Not to mention the occasional smoking, eating of fast food and drinking out of cups with or without lids while riding around, etc...the list is a very long one...

 

i'll give my two cents worth,15 years ago i put my daughter in a very nice 1972 318 v8 dodge dart 2 dr.htp.i painted it a bright yellow and installed bucket seats and console,it turned heads everywhere she went.well three weeks later as i was picking it up at the impound lot after she wrecked it,the lot owner said what a shame that happened to such a nice car.i fixed it up somewhat and let her drive it again.today she still has the car and claims she'll never sell it cause daddy built it for her [ahh the love of your child],so i repainted it this time with PPG basecoat clearcoat and reupholstered the seats and headliner and so much more,its because i love her and am willing to give it another chance,and at 29 she's more carefull...steve

 

Nice, Steve.
congratulations.

 

Well I seem to have started a stir among this forum about giving my car to my 16 yr old daughter and I just hope and pray it don't come back to kick me were it really hurts!? I have read the forum replies and appreciate the input and concerns. I just hope jealous hater kids don't take it out on this XK8 convertible! I have had this car for many yrs and time to pass the Jag lover torch onto my daughter! Lord help me!

 

As a father of three...now 22, 21 and 18 (girl/boy/boy) I too have first hand knowledge of what may lie ahead.

I full expected the boys to crack up their cars/lose their license within a year. Nothing. A few scrapes but nothing the "old lady" car they drove didn't already have.

My daughter, however, was a different story. Plowed moms car square into a curb within a week of first driving. Then got a 110 mph ticket in her first year of driving. Lost her license for a required 3 months then another three more months by mom and dad law. Only after one year of settling down thereafter did she get another car. A boring used Jetta (her grades were great). Since then (4 years) clean.

The difference? Both boys started driving at 17 and she started at 16. I am convinced waiting that one year makes a world of difference in judgement.

And I always wondered what happens to kids who are given the pinnacles of driving pleasure at the young age of 16. Where do they go from there when they have to buy their own car...Aston? Rolls? (Fill-in-the blank)? Unless someone is financing this habit for the rest of her life...there could be a reality check let-down when they are (hopefully) independent and need to buy their own wheels.

Don't mean to be a kill-joy. Just my 2 cents.