Model 3 For A Teenager

[ZoomsansVroom]

outdoors, that I think we all get... Heck, it makes you start thinking about if its safer to get a large, old Bently sedan than anything else...

 

[outdoors]

outdoors, that I think we all get... Heck, it makes you start thinking about if its safer to get a large, old Bently sedan than anything else...

The used Bentley was an opportunity that did present itself a few years ago. Would have been more than an S. Hard to buy a ten year old a Bentley when his dad still drove a Subaru

Edit add: @ZoomsansVroom . I know you get it. Just some folks like to keep beating the same drum. Which was my little temper tantrum I threw.

"Tesla": The word that will get you a better Mercedes lease.

" I can't imagine a conversation in which I offered to get my daughter a $50,000 car.

I can't imagine a conversation in which my daughter turned down a $50,000 car and asked for a different $50,000 car.

I say you get her an old Civic and give her a lecture. That I'll learn her. "

I don't understand this ^ line of thinking with a child.

 

[Petrocelli]

I know you get it. Just some folks like to keep beating the same drum. Which was my little temper tantrum I threw.

"Tesla": The word that will get you a better Mercedes lease.

" I can't imagine a conversation in which I offered to get my daughter a $50,000 car.

I can't imagine a conversation in which my daughter turned down a $50,000 car and asked for a different $50,000 car.

I say you get her an old Civic and give her a lecture. That I'll learn her. "

I don't understand this ^ line of thinking with a child.

Well, since you are quoting me, allow me to respond:

The conversation you quoted addressed a poster who claimed he offered to buy his daughter a 2 year old C300 Coupe that his neighbor was selling. The daughter told her father she wanted a Tesla. I doubted that conversation occurred.

As for buying kids expensive cars... Each parent can make their own decision. I have always taught my kids that cars are depreciable assets and they should not spend a lot of money on them.

But I did spend about $500,000 putting them through college, so I'm not that bad of a guy.

Note: Edited to remove all humor, at the request of a poster I have now ignored.

 

[outdoors]

Well, since you are quoting me, allow me to respond:

The conversation you quoted addressed a poster who claimed he offered to buy his daughter a 2 year old C300 Coupe that his neighbor was selling. The daughter told her father to shove that car up his a**. I doubted that conversation occurred.

As for buying kids expensive cars... Each parent can make their own decision. I have always taught my kids that cars are depreciable assets and they should not spend a lot of money on them.

But I did spend about $500,000 putting them through college, so I'm not that bad of a guy.

Sir please accurately quote the post. There is a way to do that, and those were not the words written. Please also understand that the people on this forum converse outside this forum. So you can say correctly those words as you put it were never spoken. As you misquoted them, and I can assure the words written were from his daughter, and they were said.

Things may have changed since you wrote that post as far as one can make their own decision. Those were not the words you expressed at the time.

Edit: Love your edit. When you see the original, kind of shows those true feelings....

 

[Gloor]

Its your call of course. I feel that its not a good one though. I wouldn't give my teenage kid such expensive car nor would I want one from my parents when I was a kid. When I was 15 I wanted a mobile phone (Nokia 3110) and my mum told me - "if you want it, get a summer job and buy it" - so I did. I worked whole summer just for that very expensive phone back then.
I know this post is not about these things but it should be. We all want to give our kids the best but sometimes we forget that 'giving' is not the best. Anyway, not here to challenge you, just wanted to say what I would and wouldn't do. Its your call at the end of the day.

Thanks for all of the feedback everyone. I do realize it’s an expensive car to give a teen. When I was a kid in college, gas money was often tough to come by. As he’s off to college in a few months, he’ll have a good start and if he’s a resourceful college student, he can find the free charging on campus and perhaps be able to study a bit more instead of working more for gas money. Could be he still works the same amount and has that much extra to party.

It occurred to me this morning that I have several apps for the Tesla’s, so we can use Tesla’s for the 3 and a third party app for ours. Should be no need to sign in and out if we use Tesla’s app for the 3.

 

[ry-ballz]

The best part about this thread, if you search his post history you see that 2 months later the kid had already shredded the rear tires.

 

[JetFalcon]

I drove a 2006 Lexus GS430 in high school. Before that, I drove my parent's Mercedes E55 AMG to school. I drove that E55 AMG, probably a kinda powerful car for a teenager, and I never crashed it. I just got a few tickets because I felt like I had to drive the car like I was in a video game, like Burnout 3 for Xbox / PS2.

I think a teenager can be responsible with a Tesla. I think its better because you can enjoy accelerating your car, it's not a car that you have to drive illegal speeds to enjoy, unlike most gas based sports cars. Plus if you really wanna be a true asshole parent, you can go nanny mode and limit his speed.

I'm sure he can have fun while being responsible with a Tesla. I think its better than say a Mustang because there is no need to drive the car fast to hear its engine. And now, after driving Tesla, I don't think I'll go back to a gas based sports car b/c those cars are hard to resist going fast, they only perform its best at higher speeds, which is usually illegal / or a ticket.

At least for Tesla, you can just accelerate to the legal speed and feel the force of the speed. Plus maybe encourage him to use autopilot while on empty highways to resist the urge to speed?

 

[SoCalDriver]

My brother and I grew up with our mom (divorced) and bought our own cars when we were in high school. We've both been self-sufficient since we were 18.

My younger sister grew up with my father and he bought her first car...and second...and third..and so on. She's in her mid 30s now and still has never known responsibility and continues to work minimum wage jobs because she couldn't find a "real" job after spending 10 years getting a drama degree. Every couple of years, she'll have an accident in her car and my father will give her his current car and take the damaged car in return. He then spends way too much time and money paying to have the damaged car repaired. My father is 74 and still working because he can't afford to retire because he's supported my sister for the past 35+ years.

Be careful buying a car for your kids or you might end of buying all of the cars you kid ever "owns".

Oh brother, so if you buy your kids nice cars they will turn out to be leaches? That theory has been proven wrong with both of my older kids. They both got pretty nice cars (trucks actually) when they were 16. Somehow they both managed to turn out to be hard working, humble, kind, and might I add extremely successful adults. Our kids were hard workers, in school, sports and had part time jobs. We wanted them to drive something reliable and SAFE. We happen to have the means to do it. Your theory is absurd.

 

[MikeQ]

The best part about this thread, if you search his post history you see that 2 months later the kid had already shredded the rear tires.

Our son has had his for more than a year and he treats it like it's his child. Not a ding on it and when he comes home from college first thing he does is wash and detail it.

He doesn't have a P model though so tire shredding is not that easy.

 

[brkaus]

The best part about this thread, if you search his post history you see that 2 months later the kid had already shredded the rear tires.

Speed limit (also enables chill acceleration) mode and a password reset...

 

[FoverM]

I worked after school and did activities too. The stuff I did wasn't a requirement for getting into college like it is today. I also didn't need a 4.0 GPA to get into college like you need today. Because of my son's choice of degree, he not only had to get a 4.0 but he had to take the hardest classes too.

Totally agree. Our daughter had a 4.0 (unweighted), all science AP classes, Calc BC, ACT 35, National Merit, presented at an international genetics conference, etc, etc yet got rejected from all the top unis she applied to. It's sickening. These kids are *way* too stressed at an early age and it is damaging our country's future (believe me, I argued and lost about taking "fun" classes in HS). Compare that to me, an old fart. I barely graduated from HS in the late 70s/early 80s, got into UT-Austin in EE based solely on my SAT score, and flunked/kicked out after several years. That would be a death sentence as far as careers go nowadays yet I ended up having a great career in programming, patents, published papers, yadda, yadda.

 

[MikeQ]

Totally agree. Our daughter had a 4.0 (unweighted), all science AP classes, Calc BC, ACT 35, National Merit, presented at an international genetics conference, etc, etc yet got rejected from all the top unis she applied to. It's sickening. These kids are *way* too stressed at an early age and it is damaging our country's future (believe me, I argued and lost about taking "fun" classes in HS). Compare that to me, an old fart. I barely graduated from HS in the late 70s/early 80s, got into UT-Austin in EE based solely on my SAT score, and flunked/kicked out after several years. That would be a death sentence as far as careers go nowadays yet I ended up having a great career in programming, patents, published papers, yadda, yadda.

Yeah, it's pretty crazy. The scholarships are crazy too. I've seen someone make it down to two people for a full ride MERIT based scholarship and the final decision be based on income...for a merit scholarship. Funny thing is the kid that got the full ride wasn't even needy. She was just from a divorced family and the mother was in another relationship with a well to do person. They purposely didn't get married because of child support and college financial aid.

 

[JetFalcon]

Totally agree. Our daughter had a 4.0 (unweighted), all science AP classes, Calc BC, ACT 35, National Merit, presented at an international genetics conference, etc, etc yet got rejected from all the top unis she applied to. It's sickening. These kids are *way* too stressed at an early age and it is damaging our country's future (believe me, I argued and lost about taking "fun" classes in HS). Compare that to me, an old fart. I barely graduated from HS in the late 70s/early 80s, got into UT-Austin in EE based solely on my SAT score, and flunked/kicked out after several years. That would be a death sentence as far as careers go nowadays yet I ended up having a great career in programming, patents, published papers, yadda, yadda.

Elon Musk says he doesn't care about your degree. Maybe she can go work at Tesla and tell the interviewer she had all AP classes and that Elon doesn't care about your damn degree.

 

[JayNJ]

Speaking of first cars I can not remain silent.

Back in the days, back in my home country the first car I had access to drive was Trabant. Probably not many people in the states heard about it but it was a legend. Small, 2 door, low power, extremely low tech, fun to drive car that has a little over 500cc 2 cylinder, 2 cycle, air cooled engine with 26 hp and weighted about 1200 pounds. Made in East Germany. All the body panels was made of some sort of polyme /for short cardboard/. On the dash the only gauge you have is the speedometer. The tank was about 6 gallons and located in engine compartment. All the guesswork about the amount of gas you have in it is eliminated with provided ruler type stick that you simply put in the tank and then read up to where it is wet.

They actually sold more than 3.4 million cars of that model.

The car looks like this

View attachment 280142

The engine bay looks like this /pay attention to the location of the gas tank/

View attachment 280143

Did you have any issues with panel gaps or general fit and finish?

 

[r1200gs4ok]

Totally agree. Our daughter had a 4.0 (unweighted), all science AP classes, Calc BC, ACT 35, National Merit, presented at an international genetics conference, etc, etc yet got rejected from all the top unis she applied to. It's sickening. These kids are *way* too stressed at an early age and it is damaging our country's future (believe me, I argued and lost about taking "fun" classes in HS). Compare that to me, an old fart. I barely graduated from HS in the late 70s/early 80s, got into UT-Austin in EE based solely on my SAT score, and flunked/kicked out after several years. That would be a death sentence as far as careers go nowadays yet I ended up having a great career in programming, patents, published papers, yadda, yadda.

my grandson was very lucky.....he had a 1325 SAT, 29 ACT, 4.2 gpa with AP classes, valedictorian and played baseball...had numerous baseball scholarships from Dartmouth, Washington, SDSU, and Occidental College....he has a 2012 VW Passat....loves it....Parents could afford anything....Offered my Lexus GS350 but he said no....He is now at Occidental because of the educational opportunities offered there in IT....plus he is on baseball scholarship.....we are very proud of him as you are of your daughter....i agree, good students are having big troubles getting into schools......I don't believe for a second that $$$$$ doesn't talk big in admissions.....and if you don't get some financial help even when you get in its painful for years to come after graduation.....I barely made it out of high school....went to a junior college then to Ga Tech.....Major EE......It cost me (my Father) $615 per quarter.....If my Grandson had not played baseball, college would cost over $74,000 per year....my advise to some kids today........get service training in plumbing or HVAC......very good service jobs with good pay.....or join the military....I went from College to Marine Corps......Flew jet aircraft and became a Colonel.....then had a good commercial career in electronic at Hughes Aircraft Company, ITT Cannon and a Laser company, Coherent....good luck to you and you daughter......I sincerely hope she is able to get into a school of her liking and succeeds there and in life

 

[Daniel in SD]

The best part about this thread, if you search his post history you see that 2 months later the kid had already shredded the rear tires.

And OP insisted that it couldn’t possibly have been because he hooned it for 3900 miles.