Bought a car for my daughter

DavidI · 08-05-2009, 03:38 PM

I was in the market to buy a used Mini Cooper for my 17 year-old daughter, who has a 4.7 GPA. After a whole lot of research and shopping, the prices for my area are about $11000-14000. My daughter told my wife and I that she prefers a 4 door car.

The research started all over again. I found that late model Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus were within the price range. We found a 2001 Mercedes E320 fully loaded for sale for $10,000. After Kelly Blue Book research, I met with the owners and haggled it down to $9500.

She is now the "partial" proud owner of the car (I have to be able to take the car away for behavior issues if needed). It is all hers next year.

Thanks for the help, David

Spede · 08-05-2009, 03:44 PM

4.7?! Way to go with the overachiever!

DavidI · 08-05-2009, 05:55 PM

Long time no talk Steve!

Let me know when you are in the area and we'll grab lunch, David

Schumi · 08-05-2009, 06:22 PM

Congrats on the purchase, I bet she's happy...

but I gotta ask- you bought her a car without her being part of the car buying process? Son or daughter, I would think it would be semi-important, even if she knows nothing about cars, to at least be a part of it. When I was that age if my parents showed up with a new car that they had just bought me without me knowing it (this would never had happened) - even if it was a new Porsche Turbo - I would be pretty upset that they didn't involved me in the buying of a car meant for me.

Maybe you just know your daughter really, really well. Either that or she could car less what she is driving (which, even for 17 y.o. girls, blows my mind...)

Arizona_928 · 08-05-2009, 06:41 PM

4.7 dang. I have a 2.7, but i have another two years to go. I can't wait for school to start, no more Pelican. haha

Spede · 08-05-2009, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidI

Long time no talk Steve!

Let me know when you are in the area and we'll grab lunch, David

Sounds like a plan... we'll have to rope Chad in too.

HardDrive · 08-06-2009, 12:07 AM

If it has been maintained well, sounds like a wise choice. Beautiful cars.

onewhippedpuppy · 08-06-2009, 04:26 AM

Nice cars, but I hate the thought of it being beat up in a high school parking lot. Not to mention your daughter someday being responsible for maintenance on an aging Mercedes.

Though I'm probably not one to talk, I dream of restoring a car with my son for him to drive when he hits his teen years (currently 5).

NICKG · 08-06-2009, 04:51 AM

i thought a 4.0 was perfect....how can you get a 4.7 gpa?

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

Honors classes. Now with weighted GPAs. Doesn't make sense to me.

onewhippedpuppy · 08-06-2009, 05:07 AM

I wish they had that when I was in school. It always pissed me off to see someone that I knew was dumb as a brick being rewarded for their 4.0 GPA. Never mind the fact that they took challenging classes like pottery and everything offered in PE. Meanwhile I'm getting A and B grades in college prep classes, but no scholarship for me!

vash · vash's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by NICKG

i thought a 4.0 was perfect....how can you get a 4.7 gpa?

doenst make sense to me at all. glad i am done with all of that...i hate that they moved "perfect" that much further for me..

nice car! if i had a kid, he/she would get a 70's muscle car. back seat removed.

m21sniper · 08-06-2009, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidI

I was in the market to buy a used Mini Cooper for my 17 year-old daughter, who has a 4.7 GPA. After a whole lot of research and shopping, the prices for my area are about $11000-14000. My daughter told my wife and I that she prefers a 4 door car.

The research started all over again. I found that late model Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus were within the price range. We found a 2001 Mercedes E320 fully loaded for sale for $10,000. After Kelly Blue Book research, I met with the owners and haggled it down to $9500.

She is now the "partial" proud owner of the car (I have to be able to take the car away for behavior issues if needed). It is all hers next year.

Thanks for the help, David

Jeez my first car was a VW rabbit.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

Unless you are in a pretty rich school district you do know that you have successfully labeled you daugther as a spoiled rich kid.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

Unless you are in a pretty rich school district you do know that you have successfully labeled you daugther as a spoiled rich kid.

McLovin · 08-06-2009, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NICKG

i thought a 4.0 was perfect....how can you get a 4.7 gpa?

In an "honors" class an A is counted as 5.0.

5.0 is the new 4.0.

McLovin · 08-06-2009, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Unless you are in a pretty rich school district you do know that you have successfully labeled you daugther as a spoiled rich kid.

In So. Cal. any 90's era Mercedes sedan will go unnoticed when being driven by a 17 year old. Anyone who would notice would just assume it was a hand me down from the parents, which makes good economic sense.

Arizona_928 · 08-06-2009, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McLovin

In an "honors" class an A is counted as 5.0.

5.0 is the new 4.0.

But that's if you get accepted into honors...

I think it's BS, because if you give every kid a chance to do honors frosh year everyone would be just about the same... Because frosh year they just review everything you learned in elementary school and middle. Instead the AP classes they give new material since day one. To me it's also kinda waste of time as well, because you can take all AP/Honors classes, and that's what gets into a state university. But for the kid with a 3.0 he would do CC for freshman year for cheap, transfer to a state university, and be at the exact same place as the Honors kid.

But that's of course if you don't throw money into the mix, ie. private colleges.

My .02$

Brillo · Brillo's Garage

Mini does have a three door model called the Clubman. Although it's only been in the US since last year so probably not many used ones. My wife has one for her daily driver.

DavidI · 08-06-2009, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schumi

Congrats on the purchase, I bet she's happy...

but I gotta ask- you bought her a car without her being part of the car buying process? Son or daughter, I would think it would be semi-important, even if she knows nothing about cars, to at least be a part of it. When I was that age if my parents showed up with a new car that they had just bought me without me knowing it (this would never had happened) - even if it was a new Porsche Turbo - I would be pretty upset that they didn't involved me in the buying of a car meant for me.

Maybe you just know your daughter really, really well. Either that or she could car less what she is driving (which, even for 17 y.o. girls, blows my mind...)

My daughter has no clue about cars. I did not take her because she would have had difficulty keeping her emotions contained. I needed to make a logical decision and leverage the price with the seller.

She is a very brilliant, beautiful young lady (don't ask for pix!) and works her butt of in school. I have a friend at work who recently lost his son in a traffic accident. Safety is my number one priority, followed by reliability. The Merc fits the bill.

As far as affluence goes, it will be one of several Mercs, BMWs, and Lexus' in the high school parking lot. No big deal at all.

Life is good my friends........David