous video:

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by kaisen

I think there's more to it. I've helped a lot of friends, relatives, and neighbors select cars for their kids. Invariably, safety is a concern. Parents are worried about accidents so airbags, ABS, 4wd/awd, etc are important, and some of the 'older' cars don't have them. But it goes further. Parents are also focused on reliability. It is just too dangerous to be broken down somewhere. Want your 16 year old daughter in a mall parking lot with a car that won't start?

There are plenty of $2000 cars with all the reliability and safety of the late models on the lots. There is also Cel phones, and AAA today something we did not have as kids.

Around here, parents start out telling the kids they're getting a cheap beater. But then they start seeing what $2000 buys and quickly change their tune. Of course, it's easier to make $300 payments than shelling out $10K cash, so they usually start justifying a new car for themselves and give their kids their 'old' 2 year old still-reliable (still-making-payments) car.

My sons $500 E30 has proven more dependable than my 2005 Audi A6.


I feel its a rite to passage for a kid to start off in what he/she can afford and work their way up in life. Starting with a 20K+ car teaches them nothing about working your way up in life.

I have a little brother that got a newer car for a first car, dad bought it for him, the two older brothers had to buy their first cars, not the baby. He is a financial mess today, he wants wants wants and does not want to wait until he can afford. He never had to wait growing up so why now? He is a spoiled brat that is a financial drain on my parents to this day.

I'll be damned if my son thinks everything is owed to him and he should have the best now. If he wants nice things he better be ready to work hard for them, I am not buying it for him.

[911Rob]

Probably one of the best things I've EVER done in my entire life, apart from marrying my wife would be to have sent my kids to a private school, fwiw.

AND if I could afford it, my kids would drive whatever they wanted. As it turns out, I have bought each of them a vehicle upon getting their licenses, but mostly beaters

Life is meant to be enjoyed, to the fullest. When you look at someone or something and condone it, you separate yourself from it. Be happy for the little munchkins, if only we knew back then how easy it really is?

My kids get a college fund AFTER they've worked in the chosen field for 1 year.

[Zeke]

You guys should visit a high school in Newport Beach, Huntington Beach (OC) etc. I've even seen kids in restored '57 Chevy's. Those cost more than almost anything mentioned here.

[johnco]

I had to hitchhike to and from high school almost every day rain or shine the entire 4 years. all I got from my parents was a "pack yer ***** and get out" when I was 15. couldn't afford to eat much less own a car at the time. Had a couple cars during my 3 attempts at college but again it was either gas or food. Of course they bought my Fiat Spyder for my brother to drive for his brief high school adventure. just couldn't have him walking or thumbing a ride. oh noooo.

[ruf-porsche]

Originally Posted by milt

You guys should visit a high school in Newport Beach, Huntington Beach (OC) etc. I've even seen kids in restored '57 Chevy's. Those cost more than almost anything mentioned here.

Maybe it was a father and kid restoration. How many kids really want a 57 Chevy compare to how many daddies want to relive their youth. Most kids like the rice burners, not unless they were brought up on German cars.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by ruf-porsche

Maybe it was a father and kid restoration. How many kids really want a 57 Chevy compare to how many daddies want to relive their youth. Most kids like the rice burners, not unless they were brought up on German cars.

Sorry, you don't get it. These are the same kids being talked about in thread. They can't change a tire. I've been at the hamburger stand at the same time and listened in. Besides, upper class white kids in the OC wouldn't be caught seen in a ricer.

Brought up on German cars? You bet, mostly Mercedes. So, driving an old American classic serves all the purposes for them. I'm not saying that many do, but when I see 3 at a time, I know it's a popular ambition.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Az911

Yes, you are getting to be an old man. If the parents can afford the car and the kids are not getting in trouble why do you care? It seems like the only people that resent kids for having something nice are jealous or know it alls that think they can raise kids better.

Your kid drives a new car, huh?

Considering how the kid was driving the Z06, if he's not in trouble yet, he's gonna be. The only reason I survived high school was that nothing I drove was fast enough to kill me.

[azasadny]

My son drives a 2002 Ford Focus ZX3 with 173k miles on it. Nice looking car that the previous owner (my coworker) took great care of. Dan pays for gas, does maintenance on it. Dan gets excellent grades, earns gas money by mowing lawns, detailing cars, etc... and he's in an honors program at high school and he attends a local community college and earns high school credits as well. He's never caused us any trouble and he knows that there is PL/PD insurance on his car, so if he wrecks it, it's gone...

[Hugh R]

My first was a rotted out 1959 Chevy Bel Aire for $45 (my money). That was in 1970. Sold it a year later for $75! Bought my daughter a one year old Toyota Echo when she turned 16 and my son a 1972 Olds Cutlass with a small block when he turned 16. Both of them I paid about $6K each.

[pwd72s]

No car during high school. My parents, wisely, didn't see the need since we lived 6 blocks from the high school. Rain or shine...I walked. Oh....the humility of it all!

[Heel n Toe]

Embraer, that TR4 is absolutely beautiful... that is quite an accomplishment to have built that thing up from such humble beginnings. Do you still have it? Post some more pix if you have 'em.

I remember the first time I ever saw one... our 7th grade Astronomy class went on a day trip to Chapel Hill to visit their planetarium and I think I saw 3 or 4 of them that day and thought they were very cool.

I did a lot of wet sanding and priming on a '51 Ford pickup my dad bought to haul hay for my sister's horses, etc. and he paid to have it painted black... that was my ride in h.s. ...it was okay to have the semi-independence, but it was nothing really fun to drive like your TR4.

My two sons each got a car from their grandpa on their mom's side about the time they got their license... the oldest got grandma's '84 LTD II 6 cylinder and the youngest got a '93 Corolla off the not-quite-good-enough-for-the-used-lot that someone had traded in at the local Nissan dealership. Both cars worked out pretty well. They each paid for their own gas and about 90% of the insurance.

Matt, you can get killed in any old clunker that can hit 50, but I hear ya on the Z06... the temptation is just too strong for a teenage boy to see what 140 MPH feels like.

But I basically agree with you totally... I've heard the best first car for a teenager is something "big and slow."

[azasadny]

I saw a '74 911 Targa when I was in 5th grade and I told my buddies that I'd own that car some day.... Fast forward to 2002 and I bought the car and I love every drive I take in it. Not my 1st car, but my 1st "dream car"...

[Embraer]

Thanks for the kind words! It was certainly a project, and I definitely learned a priceless amount of knowledge during the work on it. I still have the car, and I'll never-ever sell it. I know too many older guys who say "man, I wish I would have kept my car." Since 1999, I've put about 60K miles on it

Some pics....

Here's parked at high school during senior year, 2000 (I was always the first or second guy at school everyday. The Monte Carlo parked next to me was one of my buds)





Getting ready to pick up my prom date for senior year...2000





my date for my prom....i had to take the German foreign exchange student...





Here's me in college...home for summer break...2002





Here's my Jack Olsen self portrait at the start of my engine swap (done in March 2007)






Here's after the engine swap....





and Fall 2008.....

[Heel n Toe]

You're smart to know what you've got and resolve to keep it... you won't regret it.

Thanks for posting more photos... beautiful car.

Not as beautiful as your prom date, though... all of a sudden, the TR4 is in second place.