this would be my point of view, as a young adult, who was given a nice car by his parents.
my parents fully paid for my ES300 when i was still in college.

I think it is ok for parents to buy their kids nice cars, yes, doesn't really matter the price tag if the parents can afford it.

My friend just got a Cayenne S, 18 years old .... driving a 80k SUV. My roomate back in school, used to drive a S430. Now, he's working, and he's going up to the S55.

And, there's a million other young kids out there who drive nice expensive cars, which are fully paid by their parents.

Why do I think its ok for parents to give their kids nice stuff? not only cars, but also the latest computers, the newest playstation/xbox ... brand name clothes? But of course, this is assuming the kid lives up to the parents expectations, in terms of school and behaviour.

Because it sets the kids into a higher standard of living. Since young, I have been given the best ... the best school, the best computer, cars, etc. So, this gives me a kind of motivation myself. That I have had the good lifestyle. So, I must work very very hard, to acheive the same level that my parents have given me, or if possible, exceed the level.

In terms of cars, maybe put it this way...in terms of BMW as an analogy. Today, you are driving the 3 series, next year, you want to upgrade to the 5 series, and a few years later, wont you want a 7 series?

For me, personally, the lifestyle that my parents gave me, led me to push myself even harder. So that now, I can sit nicely in a office in midtown manhattan, and enjoy a better life.

Tim

 

In my case I'm a lucky guy. As a reward for recieiving a scholarhsip to attend college, my father bought me a cpo ES300. There is this Philippine custom where if someone offers you food or a luxury automobile and you don't accept, he/she gets offended. So, I accept and respect my father by doing the best I can in college. My father pays for the insurance as well. Sometimes, I feel guilty driving around in that car. There are people in this world who have to work their a$$ off in school, go to work to pay their own tuition, and still can't afford a car. As for how much a parent should spend on their kid's car, I guess it should be if it it's in the budget to do so. My father told me he wouldn't get me a new car no matter how cheap it was because of insurance premiums. Also, your kid must be doing good in school in the first place; not when you buy the car first and then the kid will do good in school. If you give your hard-working kid a car, it's a reward. You give a lazy kid a car, you just spoiling him/her.

 

I used to know a friend around here before he started college, and at 18 yrs old, he had himself a black 2000 S430 as his primary ride throughout the last year of high school. He told me that he paid for it fully by Ebaying various items like jewelry and vintage items (still not sure to this day if I believe him). At any rate, can you believe a kid at 18 driving a luxury flagship sedan around high school (with many others driving old Civics, Sentras, Camrys, etc.)? Blows my mind

 

If they are lucky, they will be driving the 15yr old classic modded Lexus GS300.

 

A lot of kids at my old high school drove nice cars. Sometimes i can't justify what they get, but if they're like UBER-RICH, then i guess it's all relative.

The thing is they had to perform to get them. I'm talking like 4.0's 1500+ SATs etc.

I knew a kid now at NYU that got a 540i for getting 1580 on his SAT. Or my buddy mike that got a 750iL for getting only one B through high school.

Either that or just be stupid rich.

Like my buddies Earl and Ed (adopted, those lucky ****s), their dad owns the the Padres. They get an allowance like somewhere between $200K to 250K a year. When they started driving they both got S600s...go figure right? Then they got Escalades and G-wagons....
Or this other chick Marianne in one of my old classes...she got a new CL500 when she turned 16....or the idiot who 1st had a S4, crashed it, got a M3, crashed it, then got a C43.

It's all relative.

But i say to the person who wants to give their kid a car. Make it a safe one. The price of the car is only relative.

 

i agree with you bro. it's all relative and about being open mineded about what goes more than what it seems. it can be described as one-track minded if a person sees a 16-yr old driving a cl and start saying s@@@ about the kid. to some other ppl who take bus, what are we then?

 

There's a kid at my school who as a first car got an older mustang mach 1. then a brand new 350z. then a little later, a brand new top of the line ford truck. oh and because there are so many places to go offroading in kansas , he got a brand new wrangler, so now he has all 4. this kid has done nothing with life, is braindead: thought oklahoma state wanted him to play baseball for them because they sent him a letter. (caltech sent me a letter, i think they want me on scholarship ) also claims his cars carry an 8 second 1/4 mile and a 9 second quarter mile (stock). i really don't get why parents do this to their children. it's all good though when i'm rolling around in an sc3/4 next year

 

sorry to say, but if my kids want to mod their cars, they need to go out and make their damn money. i am in no way supporting them. i will just get them a simple used car that's all.

 

I've seen it alluded to in a few posts but when mmarshal wrote "wheels" in the title, I think he meant it in terms of "car" and not modding a car with wheels. When I came into the thread, I thought it was about modding and my first response was "No way!" After reading his post, I realized he meant what car to get the kids.

Just wanted to clarify in case it is not obvious to some unless mmarshall comes back and says I was wrong.

 

"Wheels" means a car , of course.

 

There are no 15-year-old GS300's that I know of. The car was not in production that far back.

 

I suspect Neo means his kids, in the not too distant future, but at which point the GS series will be >15yrs old.

And a good idea about ER visit (and I have some older colleagues who did just that with their kids, also illustrating some of the downside to recreational drug use in the process) but the reality today is that, due to both liability concerns and privacy issues (aka the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, HIPPA), such observers will probably not be allowed in th foreseeable future.

 

Haha, I think he means by the time they can drive, his GS300 will be 15 years old.

 

I think the quintesential(sp?) car for a teen is a used Toyota corolla. It does everything well and nothing bad. It's not too fast, not too slow and is very dependable. Even a used civic... same thing.

 

LOL. Some of you got what I meant.