So close, yet so far

[rvlyssup]

Charles makes my case. Tickets are death when you are young; wrecks are worse. My experience with 16-year-olds in the house was that a squeaky driving record and good-student discount made it reasonable. Not sure if I think Greg will get $100/month insurance, but I bet it's less than half the supposed $400 "rough quote."

Burbank, CA ranks 6th highest in the state for auto insurance.

Cali ranks 5th in the nation.

Couple that with being a male teen right smack dab in the middle makes for an expensive venture.

Like I stated on page 2 of this post...OP needs to get a used Honda.

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[GodfatherGreg]

Wow man, calm down. If you would step down off your soapbox, you would understand he said that he could see IF he had tickets or an accident BUT he has a clean record.

I would much rather see my child in a new car with new safety features than some old junker with two airbags that folds like a tin can. I think the V6 Mustang would make a good car for a beginner. My first car was a 30 year old 280Z Datsun. I sold it for something newer and safer pretty quickly.

No way would I ever lease a car though. Especially a car for a high school kid to drive around.

:amen:Thats the main reason why my dad is pushing for the mustang. He's wrecked the crown vic countless times, he knows that the airbags on this car are a piece of junk too. He also knows that these cars have a tendency to explode when rear ended, thats what scaring me from getting into that car again.

 

[Free Agent]

Burbank, CA ranks 6th highest in the state for auto insurance.

Cali ranks 5th in the nation.

Couple that with being a male teen right smack dab in the middle makes for an expensive venture.

Like I stated on page 2 of this post...get a used Honda.

Thank you. $400 a month for a 16 or 17 year old could very well be a "bargain" in that risk bracket.

How about a used Ford though! ;)

 

[MagneticA]

The car is only for me, my dad isn't medically capable of driving anymore. I have offered to get a job, heck I've even applied to a lot. I haven't gotten hired anywhere because of work experience and maybe age. Also, my parents want my number one focus to be in school.

Kids with fun cars are magnets for other kids who want to help you enjoy it. Your focus will not be school with this parked in your driveway...

 

[Free Agent]

Kids with fun cars are magnets for other kids who want to help you enjoy it. Your focus will not be school with this parked in your driveway...

Thank you another voice of reason.

 

[Blue Horse]

First things first, I'm a senior in high school, so being able to convince my parents on even considering a mustang is a miracle. My dad finally agreed to let me trade in his "baby", a 2008 Crown Vic; So I took toto get appraised at the dealer yesterday. They gave it $700 because of a accident history. So they have this 4th of July special that if you lease or purchase a new mustang they'll add $1000 to your trade in. But before that our sales guy doubled the offer to $1500, then added $1000 since we were interested in leasing a Oxford white V6. Great now we're at $2500. He draws up a PERFECT offer, 228 a month we just need to add $1000 down separately, and it includes 2 year free maintenance (part of the 4th of July special). Before we started everything my mom called our insurance agent from Allstate, and she asks him how much would it be to insure a high school senior for a mustang, he gives us a "rough" estimate. "About $400-$500 a month" If it wasn't for the insurance agent giving us a "rough" estimate, this post would have been an intro for the pony. My dad is all up for the deal, he understands that this is a perfect deal, trade In a piece of shit, put another $1000 down, mustang for less than $230 a month, "better sign that shit by the end of the week!" I even offered to get a job, she says no because they want me to only focus on school. So the purpose of this post is to get some pony owners to help a fellow out and hope, pray do whatever you do to help me get into a mustang. Thanks!

You are very LUCKY, you have one smart Mom,age == insurance= you DON"T need a Mustang at this time in your life.

 

[Charles147]

Charles makes my case. Tickets are death when you are young; wrecks are worse. My experience with 16-year-olds in the house was that a squeaky driving record and good-student discount made it reasonable. Not sure if I think Greg will get $100/month insurance, but I bet it's less than half the supposed $400 "rough quote."

Yes, I was a statistic...Courts made an example out of me and family was not proud. I got tough love from family and they let me keep the car if I could afford it. All money went towards the car, lawyer, and court system...Not to mention all my off time spent doing community service.

ALL TRUE! I was not a trouble maker other than trying to be a race car driver on the roads.

 

[Old 5 Oh]

Free Agent is talking sense. Those of us who have had teenagers (mine are no longer that) understand and agree.

Didn't realize OP was in Burbank. That explains a lot.

I am beginning to think selling the CV outright and buying a used Civic makes a LOT of sense, even if it's not so sexy.

OP, when it's YOUR money, you can make all sorts of decisions, just because you want to. When you are in High School, and it's Mom's/Dad's money, there are other factors at play.

Worst possible outcome would be you get a free 2015 Mustang, get comfortable with it for a couple of months, and then stuff it into a bridge abutment whilst racing up the 110 some night. Assuming you survived, it would at minimum be a very expensive lesson for you and Mom and Dad. In my experience, cars not paid for by teens get wrecked at much higher rates than cars actually paid for by teens. Something about "pride of ownership."

A Dad moment: When my younger was 16, he had a 200,000-mile S10 truck. He'd paid $1000 for it, and I put about that much into fixing the AC and a few other things. He spent another $1000 on wheels, tires, stereo, body parts and a nice MAACO paint job, after he and I did all the sanding and prep. All done for less than $3000. Screaming Corvette Yellow. His buddy had a new 2006 Dodge Ram 4x4, equally bright yellow, that his Dad had paid $45,000 for. One day, my kid says to me, "you know Dad, I think I am more proud of my truck than Steven is of his. I think that's because I actually paid for and worked on mine." Sometimes, you just know the lesson sank in, right?

 

['Merica]

:amen:Thats the main reason why my dad is pushing for the mustang. He's wrecked the crown vic countless times, he knows that the airbags on this car are a piece of junk too. He also knows that these cars have a tendency to explode when rear ended, thats what scaring me from getting into that car again.

Exactly. I would much rather spend the extra for my child to be safe.

My parents taught me right from wrong, but never berated or belittled me. They taught me instead of yelling (don't get me wrong I got the belt more than a few times), which is what I will do with my children. Teens will be naturally inexperienced in anything they first start to drive. You have to start somewhere though. My dad drove a sports car while I was in High School and he would allow me to drive it. He trusted me in the car and taught me how to drive it and how not to be an idiot instead of yelling in my face about the "real world". I never drove it like a moron and never disappointed him. You will mess up while learning to drive, but the key is to learn from your mistakes and learn how to look for things on the road to be a better driver than the guy next to you. I've been driving for 15 years and had 3 accidents- none have ever been my fault.

I kept my grades up, got scholarships to fully pay for college and my parents rewarded me with footing the bill for my insurance and paying for my first car. I was paid to go to college my first two years, so that money went towards my other expenses. I'm extremely lucky to have such great parents, but I also worked my ass off to get what I wanted.

 

[Free Agent]

Free Agent is talking sense. Those of us who have had teenagers (mine are no longer that) understand and agree.

Didn't realize OP was in Burbank. That explains a lot.

I am beginning to think selling the CV outright and buying a used Civic makes a LOT of sense, even if it's not so sexy.

OP, when it's YOUR money, you can make all sorts of decisions, just because you want to. When you are in High School, and it's Mom's/Dad's money, there are other factors at play.

Worst possible outcome would be you get a free 2015 Mustang, get comfortable with it for a couple of months, and then stuff it into a bridge abutment whilst racing up the 110 some night. Assuming you survived, it would at minimum be a very expensive lesson for you and Mom and Dad. In my experience, cars not paid for by teens get wrecked at much higher rates than cars actually paid for by teens. Something about "pride of ownership."

A Dad moment: When my younger was 16, he had a 200,000-mile S10 truck. He'd paid $1000 for it, and I put about that much into fixing the AC and a few other things. He spent another $1000 on wheels, tires, stereo, body parts and a nice MAACO paint job, after he and I did all the sanding and prep. All done for less than $3000. Screaming Corvette Yellow. His buddy had a new 2006 Dodge Ram 4x4, equally bright yellow, that his Dad had paid $45,000 for. One day, my kid says to me, "you know Dad, I think I am more proud of my truck than Steven is of his. I think that's because I actually paid for and worked on mine." Sometimes, you just know the lesson sank in, right?

Truer words have never been spoken. OP you need to listen to this man. Sounds like you and your son bonded on his truck build. Best way to do it.

 

[GodfatherGreg]

I'm not going to try to be too nosy but this brings up a couple of questions. Are Mom and Dad both employed right now? You say your Dad isn't physically capable of driving, are we talking living off disability payments here? I'm thinking of the financial well being of your FAMILY, which outweighs what you really want.

What is your actual age? 16 17 or 18. Please be honest, no need to lie.

Why do you need a car then? If you don't work it isn't needed for transportation. I think I already know the answer to this question but I'm going to ask it anyway.

Frankly you having this car paid for you should come at the cost of conditions placed upon you. Maybe your Mom and Dad have brought it up, maybe not. Offering to get a job (even just part time) is a good start. You could get your mom on board if somehow you could show your grades do not suffer from result of working. If grades fall, the job goes, but so does the car.

Sorry if it seems I'm being nosy, but these are the questions that HAVE to be asked. Too many parents in my opinion don't ask the hard questions and pay for it down the road when a mistake or accident happens.

Asking for guidance or advice here is a good start. I commend you on that. This all boils down to you showing and proving to your parents you can handle a very ADULT privilege. Good luck, I'd be happy to give more advice if you can tolerate me.

My moms is a nurse, and my dad gets his retirement benefits, so Im pretty sure SSI out of question. I'm a senior in high school so I'm 17, but ill be 18 by the end of this year. Even though for my age I might seem like I don't need a car, but its quite the contrary, I need a car to take my dad to his doctors appointments,I'm the only person who has time go grocery shopping, I take care of all the things my mom doesn't have time to do, so transportation is almost a must. I totally agree on the part time job, I have applied to a lot of places, I just never get called in to an interview for some reason. My guess is its the work experience and probably age.

 

[GNS]

Taking on a car loan and high insurance premiums without a reliable source of income is pure stupidity at any age, especially when you're a teen. Even if you have a source of income, that money should be saved for university expenses.

The whole point of high school and higher education is to enable you to find a good job or start your own business so that you can afford stuff like this, among other things. By saddling yourself with unnecessary liabilities, you are basically shooting yourself in the foot before starting on the race.

Edit: you don't need a Mustang to go grocery shopping, drive your dad around and run errands. A used Honda Civic or something would be far cheaper, very fuel efficient, reliable and worry free when you park it anywhere.

 

[Free Agent]

My dad drove a sports car while I was in High School and he would allow me to drive it. He trusted me in the car and taught me how to drive it and how not to be an idiot

I bolded 2 very important words there. And they both deal with parenting. Giving a child a car then releasing them from the responsibility of their actions is the exact opposite. Your Dad did it right. The OP's father cannot drive. He can't instill those lessons by example right now from the sounds of it. You do have to start somewhere, but you don't start off your athletic child brand new to a sport in the NBA, MLB or NFL, you start them off at their level and work from there. Caution first, build experience, THEN step up.

 

[GodfatherGreg]

I'm paying $50 a month for my GT and I'm 31

When I was senior in highschool, I was driving a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT and I think I was paying about $100/month on my parents insurance so yours shouldn't be much more

Whats you insurance provider?

 

[MagneticA]

My moms is a nurse, and my dad gets his retirement benefits, so Im pretty sure SSI out of question. I'm a senior in high school so I'm 17, but ill be 18 by the end of this year. Even though for my age I might seem like I don't need a car, but its quite the contrary, I need a car to take my dad to his doctors appointments,I'm the only person who has time go grocery shopping, I take care of all the things my mom doesn't have time to do, so transportation is almost a must. I totally agree on the part time job, I have applied to a lot of places, I just never get called in to an interview for some reason. My guess is its the work experience and probably age.

Might want a car that's easier to get in and out of...

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