944 for a kid's first car? - Page 2

callmethewander · callmethewander's Garage

yeah sure

924Sman · 10-02-2007, 07:52 AM

Just read some advise hear and care to comment. Shane....I feel you had the answer prior to posting. You have appeared to give her the benefit of doubt and is a good young lady in your eyes. This suggests she is worthy but is that enough? No. Industrious is another good indicator for you, she sounds willing and able to handle the portion of the finance responsibilities, you knowing she is only PT puts some burden on you, the question is how much are you willing to contribute to make this happen for her. This we cannot answer.

No matter what the car is going to need basic repairs and a few many other makes don't so consider as you do for the financial input, how much time are you willing to spend playing backyard mechanic for her car then base that time against what it takes in time to do the repairs the car will and/or may end up needing. Obviously a well sorted car at purchase can sway your decision one way or another.

In regards to DE events/power....Not going to happen and do not advise it. She must be 18yo. Putting a car on the track whether a DE or race both place hard wear on the car and this young lady is not capable of the added cost, has not even got her DL yet. DE is a good idea just not for a good while.

Power......BS, I see kids die everyday in small low HP cars and in high HP cars, it does not matter. The matter is can the child handle the car under them and none can even handle a Yugo at this age, the more power the quicker accidents can happen but not the rule. Yes HP can help one evade an incident but only those who can utilize it properly. But just because a car is slow means it is safe either. Most of the economy class and sport compacts are absolutely horrible handling cars and lucky to see 150 HP. In sum any power can kill you.

Back to Shane....I can see only one thing to advise and that is to talk to your daughter in detail in this regard then decide. One thing I will add.....she may be a good girl but do consider the "buddies" she will have riding along some day and/or attract( it is a Porsche!), do you trust them too?

GL!

Dal

callmethewander · callmethewander's Garage

that last point is definitely valid, when my daughter had her '44, all her guy friends wanted to drive it, until they found out it was a 5 speed, that knocked out 80% of them while also deflating their "ego"

fliphkd7 · 10-02-2007, 05:20 PM

Alot of people wanted to race when I first got mine, but I never wanted to fix it, so I never competed.
-Can't even tell you how many kids with mustangs ask, "when you gonna race that thing?" I always just reply, "as soon as I see something good enough" and stare at their car

.
-Most kids at my school drive those acura integras. They seem pretty good, or jeep cherokees for suvs. They're tough. My buddy hasn't changed his oil in like 2 years

.

Ozark Lee · 10-02-2007, 05:44 PM

I can't resist this thread. I bought my (then 14 year old daughter) a 944 off of eBay last spring. It needed work but it needed a tad more than I thought so it wasn't ready for her 15th birthday - and her restricted license - in July. The next push was for the first day of school in August which I didn't quite make either.

We did make the second week of school!

The car has some warts on it but she absolutely loves it and it has been an experience for both her and me getting it going again. She refused to let me do anything to the car unless she was in her grubby clothes and wrenching right next to me.

I don't know how tall your daughter is but mine is only about 5' tall and seeing over the hood is a bit of a challenge for her. She "suffers" through it.

Her high school is full of "tuner" Hondas and such but some black guy in one of her classes made some crack like, "There's my home girl, she knows who owns the parking lot."

Since I only carry liability on the car the insurance isn't much worse than anything else I would have put her in and the gas mileage is great. Even with my 40 or so policies my agent really didn't want to discuss a collision policy with a 15 year old driver.

...Lee

diverdan · diverdan's Garage

Ozark Lee:

That's some awesome daughter you have. I've never been able to find women like that. She should be really responsible with car as she will have complete understanding of what it will take to fix it. Furthermore, no collision will make her doubly more careful.

diverdan

OzLeesDaughter · 10-03-2007, 07:32 PM

This is Ozark Lee's daughter. I have to say thanks to diverdan for that wonderful compliment, and to respond to the gentleman who is considering getting your daughter a 944. If you get her a 944 she will love it and it's a great way to spend time with her (especially if she likes cars)! Trust me, not many girls do, I know this because I am the only girl in my auto tech class and sadly for the guys, I know more than all of them (including the teacher on some things). My 944 has been a blast for me and I do not speed so I am not paying off a million tickets right now but I have gotten looks from cops.

~Ozark Lee's Daughter

PhillysMostWntd · 11:47 PM

my 944 was my first car and it was a headache for me as much as i did love the car (still do love the car), just make sure its up to date as far as service, and it has no issues

hoover · 10-06-2007, 01:19 PM

944, first car? I must live in a different world.

diverdan · diverdan's Garage

"Not paying off a million tickets." That brings back memories of my early days of driving first in my 33 Ford 3 window coupe with an Olds mill with three dueces and a year later with an Alfa Giulietta convertible. Both cars caught the cops attention. Was promptly ticketed... three tickets for driving the hot rod around the block. (Some kid had been shooting off firecrackers and the neighborhood busybody had reported it. Cop checking up on it decided that it was my sidepipes.Thrown out in court.) The Guilietta earned me the monicker "Roaring Dan" because to get any kind of pep out of the 1300 cc engine she had to be in the 6-8,000 rpm band and corners were the main challenge in life. Despite being stopped a multitude of times for the noise, quick cornering speeds and "well you looked like you were going to fast," I only had a couple of tickets. I'm sure that the nimbleness and low torqued nature of the Alfa kept me out of court and accident free. Early on I learned about the cheapest and best insurance which is space - - - lots of it between me and other moving objects. That responsibility for the cars upkeep goes a long way to insure safety.
Stay safe.

Diverdan

Dark Skies · 10-08-2007, 01:33 PM

Providing you take the time to look out a good 'un I think the 944 makes an excellent first time car. In fact, I've never driven anything else since I passed my test er ... a long time ago.

I'd advise an autobox - it's no less fun to drive (I've had two) but it is more likely to have been owned by a mature driver and less likely to have been caned and therefore the engine is likely to be in better shape. They're more forgiving to new drivers too. As for longevity - my early 1985 autoshift had 368,000 miles on the clock and didn't have a hint of smoke oil or leaky oil problems. She'd have gone on for another 100,000 miles or so if a drunk driver hadn't stuffed his crappy Ford into it head on. Not being dead I can swear to their robustness in a crisis too.

Of course, if she's planning on cruising with the girls in it the two in the back seat will need to be slim and pretty short.

Tamas Opra · 12-01-2011, 09:50 AM

944's are great,however I would go with a miata as a first car.Easy to maintain,convertible,great on gas and the engine is bulletproof.

Arizona_928 · 12-01-2011, 10:17 AM

I wouldn't. Unless they are going to be doing all the work themselfs. I had kids come out with there fathers when selling my n/a. Flat out abused the car..... Unless your kid is pretty responsible, I wouldn't do it.

honerboys · honerboys's Garage

scwdp911 - i did the same with my 16 year old son - bought the car for $1000 - now have about $22-$2500 in it - the overall experience has been great - we worked on it together and i mean worked as the car needed a bit - now my son loves the car - it drives good - has needed little or no fixes in the last 4 months - gets pretty good gas mileage - and most of all he has a car that has more pizazz than the other kids - all at a cost less that an average accord or corolla - i say go for it

Jrboulder · 12-01-2011, 11:30 AM

I'm giving my cab to my brother as his first car after I dump a couple buckets of money into it. He's pretty excited but I'm really excited to be able to still have a 944 and whatever other P-car I get.

924Sman · 12-01-2011, 11:36 AM

The OP is probably long gone by now and his daughter is 22 or 23 now. Last post until today was in 2007.

Just thought to let you all know and not to expect the OP to reply...

Tervuren · Tervuren's Garage

This thread is really old.

That said, there seem to be two kinds of responses - those that tried it, and those that didn't, and 100% of those that tried had positive results.

I bought my first car, a 944, at 18, and although the cost of owning a car ate into my other activities, as far as choice of car goes, well, I'm still driving 944's eight years later.

honerboys · honerboys's Garage

funny - i never look at the date of these posts - guess i should start - i'm sitting here laughing at myself - always enjoy a good chuckle

Ceenit968 · 12-01-2011, 07:17 PM

Old thread, but still a good topic.

When my daughter turns 16 (still a few years out), I'm hoping they make a streetable tank.

Kids are kids and my first priority is her protection and reliability. Yes, I would have loved an old sports car as my first car, but remembering how I drove back then, combined with all the things that happen even to good kids, the more protection the better.

I'm thinking Volvo or BMW when she turns 16.

rick13 · rick13's Garage

Think Japanese. Toyota in particular. Supra to be specific. They are built like tanks. Straight six, 3 liter is bullet proof. Superior engineering and 2 tons of fun!

Find one and drive it! Buy it, you won't regret it.

Rick