Hopped up GTI 1.8 T for 16 year old first car. would You?
 

My buddy is so proud of the car he just bought for his son. It is a quick little GTI. I tell him is nuckin futz, no way in gods green earth would I put that in the hands of a 16 year old kid .
He says his boy is responsible, good kid etc. Still scares me, I am pleading with him not to give it to him yet. They also have a beat up old caravan , that should be his first car, at least for 6 months or so ... Boost comes on hard. It pulls really well, I find myself acting irresponsible every time I get in it .
What says you ?

Totally agree. Get the boy a 240 or 300D.

Give him the car but leave the waste-gate open permanently for now.

You should start a betting pool on the kid's first ticket and first accident.

Caravan all the way!

And a bumper sticker that says IF THIS VAN IS ROCKIN', DON'T BOTHER KNOCKIN'

Oldest son got a 300D for his first car (he's 22 and loves the car). Younger son just got a Golf TDI for his first car. Both gifts from my father as he wound down on his driving days (now 92 and recently stopped driving).

My first was a 56 beetle which was also a gift from my dad (it didn't run at the time). He bought it new in 56' and I still have it.

Caravan all the way!

e

To save the boy from a nasty accident I think you should buy the car from his dad. Just add it to your collection.

Sounds like a fun car.

Needs to think less about himself and more about his kid. Not a good idea - also because it isn't a very crash worthy vehicle IMHO. I'd like to see him in something bigger and slower.

That said, tell us more about the car. What year is it and how has it been hopped up?

I do like the above idea of de-tuning it. Maybe you can talk him into that.

G

My son used to borrow my 914 V8 when he was 16. Depends on the kid. I'm sure he scared some of his buddies with it but I'm also sure he scared them with the beat-up pickup truck he owned then too.

Sounds about like buying your 16-year-old boy a new Mustang GT or Camaro Z28 in the 80s. I was a good driver as far as 16-year-old boys went, but I wouldn't even have given myself a car like that. I drove a 320is, which was plenty of fun on the windy roads I grew up driving on, but adequately slow.

Dont worry, it'll have a CEL within minutes.

Or it will end up with a thread like A930 has next to this one.

Every kid will see what the limit is. It is what kids do with everything.

If the kid or one of his buddies is hooning in it and gets killed or maimed, he will never, ever be able to live with himself. If it's his only child, he'll probably eat a bullet.

Think I'm being dramatic? It happens nearly every freaking day here in SoCal, a massive collection of fun cars, people and twisty roads. I'm sorry but anyone who would give a 16 y.o. a powerful sporty car is a freaking idiot. I got in lots of trouble with slow cars in HS, drinking and driving was simply the norm as was fist fighting and trying to get girls naked.

Did parents witness any of this? Of course not. Everyone thinks that their kid is "responsible", (well, maybe not everyone). If his balls have dropped, there is a good chance that he's a normal teenager looking for some fun. Talk your dumb friend out of it. He's not thinking straight. :cool:

Massively stupid idea. I don't care how "good" or "responsible" any kid (especially boy) is, put a girl or two into the frame and the show-off'in is going to happen.
My first car was a VW.... a '64 bug with what, 45 hp?? Couldn't have been a better choice.

I see 16 year old male and what is either a Mk3 or Mk4 GTi and my first thought is that this car will be stanced out as soon as the kid can afford it. The more likely end for that car is to die of oil starvation after the oil pan is ripped off than ever getting wrapped around a tree.

My two cents.

Blank space for sale!*

*(double post)

No way I would give my kids such a car.
A used VW Polo or Opel Corsa or something like that would be more then enough!

Absolutely.

Fricken.

Not.