hakuna matata
Recycles dryer sheets
Okay talk me into or out of this idea. I mentioned a few months ago that I was teaching my daughter to drive a stick shift. She has the concept down pretty well and in fact is going this Friday to take her driving test in the Miata. I am very confidant she will pass as I have been with her driving almost every day over the past year.
My question is to the wisdom of what I am thinking here. I own 3 cars now and really don't want to buy a 4th if I can help it even though I do have room for a 4th. The Miata is a 1994 with 38,000 miles on it--basically a garage queen. But it is a very nice car in excellent shape. However the blue book on it is about $3800 last time I checked. My gut feeling is I don't believe I can get as nice of car in as good of condition for $3800.
In my mind the pluses:
She can only have one other friend in the car, so no back seat kids, so she won't be turning around to look at them. But just having one kid in the car is huge as I have noticed with teens that peer pressure and attitudes, etc increase with the addition of each kid.
None of her friends know how to drive a stick, so there will be no borrowing of the car (not that I am too worried about that as she knows it would be immediate grounding and loss of said car if I ever caught someone driving the car).
She can't have anything in her hands as she has to shift, so no cell phone, etc (again not a huge worry as again immediate grounding and loss of use of the car if I catch her doing that).
Driving a car with a clutch requires you to pay more attention than an automatic. You have to anticipate the curve and shift down or up, whereas in an automatic it shifts down for you. So I feel she will be paying much more attention to her driving.
It is a very nimble car and so if something comes up I think she would be able to quickly respond to it.
It is still my car that she gets to drive and thus there are times I will want to drive it and I will still have it available to drive.
The negatives:
A small sporty type car and a teen seems like a bad combination. Granted it is a rural area and the car has a very low center of gravity and she is a teen girl (as opposed to a teen boy). However she seems like a cautious driver and she has been driving now for a year.
Most people wreck or damage their first car (I didn't but I believe most people do). I honestly think if she damaged it, it would be via a parking lot accident but I also don't want a wrecked car or a damaged daughter!
I would have said insurance but so far that number isn't scaring me. So for now that isn't a negative.
So what say you parents and others out there in er land. Let her drive the Miata or trade it in and get her something else. And if so, what kind of car would you get a teen girl?
My question is to the wisdom of what I am thinking here. I own 3 cars now and really don't want to buy a 4th if I can help it even though I do have room for a 4th. The Miata is a 1994 with 38,000 miles on it--basically a garage queen. But it is a very nice car in excellent shape. However the blue book on it is about $3800 last time I checked. My gut feeling is I don't believe I can get as nice of car in as good of condition for $3800.
In my mind the pluses:
She can only have one other friend in the car, so no back seat kids, so she won't be turning around to look at them. But just having one kid in the car is huge as I have noticed with teens that peer pressure and attitudes, etc increase with the addition of each kid.
None of her friends know how to drive a stick, so there will be no borrowing of the car (not that I am too worried about that as she knows it would be immediate grounding and loss of said car if I ever caught someone driving the car).
She can't have anything in her hands as she has to shift, so no cell phone, etc (again not a huge worry as again immediate grounding and loss of use of the car if I catch her doing that).
Driving a car with a clutch requires you to pay more attention than an automatic. You have to anticipate the curve and shift down or up, whereas in an automatic it shifts down for you. So I feel she will be paying much more attention to her driving.
It is a very nimble car and so if something comes up I think she would be able to quickly respond to it.
It is still my car that she gets to drive and thus there are times I will want to drive it and I will still have it available to drive.
The negatives:
A small sporty type car and a teen seems like a bad combination. Granted it is a rural area and the car has a very low center of gravity and she is a teen girl (as opposed to a teen boy). However she seems like a cautious driver and she has been driving now for a year.
Most people wreck or damage their first car (I didn't but I believe most people do). I honestly think if she damaged it, it would be via a parking lot accident but I also don't want a wrecked car or a damaged daughter!
I would have said insurance but so far that number isn't scaring me. So for now that isn't a negative.
So what say you parents and others out there in er land. Let her drive the Miata or trade it in and get her something else. And if so, what kind of car would you get a teen girl?