First car – Sensible verses ‘image’ for son

[Joshmcmillan]

Maybe a BA would be better then an AU XR6. They are better in pretty much every way.... and they look better (but that's personal opinion). My BA XT was $7,500 with 130,000k's on it in mint condition pretty much. There is plenty of parts, they are very safe, they handle extremely well, power is there if you want it.

[BENT_8]

Agreed, the if going with a Falcon i'd be looking for a BA.

The AU XR would be nice, but any damage to the front bar is gonna be expensive to fix.
Apart from the sporty look they are no better than the BA.

Another point to consider is future mods, the BA already has 182kw, the AU would need mods to catch up.

I'd be looking round for a 5sp XT around 8-10k and spend a few dollars on wheels/suspension etc.

[Ride]

One thing I've noticed from all the posts in this thread ... everyone is assuming the car is going to be crashed or damaged etc. Where's the faith in younger drivers?

I owned an EL Ghia from when I was 17, it was the most powerful car out of all the Yr12's and was by far the safest. I never had any accidents or scrapes or anything to damage that car, the drivetrain was near bulletproof and was a great car until it got written off from hail damage - I sometimes regret parting with it because only the exterior panels were damaged.

I'm now 21 and own an AUII Ghia that I've had since I was 18, again, no accidents or scrapes or anything. Sure I've sunk a fair bit of money into it (people following my build thread will know!) but at no stage was it to 'fix' the car, only on improving it.

I'd be getting the young bloke either the AUII/III XR6 or Ghia, even without the Tickford kit they look pretty decent with a set of wheels, purchase price is reasonable and I just recently insured the Ghia for $22k with a premium of $1300.

[Joshmcmillan]

Sorry off topic, but Ride who are you insured with? Cheapest I could find for what I plan to do to a BA in a bout a year was about $1800 premium, and that was justcar for a manual BA fairmont, full body kit, extractors, exhaust, wheels, pedals, air filter.

[Ride]

Originally Posted by Joshmcmillan

Sorry off topic, but Ride who are you insured with? Cheapest I could find for what I plan to do to a BA in a bout a year was about $1800 premium, and that was justcar for a manual BA fairmont, full body kit, extractors, exhaust, wheels, pedals, air filter.

Justcar funnily enough, Shannons wanted an extra $1100 for the same list of mods and would have only covered me for an extra $1000. No accidents, no fines etc and I've done an engine conversion, major brake upgrade, suspension, audio, rims.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by mrbaxr6t

for me when the time comes I want my kid in the highest ancap star rating car I can get them, first cars get smashed in the majority of cases, put your kid in the safest thing you can get hold of and tell them when they are off their p's then you will get them something else.

All my mates went out on their p's and bought nice cars, and they all got smashed and ruined, unless times have changed first cars get smashed if you get him an image machine his image will be shattered when he bends it

That was the reasoning my parents used.

[The Snout]

Originally Posted by jphanna

Its getting close to that time (3 months), when my son gets his learners. We have agreed that he will take over the EA ownership and running costs, until he gets his proper licence, and then he can buy his OWN car.

Now we have spoken about various car manufacturers good and bad points. Servicing, availability of parts, reliability, any quirks that certain models (EA = everything, VE = dodgy electrics) have, etc.

He always got excited about any XR6-8 on the road from BA-FG, but he has recently decided that he will buy a 4 cylinder. I had a bit of a think about it, and come up with the last celica model in 2000. it is sporty looking, 4 CYL, has toyota reliability and good servicing and parts availability. He didn’t know what it looked like initially, so after he checked it out, he later told me he really wants one as its better looking than he expected. Then he tells me how much they are going for…..with low mileage up to $19,000. I thought maybe $10-12,000 max….

This is where, as a parent, the head takes over the heart. There are several brand new drive away cars available for around $15,000. ok they may be pussy mobiles, but a young kid wants to drive an image machine….just like we did when we got our licence.

For those that have gone through the process of finding a first car for your kids, what did you do?

Let him get whatever he can afford.

He's already walking your line and getting ownership experience in taking over your EA. Teach him any lessons via that car, else at what point do you get your nose out of it, 20, 25 ?

He gets the EA, learns his lessons of ownership, then gets whatever he can afford and takes the responsibilties for it. As was learnt via EA.

All this ANCAP crap is just false peace of mind. Better off paying for him to do a defensive driving course. 5 stars means sweet FA when the weather turns ugly and you have to use skill and your head.

[RedHotGT]

Originally Posted by The Snout

All this ANCAP crap is just false peace of mind. Better off paying for him to do a defensive driving course. 5 stars means sweet FA when the weather turns ugly and you have to use skill and your head.

If it was that important, then what about all the old cars on the road that do not even have an ANCAP rating? Do those people's safety aswell?? Or just a new car owner??

For me, I'd let him take ownership of the EA, find out how expensive it really is to run/maintain a car (compared to NOT owning one), and see if he can keep it for 12 months...

Being an EA, i'm sure something will go wrong that will need mechanic's attention, so he will get the idea of repairing things, and having a car that is off the road for a (hopefully short) period of time.

Plus, the more he can save while he's already got a car, the better/newer car he can buy when he makes his own purchase decision.

He might be able to afford an EL/AU now... but if he saves for 12 months, he might find he'll be right to afford a BA/BF by the end of the year...

Hindsight is a beautiful thing... I wish I had have known things back when I was 18, that I know now... It certainly would have influenced some of my past purchases when I was young and knew everything....