My wife thinks I m nuts

[mphy98]

So, my soon to be 16 year old will be getting his license and we have to buy him a car as we live out in the county and school is 20 miles away, plus Shoreland Lutheran is always having something we have to drive him to. IE footbal, track, dances etc. That said....

I am going to buy him a Jaguar X type. My wife thinks I have lost my mind. A sixteen year old in a Jag. I have done a lot of research and talked to a service mgr I know and if I stay away from the 2002 and 2003 years he says that they are bullet proof. The reason why a Jag is that the X type is all wheel drive (needed up here on county roads) and it has front, side, and passenger rear air bags. Even the rear seat occupants get an air bag. I know my wife say just wrap him up in bubble wrap! :redface: He is a very good kid, always A's and B+'s. Plus the insurance is only $600.00 a year with him as the primary driver. That is with a vette and a mustang gt convert in the garage as well.(he does not get to drive those.) They are not that expensive either. a 60k unit is about 9k tops. They are really nice cars, the interiors are fantastic.

So does anyone hear have one of these? Good, bad experiance? Please advise. Or am I just nuts?

 

[Rudy Brown]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

wow, and to think my 16 yo daughter is getting new shoes. I dont have any advise for you.

 

[Robbabob]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

Subaru

 

[mphy98]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

Subaru

Do they have rear seat air bags too? and can I get a 2004 with 60k on it with leather, moon roof, integrated phone, heated seats, and all the toys for 9k? If so I will look at those as well.

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

Well he certainly won't get hurt in it. A well built but utterly forgettable Jag performance wise. Probably get a few babes with it! If he bends it, parts are very spendy, and the all wheel drive is really only part time viscous coupled. But it should work, not very powerful, OK handling but Id' think maybe a bit stogey for a 16 yr old.

 

[mables]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

This stirs emotions in me....

 

[Robbabob]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

Do they have rear seat air bags too? and can I get a 2004 with 60k on it with leather, moon roof, integrated phone, heated seats, and all the toys for 9k? If so I will look at those as well.

I doubt many cars will have everything the Jag you are looking at has. Just kinda sayin', a Jag for a 16 y/o seems exotic.

There are true accidents where you will love to have ALL the safety comforts. And then there are new drivers, even with straight A's that will test the limits of their ability (for fun). A friend in HS received a Mustang; smallest engine and only few amenities.... Since he couldn't do a burn-out, he dind't even try to go fast enough to get into trouble.

Your heart is in the right place; not judging your intent to protect your son. Just realize, you won't be able to stop him from going to a party and drink too much before driving. I'm sure you've done a great job at teaching him right from wrong. Now is the time he proves how mature he is.

I'm not against you. Get what you feel is right. I hope the best!

nuff said....

 

[bruceb58]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

Its a Ford Engine and Tranny so at least its somewhat reliable.

 

[JRJ]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

What does your son want? Since he has to drive it, I'd consider his wishes too.

 

[mphy98]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

What does your son want? Since he has to drive it, I'd consider his wishes too.

I took him to see and drive one, He was all smiles. It has the cool factor. It does not have the great performance of the vette or gt, but it could get him in trouble if he abused it. I trust he won't. If he does just half of what I used to do, I will be very glad. I was a hot rodder all the way back. had many gto's mustang's vettes, ect. Never wrapped one around a tree, but did bend a few. He is a lot like his momma in the way he drives.

 

[rbh]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

whether you can afford a nice car or not, buy the kid a crap box car or truck, for the most part he is going to have to learn to drive in the snow ETC and don't spoil him for crap sakes, let him earn his prestiogous (SP) ride with out dads hand outs.

Sorry mphy98, I just believe you gotta start young with the hard knocks.

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

This stirs emotions in me....

Yeah me too. I've restored several old Jags in my day and have always had a soft spot for British stuff, Jensen, Lotus, TVR, Triumph, Austin etc. Jags got a LOT better with Ford influence, but lost a great deal of soul along the way. Nice to see the new XF an XJ's out there, gorgeous cars! I'm considering an XF for the wife. The X series is a bit of a sled, kind of an overweight Camry of sorts but as the OP stated, safe as hell. Maybe a Volvo S40 to look at too? Subaru is also something to look at but I think it would have to be a couple of years old to have rear air bags and out of your price range.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

Perfect car for young new drivers is a Toyota Corolla. Cheap to fix, cheap to insure can't hot rod.

 

[Mark42]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

Chances are high he will have an accident in his first year of driving. My neighbor bought his son a 5 year old BMW coupe, it lasted all of 5 weeks until he wrapped it around a pole when he slid on wet pavement. A total loss, my neighbor was crying to me that he didn't have collision on it. Thousands of dollars out the window.

Bottom line is kids crash cars. Especially the first year driving.

Buy him a beater pickup with the promise to get him something he likes in 2 years if he can keep from crashing the truck.

 

[scipper77]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

I say go for it. That's a nicer car than what I drive but I'm not the jealous type.

My only input on this is that kids are hard on cars. If you are going to get upset when he bangs up the trophy car it might not be worth the stress. Who amongst us northerners didn't do donuts in the snow and practice power sliding?

I did so much stuff to my cars like running up on curbs and parking on the street then opening the door into the frozen grass next to the curb leaving it's mark. I didn't do this stuff on purpose, But now that I'm experienced My 4 yo car still looks and runs like brand new.

 

[642mx]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

Get him a Jag... its got to be safer than the 450 horse Camaro that I had at 16. My wife had a brand spankin new Mustang when she turned 16.

We both love our cars and treat them very well (we currently have 5), I think it starts with having nice stuff early in your driving career. Buy your kid a POS, and he/she will treat them all the same way.

 

[skargo]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

My youngest brother is 21 years younger than I am. I talked him into a gently used Lexus for a first car. A Toyota with bling lol. He drove it for 6 years and loved it. Safe, reliable, and a joy to drive.
Go for it!
If you can get your good kid something decent, then why not? My first car was a 68 chevelle ss396 I paid for with paper route money.
My wife's first car was a vette, and she is far from spoiled, she is one of the most kind, generous people I have ever known.
Not sure why some say kids need to come up hard if they don't have to.
All said and done though, he will bang it up!

 

[ziggy]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

Perfect car for young new drivers is a Toyota Corolla

older poor people drivers too. i just got rid of a 87 chevy nova for $250. rusted out to the max but still ran and drove, barely. replaced it with a '97 geo prisim. much better condition. both are corolla's in discise. good cars and very basic transportation. what more do i need. the nova was my second one, the x got the first one in the settlement..
as for the jag. do what ya want. nice car i'm sure. as for it's air bags. i didn't mind givin my kid one w/o bags, i don't expect him to be in a situation that the bags would ever be deployed. + i've made it to 50 and i didn't have bags on most of my cars. just something else to fix.
fwiw, my boy got a ugly but totally operable '91 toyota pu when he was 16. i just got it back the other day. he's now 21.
lets see. seat belt traps you and won't let go, turn signals don't cancel, ft. left body damage so the head light is duct taped in place, no left turn signal lamp at all. won't shift to park w/o jamming it into park. driver window won't hardly roll up or down, it don't run well any more. the boy just near trashed it. fig. yer jag will end up similar.. it's your bread, but young kids are hard on autos. least mine was. my boy was mine from age 10 when his mom left me. he's a good kid and i'm proud of him, but he sure took his toll on my pu.. i figured that's what would happen though. so it was expected... kids..

Buy your kid a POS, and he/she will treat them all the same way.

that may be true, but then again. i would bet there's lots of kids just getting a new pair of shoes. let alone a car from the folks. bet them kids are darned happy to have some shoes too. any car for a 16 year old is a luxury imho. reason i got my pu back is because my boy just got him a 98 s10 blazer 4x4. my guess is he'll take much better care of that one since he's had to work to get it. i didn't fork over a dime for it. + got my pu back, kinda sorta...

 

[DECK SWABBER 58]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

whether you can afford a nice car or not, buy the kid a crap box car or truck, for the most part he is going to have to learn to drive in the snow ETC and don't spoil him for crap sakes, let him earn his prestiogous (SP) ride with out dads hand outs.

Sorry mphy98, I just believe you gotta start young with the hard knocks.

I agree.

My first car cost $675.00, paid for by me from shoveling snow, mowing lawns,
delivering papers, etc.

 

[MRS]

Re: My wife thinks I m nuts

I agree with the wife...