17 year old looking for BRZ as a first car.

[TimmyC]

I got my 2013 frs when half a year ago before that I just drove a 98 corolla for almost 2 years that I trashed. Currently I am 18 and wish I had gotten a beater car. Yes the twins look nice but I feel that I could never have fun in them. I'm scared to even turn sports mode on or traction control off. I feel as if I have to be extra safe and follow general traffic rules. However, if I have gotten a beater RWD I know I would drift the shit out of it. Simply because its already trashed. But for some reason with the FRS I feel obligated to baby her.

[STZ]

Originally Posted by KR-S 86

lol i saw your unedited post

i might start calling @Tcoat Tocat from now on

When I first joined, I thought he was Tocat from a first glance. It wasn't till a while in that I realized it was Tcoat.

Old habits die hard I guess.

[KR-S]

Originally Posted by STZ

When I first joined, I thought he was Tocat from a first glance. It wasn't till a while in that I realized it was Tcoat.

Old habits die hard I guess.

I think Tocat is a better name.

[ntron1]

Originally Posted by shawnie

as the title suggests I will at somepoint in the next year be getting my first car. I've practiced a lot in my fathers manual truck, so I do know how to drive a manual just as well as I know how to drive an automatic. The BRZ I'd be getting would most likely be something like this http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/invento...ting=127263679

Anyways, is it a decent first car? I'm a responsible kid and wouldn't push its limits.

You will be fine. it is slow and boring but looks cool so you can pick up chicks. My 17 yr old chose a WRX STI.

[MuseChaser]

OK... I probably shouldn't respond to this thread, but the "Dad" in me just won't shut up...

As a father of three sons who are now ages 25 and up, I would NEVER, repeat, NEVER provide a child (sorry.. you still are, O.P. Scientific fact. Not a toddler, of course, but your brain is still far from fully formed scientifically; the centers responsible for judgement and reasoning continue to develop into the mid-20's. When you ask your kids why they did something stupid, dangerous, or thoughtless and they respond, "I dunno..."... the really do NOT know. It ain't in there yet.) with a vehicle that virtually SCREAMS to be driven aggressively.

My father felt the same way. I learned to drive in a VW bus back in the 70s. Not exactly a vehicle that you'd race anyone in.

A few years ago, a particularly well-off father in my area lent his son his Ferrari on the kid's prom night. Sadly, the kid did not survive that seemingly kind gesture and is no longer with us.


When my kids went to college, they went without a car, until they needed one for internships that required daily travel. At that time, for the two youngest, I found a 1992 and a 1987 Volvo 240, respectively, that both needed some work. The kids and I headed out to the garage. Some of the work I did for them, some of it we did together, and some of it they did while I coached. Motor mounts, intake and exhaust manifold gaskets, full tuneups, bushings, timing belt (with a mechanic's help on that one, just to make sure), flame trap, water pumps, belts, hoses, brake lines, calipers, rotors, fluids, blah blah. What ever the car needed to be safe and reliable, we did. They both LOVED those cars, even though they weren't fast or sporty. The youngest still has his and still loves it, and the other one kept his for many years before it became difficult for him to keep running. They were unusual, conversation-starters, one of the safest cars on the road, and they KNEW the cars and had a sense of pride in what they had accomplished.

No offense to your dad, O.P... I'm sure he loves you very much, but what he is about to do for you is very stupid. I was the quintessential responsible HS kid, too.. great grades, played violin in orchestra, chess club, never drank or even swore, never got in trouble. Even though the cars I drove were my parents' cars (VW bus and Datsun B210), when nobody was in the car, I still drove much more aggressively than I should have, but was lucky enough to have not harmed anyone or myself. I'm fairly certain my own great kids did the same thing; my youngest got a speeding ticket taking his new-to-him Volvo to college the first time.. sigh. Glad he was in a Volvo.

Soo... NOW who's the oldest dude on this forum?

All my best, O.P. It's great your Dad is willing to do this for you, and that he loves you that much. Assuming you end up with a BRZ, which you KNOW I feel is a really bad idea, PLEASE realize that you are driving around a loaded death machine and you never know who it's going to be pointed at. True of any car... the BRZ will just tempt you to pull the trigger more than most, if you get the analogy.

Happy Friday!

Love,

Mr. Sunshine

[gtslow]

Originally Posted by MuseChaser

OK... I probably shouldn't respond to this thread, but the "Dad" in me just won't shut up...

As a father of three sons who are now ages 25 and up, I would NEVER, repeat, NEVER provide a child (sorry.. you still are, O.P. Scientific fact. Not a toddler, of course, but your brain is still far from fully formed scientifically; the centers responsible for judgement and reasoning continue to develop into the mid-20's. When you ask your kids why they did something stupid, dangerous, or thoughtless and they respond, "I dunno..."... the really do NOT know. It ain't in there yet.) with a vehicle that virtually SCREAMS to be driven aggressively.

My father felt the same way. I learned to drive in a VW bus back in the 70s. Not exactly a vehicle that you'd race anyone in.

A few years ago, a particularly well-off father in my area lent his son his Ferrari on the kid's prom night. Sadly, the kid did not survive that seemingly kind gesture and is no longer with us.


When my kids went to college, they went without a car, until they needed one for internships that required daily travel. At that time, for the two youngest, I found a 1992 and a 1987 Volvo 240, respectively, that both needed some work. The kids and I headed out to the garage. Some of the work I did for them, some of it we did together, and some of it they did while I coached. Motor mounts, intake and exhaust manifold gaskets, full tuneups, bushings, timing belt (with a mechanic's help on that one, just to make sure), flame trap, water pumps, belts, hoses, brake lines, calipers, rotors, fluids, blah blah. What ever the car needed to be safe and reliable, we did. They both LOVED those cars, even though they weren't fast or sporty. The youngest still has is an still loves it, and the other one kept his for many years before it became difficult for him to keep running. They were unusual, conversation-starters, one of the safest cars on the road, and they KNEW the cars and had a sense of pride in what they had accomplished.

No offense to your dad, O.P... I'm sure he loves you very much, but what he is about to do for you is very stupid. I was the quintessential responsible HS kid, too.. great grades, played violin in orchestra, chess club, never drank or even swore, never got in trouble. Even though the cars I drove were my parents' cars (VW bus and Datsun B210), when nobody was in the car, I still drove much more aggressively than I should have, but was lucky enough to have not harmed anyone or myself. I'm fairly certain my own great kids did the same thing; my youngest got a speeding ticket taking his new-to-him Volvo to college the first time.. sigh. Glad he was in a Volvo.

Soo... NOW who's the oldest dude on this forum?

All my best, O.P. It's great your Dad is willing to do this for you, and that he loves you that much. Assuming you end up with a BRZ, which you KNOW I feel is a really bad idea, PLEASE realize that you are driving around a loaded death machine and you never know who it's going to be pointed at. True of any car... the BRZ will just tempt you to pull the trigger more than most, if you get the analogy.

Happy Friday!

Love,

Mr. Sunshine

I was that kid 16 years ago: Great grades, good scholarships and such. I also ended up getting what was nearly a reckless driving ticket in my 86 Jeep cherokee. I then crashed my ae86 doing a high speed highway run where I ran my car into a buddy's RX-7 because I didn't know the limits of my car. That was expensive for a 20 year old. Fortunately my buddy's Dad was a body guy and all I had to pay for to fix his car was parts and paint.

Not saying that my experiences will be the OPs, but what does happen is a lot of those kids with more well-off parents than mine give those kids a car like an FR-S or BRZ. Since those cars are newer than the ones I had, when those kids get into crashes they get reported to insurance. That in turn drives up the cost to insure those cars for everyone. Make sure your Dad checks the cost to insure the vehicle with you driving it before you buy, if you go that route. As a 32 year old guy with a wife and 2 kids, it costs me almost as much to insure the FR-S (not much) as it would cost to insure a C6 Z06 Corvette. I've heard much worse stories on the forums.

My recommendation would be to talk it over with your Dad and drive a cheaper more mundane car for a year, prove to yourself and him that you can be responsible and trade that car in on your BRZ. Then again my N=1 experience might not be telling for you. Good luck on the car hunt.

[BlueSky]

17 year old + BRZ = Speeding, Tickets, possible Accident.......but so much pu$$y

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by gtslow

. Make sure your Dad checks the cost to insure the vehicle with you driving it before you buy, if you go that route. As a 32 year old guy with a wife and 2 kids, it costs me almost as much to insure the FR-S (not much) as it would cost to insure a C6 Z06 Corvette. I've heard much worse stories on the forums.

.

This
When I went shopping around for quotes the highest I got was 498 a month
a few tickets from back in the day mind you, but still.

[spicyricecake]

All the jealousy aside from the fact that you're blessed to own this car at 17, you should reconsider.

I got mine when I was 23, and I drove a 98 buick with 250k miles on it for 4 years. I'm not trying to argue that you need to drive a shitty car first, and if you feel as though you will not drift, hoon, drive above 70mph on a winding road and slide here and there, then sure go for it. If you think you will (and we all know you will, because this car does that to you), then get something else first...

Having a shitty car like for a while gave me the appreciation for having a nice car, and I literally did not go above 3k rpms for the first 2 months I owned the car. I didn't do my first launch until 6 months into ownership. and I didn't go on my first winding road cruise until I was able to downshift, heel-toe, and got used to the tail happyness of the car.

Bottom line is at 17 years old, most people are not going to be an experienced driver and you're gonna hate your life if you get into an accident at such a young age with a beautiful car.

All of this is irrelevant if your parents are rich and you don't really give a shit, so disregard it all.


tl;dr - Don't get a BRZ/FRS until you're more experienced in driving, and learn to appreciate the value of a 20k+ car unless you're dad is rich as hell and you don't care

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by MuseChaser

Soo... NOW who's the oldest dude on this forum?

All my best, O.P. It's great your Dad is willing to do this for you, and that he loves you that much. Assuming you end up with a BRZ, which you KNOW I feel is a really bad idea, PLEASE realize that you are driving around a loaded death machine and you never know who it's going to be pointed at. True of any car... the BRZ will just tempt you to pull the trigger more than most, if you get the analogy.

Happy Friday!

Love,

Mr. Sunshine

Again there are MUCH older guys than you here Muse.
I disagree with much of what you said about young people. It is the young guys that you feel are not developed enough to drive these "loaded death machines" that operate some of the most destructive and dangerous equipment in the world since they are the ones usually tasked with defending our freedoms. How is it even remotely possible that an 18 year old can operate a massively complex weapons system but is not ready to drive a car. I know that I am going back a ways but during Vietnam the average age of helicopter crews was 21 years old. This of course means that many were well under 20.
I know older and more "mature" guys that can't drive their Buicks worth crap and 18 year olds that can out drive me so like anything else there are good and bad in any group. To lump them all together is just not realistic nor fair. Anybody driving any car can become a death machine it is not restricted to the young.
And please no "kids these days" responses since our parents said the same thing about us and theirs about them and so on to the beginning of human kind.

[NyC Zn6]

Originally Posted by TimmyC

I got my 2013 frs when half a year ago before that I just drove a 98 corolla for almost 2 years that I trashed. Currently I am 18 and wish I had gotten a beater car. Yes the twins look nice but I feel that I could never have fun in them. I'm scared to even turn sports mode on or traction control off. I feel as if I have to be extra safe and follow general traffic rules. However, if I have gotten a beater RWD I know I would drift the shit out of it. Simply because its already trashed. But for some reason with the FRS I feel obligated to baby her.

Once you finish paying off for her...beat on her like a red-headed stepchild lol.

[MuseChaser]

Originally Posted by spicyricecake

....
All of this is irrelevant if your parents are rich and you don't really give a shit, so disregard it all.....

I dunno... in the unfortunate circumstances of loss of control leading to an accident, the other passenger in the car and other impacted innocent drivers on the road may find it quite relevant. It AIN'T all about YOU.

Barry

[MisterSheep]

Originally Posted by go_a_way1

I think its a great car to start. My first car was a 300zx and when I was 19 I bought a brand new FRS right out of the showroom and have no regrets.

I would drive a lot of cars before I buy though if I was you. The FRS/BRZ is a car you will eaither love or hate. I would hate to see you trade it in for a stang after only a year or so. Make sure it is the right car for you before you buy one.

Wait........

My first car that I bought was a 300zx when I was 18.....

Weird....

[MuseChaser]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Again there are MUCH older guys than you here Muse.
I disagree with much of what you said about young people. It is the young guys that you feel are not developed enough to drive these "loaded death machines" that operate some of the most destructive and dangerous equipment in the world since they are the ones usually tasked with defending our freedoms. How is it even remotely possible that an 18 year old can operate a massively complex weapons system but is not ready to drive a car. I know that I am going back a ways but during Vietnam the average age of helicopter crews was 21 years old. This of course means that many were well under 20.
I know older and more "mature" guys that can't drive their Buicks worth crap and 18 year olds that can out drive me so like anything else there are good and bad in any group. To lump them all together is just not realistic nor fair. Anybody driving any car can become a death machine it is not restricted to the young.
And please no "kids these days" responses since our parents said the same thing about us and theirs about them and so on to the beginning of human kind.

Points taken, T, and agreed with. I may have been unclear, or you may have misunderstood my point of view. My issue is not whether or not folks at the age of 17 and 18 have the TECHNICAL skills (hand/eye coordination, reflexes, understanding of physical forces, etc.) to drive, whether it's on a country road or race track. That's not my point at all. My point is that, in my vast experience working with young people, MANY have a very unrealistic view of their own indestructibility and many do not consider the effect of their actions on others around them; their "sphere" is a lot smaller than it will be as they mature and begin to see larger and larger pictures of life. It's not a slam... it's just part of the maturation process.

The examples you site above illustrate your point well, but have very little to do with my point. Military personnel and heavy machine operators are operating, usually, under very strict guidelines, oversight by superiors (much more so than the odd traffic cop on the highway for civilians) and have had a great deal of training. None of that can be said for a 17 year old on public highways in his first car.

I agree.. it's definitely not a "kids these days" issue... it's just kids since time immemorial. The self vs. others view hasn't progressed as far is it will later in life to them, that's all.

I wasn't referring to the person behind the wheel as a "death machine," I was referring to the machine itself.. the car. We ALL drive machines capable of killing us and others in an instant. It is up to us to treat them as such, respect their awesome abilities both positive and intensely negative, and be ever mindful of our actions. Again, that is increasingly the province of maturity.

I like you, man... this is the first time I think we've disagreed. I feel bad. I hope some of what I said makes some sense.

Oh... you and I are two years apart. I'll let you guess which way!

Best to you,

Barry