My Son & The 2004 S-2000 Honda Convertible

My husband currently drives this car. It’s shiney yellow with black interior and of course convertible top.



The Kid turns 16 in July. We’ve been arguing about giving him this car for 2 years. I guess we have 5 months left.



I say NO! Are You Crazy? It’s cool, it’s a convertibe, it’s hot, it’s not a car for a 1st time driving teen.



Husband says YES! Are You Crazy? It’s less car than it looks like. It’s a standard and a two-seater which means friends can’t drive it and we trust our son.



Who wins here?

As long as he knows he has to pay for everything, let him have it. I.E. Gas, insurance(probably need 2 fulltime jobs to pay for this alone), maintenance(oil changes, clutches that get worn out from burnouts, new tires, etc).
Temptation to impress friends will always be present, no matter the age.

At 16 years of age? This forum is not for personal advice, but I must say don’t do this. Too many parents (mostly fathers) want to relive their youth through their children. Do what’s best for him and make a tough decision.

Sorry, I didn’t know the rules.

Yes he knows that, plus Dad told him he has to have the Deductible Insurance $$ in the bank as well.

Nah, it’s not a big deal, you can ask for advice like that here. It’s like Car Talk, if you can relate it to a car somehow, you can ask it here.

Here’s the thing: how fast can that car go? It’s a pretty quick little machine and you can bet that your son will be eager to know just exactly how fast it can go. I think it probably tops out around 140 or 150. Can you picture your 16 year old son behind the wheel of a car traveling 150 mph? Because I promise he will be going that fast at some point.

I misspoke. I read the rules, but I also searched and thus saw quite a few teen, personal questions so I thought I could get some sound help here. I won’t bother you again.

I think you need to re-read what I said, I said it’s perfectly fine for you to post questions like that here. If you can relate it to a car, you can ask your question here, and your question is certainly car-related.

I think I started all this so let me make a point. When I stated that this forum was not for personal advice I was commenting on my reply, not on the appropriateness of the question. The question was rightly about a car; my response was purely personal. I felt strongly enough about this issue to go over the edge myself, not the person asking the question. That said, my answer stands, and it is absolutely correct. I have made that mistake.

If the guy makes good or bad decisions, the car won’t make any difference. I could damage anything. My friends wouldn’t all confirm it, just Jeff, Wayne, John Paul, John, Phil, Bruce, Brian, Tom, Mike, Rich, Norman, Bob, Marcel and Giulio…

OK, you’re talking about giving a 16 year old boy access to 240 hp at 8,300 RPM in a car that weighs just a tad over 2800 LBS. Do you think for one minute that he won’t attempt to use it?

Does Dad really hate this kid deep down in his heart?

Is Dad the beneficiary of a hefty life insurance policy on his son?

Unless you want a dead kid, don’t do it.

He HAS priced insurance, hasn’t he?
I did a ballpark estimate on Allstate.com for a 16 y/o male with no prior coverage on a 2004 s2k. With $2000 deductible for collision and $1000 deducible for comprehensive, you’re looking at $2110 for the basic coverage for 6 months, thats over $350/month. If you go the cheap deductible route($100 for each), you’re looking at just over $3000 for 6 months. And that’s just insurance, can he get a job that can give him enough hours in a month to pay just for his insurance? With the gas it needs(91+ octane, lets assume $3.20/gallon for this), will he be able to afford gas AND insurance? What about tires? 2 different sized tired means different prices for each set of tires(front and back)

Do you trust him? That’s the main thing.

Trust or not, adolescent hormones and impulsiveness will eventually have an impact on the way that he drives that powerful little machine. And, I can pretty much guarantee that the result of that impulsiveness will not be pretty.

There is something to be said for NOT giving a child everything that he wants and instead, only giving him what he needs. In addition to possibly making him safer in this instance, this is also a good way to build character.

Depends on your teen.I drove my parents(dad’s) 1988 M3(street legal track car) occasionally and was safe at 16-18. In many ways a very similar car. You have to work (rev) to make it go fast, so around town its a mellow car.