Thursday, April 03, 2008


Things looming on the horizon in a scary way:

Daughter driving-Ack!
Daughter needing a car- starting out with mine but geez, I don't want to sit at home when she needs it.
Finding a car her father and I can afford at some point. Last night we passed a Mercedes Benz for sale (maybe a 70's model- four door) and missed the sign with the details. I told E I was going to buy it for her which totally blew her mind. I was kidding. Then she was saying she would drive any old clunker if need be. Which is good to know.
I am amazed as I sit in the high school parking lot and watch those kids get into Honda Accords, Mitsubishi's, big honker 4-wheel drives, Trans Ams and Mustangs- brand new or close to it. How do they do it??? And why would you buy a brand new car for a High Schooler? Especially a guy...

9 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh man..I hear ya. My oldest drove my old jeep..and now doesn't have a car. My second son drives an old mazda pickup..like a 1980 something lol..and my daughter is "looking" for something. She is like your daughter though..anything will be good!

I am shocked at the cars that kids drive too these days...what must their insurance policies cost? Gah.
We should write posts about our first cars... mine was a 1969 Plymouth VIP.. eek.. a ship compared to todays cars lol.

6:59 AM  
Blogger Simon said...

Mine was a 1978 mini 1000... yes, I know, you dont get very many 'proper' minis over the pond, but it was a great little car for my first run about kindly bought by my parents. I can even remember the registration number. CRO 438T. Now days kids get far better cars, but I agree about the insurance, how do they afford it?!

8:14 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I figure whatever she will eventually get will be ancinet. No biggie. It serves it's purpose and definitely will be better insurance-wise.
These parents have bought the car and pay for the insurance. Most of the kids I speak of don't have jobs ( it's a small school- I know them all).
My first car was a '69 Ford Galaxy- humongus! huge engine too!

8:39 AM  
Blogger Gnomeself Be True said...

They pay $400/month to lease cars for their kids and pray to God they don't wreck them.

It's nuts.

Good luck.

Oh yea, mine was a 71 plymouth satellite.

8:44 AM  
Blogger Mom said...

We put our kids in big, old cars built like a tank. Novice drivers need something that will hold up to a few dents and bruises.
My first car was a 1959 Studebaker Lark, baby blue. I loved it.

1:06 PM  
Blogger MarkEC said...

When I reached driving age, my mom said that she was tired of not having heat in the winter and if I learned to drive a stick shift, I could have her old car. A 1976 VW camper! I tried to make it "cool", but it was a stretch. :-) And cold in the winter! The first car I bought was a '79 Triumph Spitfire.. fun car.. too much maintenance!

1:12 PM  
Blogger kimmyk said...

adam started driving in november and we bought him a used car for christmas. we went through the dealerships online because they had internet specials versus the car lot prices and found a car 2000 dollar off the lot price because we purchased it through the internet. something to think about.

[we went there looked at the car came home and looked it up online at their dealership website-sorry sort of vague on that previous ramble up there-too tired to backspace go figure]

so yeah. totally get your angst about the girl driving. adam is in drivers ed now-in less than 45 days my kid will have his license--brings about waves of anxiety i tell ya!

6:44 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I feel you pain. My sister gave us a car for our daughter this past November. She is driving a rather nice '95 Celica. But there so many kids with new cars. I don't get it.

6:55 PM  
Blogger Susan Lucente said...

My oldest just got her temps about three weeks ago. Here in Ohio, they get their temps at 15 1/2 years old, and it is SCARY~!!!!! I just want to scream, "they are TOO YOUNG!!!". But, the upside is, she has six months before she can get her license, and in those six months, she can only drive with her parents. She also has to log at least 50 hours of day driving and 10 hours of night time driving before she can get her license. So, all in all, she will be far better prepared for her solo driving than I was. Back in the 80's when I turned 16, you didn't get your temps until you turned 16, and since my b-day was in the summer, I got my temps the first week of July, started the summer driver's ed class a week later which lasted only three weeks, put in about four hours of driving time with the instructor, and by August, I had my license and was driving alone. I can't believe my parents made it through that without nervous breakdowns.

I drove the "family cars" until I was out of high school and had my first job and could pay for my own (parents didn't let me have a job in high school). And that first car I bought was a 1984 Buick Century limited. It was a beauty. Until the engine blew...it was still gorgeous, even as the tow truck hauled it off to the junk yard. :-( My daughter's first car will be my old 1994 Toyota Camry, with more than 260,000 miles on it. :-)

1:11 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home