Two new cars in the garage on the same day!

[michal1980]

The Audi was significantly less than the BRZ and has less power, 170hp vs 200hp. He had trouble finding a BRZ for less than $35K, he got the Audi for $27K (which was his budget) because it was the 7th (I think) Audi he has bought from the same salesman.

does not compute

top of the line brz (limited auto tran) -29,590 (2015)

bottom line a3 - 29,900.

and there are plenty of loaded brz on cars.com for ~26k-27k

 

[Wuzup101]

Should have told his uncle to get him a beater at 16 for <$3-4k and then the nice car at 18 or for HS graduation. Nice car either way. Kinda hard to judge if your son is a "responsible driver" before he has his licence (because he is always supervised and much less likely to do anything "risky"). Hopefully he doesn't bang it up too much (but I've never seen a HS student with a perfect car... including me lol).

 

[Insomniator]

lol at responsible driver at 16 years old. Yeah he'll be real responsible driving that with 3 of his HS friends egging him on at 2 in the morning.

 

[JimKiler]

good luck getting a new sienna for that anyways dude. non shitty options its 34k + TTL

Really? What do you need for options besides the Sienna SE version? My wife's last SUV was the most basic model but it still had bluetooth for her phone and everything else that is standard. I do not need leather seats or any of the other fancy stuff.

 

[NutBucket]

lol at responsible driver at 16 years old. Yeah he'll be real responsible driving that with 3 of his HS girlfriends egging him on at 2 in the morning.

Fixed

 

[Zargon]

Really? What do you need for options besides the Sienna SE version? My wife's last SUV was the most basic model but it still had bluetooth for her phone and everything else that is standard. I do not need leather seats or any of the other fancy stuff.

the SE is 35k

its the first one that offers heated seats

you cant even get the heated steering wheel, that's a higher package


even in IL it sucks not having those, especially when spending 30K+

I can only imagine the suck of Minnesota without em

 

[NutBucket]

That's why gloves were invented many centuries ago

 

[jagec]

the SE is 35k

its the first one that offers heated seats

you cant even get the heated steering wheel, that's a higher package


even in IL it sucks not having those, especially when spending 30K+

I can only imagine the suck of Minnesota without em

A heated STEERING WHEEL? Just for a regular minivan, not a luxury car or anything like that? People are getting soft...

You know those heated seats kill your sperm count, right?

Then again, if you're driving a minivan, I suppose that ship has already sailed.

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

dude thats insane. If I had a car like that when I was 16 I would probably be dead right now. My first car was an old honda hatchback with about 80 horses. It was a manual though, I learned the ropes on that baby. And my next car was a manual 4 cylinder chevy s-10. Now the s-10...if it had much more power I would probably be dead now.

Anyways I hope the kid will be ok.

Edit: can you tell your son that you've installed something to monitor and make sure he isnt going too fast? maybe that would help.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Parents let me use a 1987 Chevy Cavalier as my first car at 16. 90hp.

Thing was a rust bucket so there was no concerns about dents/proper maintenance, etc.

Not to be rude, but I give your son no more than 3 months of driving on his own before he gets his first speeding ticket. Then your insurance is going to skyrocket.

I was told if I ever got a ticket I would lose my license. 25 years later and I still have never gotten one.

 

[Midwayman]

You know those heated seats kill your sperm count, right?

That's why I drive with them on during the summer.

 

[SearchMaster]

dude thats insane. If I had a car like that when I was 16 I would probably be dead right now. My first car was an old honda hatchback with about 80 horses. It was a manual though, I learned the ropes on that baby. And my next car was a manual 4 cylinder chevy s-10. Now the s-10...if it had much more power I would probably be dead now.

Anyways I hope the kid will be ok.

Edit: can you tell your son that you've installed something to monitor and make sure he isnt going too fast? maybe that would help.

Yep, we've already told him that's a condition of him driving. But we are actually going to install something and not just say we are. We're also drug testing him as a condition of driving. Our kids have known this for a couple of years now...we're not helicopter parents but we do have rules.

 

[Zargon]

A heated STEERING WHEEL? Just for a regular minivan, not a luxury car or anything like that? People are getting soft...

You know those heated seats kill your sperm count, right?

Then again, if you're driving a minivan, I suppose that ship has already sailed.

yeah considering I one shot'd #2 into existence, I could use some sperm death....

 

[halik]

Your brother should've set up a 529 plan for your son with that money. God knows all my college cars get f'd up on the campus.

 

[Wuzup101]

Yep, we've already told him that's a condition of him driving. But we are actually going to install something and not just say we are. We're also drug testing him as a condition of driving. Our kids have known this for a couple of years now...we're not helicopter parents but we do have rules.

Taking away their driving privileges if they get a ticket is one thing. That being said, I'm pretty sure that installing a monitoring device in your kids cars and giving your kids random drug tests over-qualifies you for "helicopter parents."

 

[Brian Stirling]

I think giving a kid a decent new car is wise so long as the kid has driving skills AND he has some skin in paying for it. At his age just ponying up for insurance is going to be tough but making him pay for that would invest him in maintaining it and knowing he will be paying more if he f's up should be incentive to be more careful. A beater is just going to get beaten and that's more dangerous.

As for driving skills ... I think the best learning experience a kid can have is many hours of off-road driving. Let him have fun and learn brake and throttle control in a place that's far less likely to kill you -- and it's fun.

Wish I had an uncle like that...


Brian

 

[njdevilsfan87]

An Audi at 16 = spoiled for life now.

I test drove that A3 when I took mine in for service. I could definitely feel the power downgrade, but it still has enough to make for a fantastic all around DD.

 

[Imported]

If they're available in your area, have your kid do a car control clinic with NASA or comparable organization.

 

[Midwayman]

If they're available in your area, have your kid do a car control clinic with NASA or comparable organization.

The SCCA run autocross schools in my area a couple times a year. Very worthwhile even if you don't plan on autocrossing.

 

[Imported]

The SCCA run autocross schools in my area a couple times a year. Very worthwhile even if you don't plan on autocrossing.

Agreed. Autocross schools are also a good way of getting car control skills down.