NFT: Is it a bad idea to buy my 18 yr old daughter a convertible?

She was slightly older, in college, but loved it and never had a problem. I wanted to get her something nice since she was traveling to college 3 hours away.

of course I worked my ass off on his farm without pay, but that's another story. I didn't crash the Camaro. I crashed other cars, but not that one.

If my daughter told me sh won’t be happy with anything but a mustang. I’d tell her to find employment. And if I did buy one it would have a six in it as a motor.

In comment 15356766 UConn4523 said:

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In comment 15356758 Dr. D said: Quote: she's been driving a Ford Escape for almost 3 years (got her license at 15) and she's only had a minor fender bender about 1 year ago. I feel bad prying but you did start the thread - why does she need a new car, is the current one no longer working properly? Does she want one just because? We can't really help you on the later - up to you on how you want to do that. I know how i'd handle it though.

The Escape is our 2nd car and will return to being that. Daughter is going away to college. Maybe I'm trying to be too nice, I don't know.

In comment 15356780 thevett said:

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If my daughter told me sh won’t be happy with anything but a mustang. I’d tell her to find employment. And if I did buy one it would have a six in it as a motor.

It has a V6

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except if you roll out and if that's the first thing that comes to mind, maybe a Mustang isn't the best choice.

That said, it depends on the model. Base Mustangs can be pretty tame, relatively. I don't know if I'd hand the keys over for a GT, though.

not the vehicle.

In comment 15356793 UConn4523 said:

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We are (have a 529 acct), but she's been dual enrollment for her Jr and Sr yrs of HS, so she should get her BS in 2.5-3 yrs.

so go for it.

But i'm of the other mold - already paying for college, drove a car that she didn't pay for for 3 years and now wants a new one of her choosing? No shot, but that's just me.

So is the question about the safety/reliability of a mustang, or whether you should get her what she wants? 2 different questions with 2 very different sets of answers.

She had already proven to be a very good driver with her permit which she got when she was 15 (we live in Florida). She played competitive softball and I had her drive to many of her tournaments, some which were hundreds of miles away. However I wouldn't get her a convertible. I did a lot of research and the mustang hardtop had great safety ratings.

She had the car all through high school and college. It is still going with 130 thousand miles and I would do it again.

If your daughter is responsible and has shown to be a good driver, go for it.

In comment 15356797 PEEJ said:

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not the vehicle.

Exactly

Better than anyone here. If I were in that position, I d do it for my daughter.

GT V8(4.6L)? V6? GT500 (Coyote 5.0)?

ALL of these produce a LOT of HP. Even the 6. I have a 2009 GT as my "play" car. It's a shitload of car, and I have very few mods on it. Be careful and be sure she can handle it.

In comment 15356776 Dr. D said:

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of course I worked my ass off on his farm without pay, but that's another story. I didn't crash the Camaro. I crashed other cars, but not that one.

When I turned 16 in 78, my dad was going to sell me his 73 SS (350 V8) for 400 bucks. My mom put the kibosh on that instantly. I loved that car.

In comment 15356793 UConn4523 said:

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Government?

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In comment 15356814 rnargi said:

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GT V8(4.6L)? V6? GT500 (Coyote 5.0)? ALL of these produce a LOT of HP. Even the 6. I have a 2009 GT as my "play" car. It's a shitload of car, and I have very few mods on it. Be careful and be sure she can handle it.

I would never get her a GT. It's a 3.7L V6

Doc, you know your daughter. If she's reckless then don't do it. If she's responsible and she'll be cautious, that's a really fun car for a young adult. She'll love it.

I wanted to help give you an answer, as safety testing, including rollover tests for SUV's and minivans are standard and even many normal cars to test the rigidity and strength of the A/B pillars and roof.

As late as the 2015 model, the Mustang has no roll-protection. The standard in many convertibles is to have rear seat head cushions pop-up within ~125 milliseconds after a roll sensor detects an event, and in that case it's pretty damn safe. As the Mustang back seats aren't used all that often...bonus. But, I couldn't even find the primary front seats having a pop-up head cushion roll bar.

Ask the seller straight up; if there's no rollover protection, I wouldn't buy the car myself let alone a son or daughter.

In comment 15356830 Dr. D said:

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In comment 15356814 rnargi said: Quote: GT V8(4.6L)? V6? GT500 (Coyote 5.0)? ALL of these produce a LOT of HP. Even the 6. I have a 2009 GT as my "play" car. It's a shitload of car, and I have very few mods on it. Be careful and be sure she can handle it. I would never get her a GT. It's a 3.7L V6

Then if she's a safe driver, I think that's reasonable. Just remember, the 3.7 still generates 300+ HP. It's a lot of car.

I have a lot of track time in my own cars and a lot of those supercar rental laps (hitting 145mph on the straight in a Ferrari 488). In addition, I consider myself a legitimate defensive driver due to experience with fast cars on track in my proximity and at least five situations where I successfully evaded an accident. The worth was a fully-stopped mile of cars on the parkway immediately over a blind crest in the Parkway North.

I had to use max ABS and offset the car towards the lane lines to avoid the rear of the car in front, then immediately look behind me, but thankfully I was now visible at the top of the crest with brake lights.

My point being: I'm not worried about my driving. I'm worried about some real massive idiots out there. The kind of type who don't understand driving too slow in the left or right lane for a given road isn't safer, but more dangerous. The German Autobahn unlimited sections don't have worse safety records than American highways, because Germans (and surrounding EU citizens are taught to drive the correct way: left lane is for passing only.

The accidents that are caused on the Autobahn are primarily due to the speed differential between travelling cars. Keep your speed relative to your lane and the lane into which you're moving over to. Then you'll be fine.

Off of the highways, it comes down to luck when some asshole runs a red light or is drunk.

Credentials: motor-racing enthusiest with the goal of amatuer racing one day (my last two cars were even sporty with the near-extinct manual transmission!), 0 accidents with ~20 years on the road, never even pulled over by a cop (well, except when I borrowed my mom's car to go to university classes and she forgot to renew the registration; he let me go with a warning).

I hope this helps.

didn't really want to work with that dealer anyway (long story). I'm looking at another one; has about 10K more mileage, but it has a hardtop.

is whether you trust her with a 300 hp car. T hi ose things get up and go, even the base model I4

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For a young driver even with the V6. Tough call. Good luck.

the car she's been driving has 240 HP. Obviously I know 300 is (25%) more than 240.

In comment 15356879 Dr. D said:

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the car she's been driving has 240 HP. Obviously I know 300 is (25%) more than 240.

The 240 is also in a much heavier vehicle

In comment 15356884 Mike in NY said:

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In comment 15356879 Dr. D said: Quote: the car she's been driving has 240 HP. Obviously I know 300 is (25%) more than 240. The 240 is also in a much heavier vehicle

I just checked and they're actually not that different ~3500 lbs. Based on the wt range I found, the Mustang might be 100 lbs lighter. Don't know if that's a huge diff.

In comment 15356897 Banks said:

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man, I wish.

Mustangs are RWD correct? Will she need snow tires?

In comment 15356913 Jim in Forest Hills said:

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Mustangs are RWD correct? Will she need snow tires?

We live in FL. I probably wouldn't consider a Mustang up north.

Kids can drive where we live at 14. But I made sure it was the 6 cylinder version.

If you live in Florida that's a perfect climate for a convertible just stay away from the higher HP options for the Mustang

In comment 15356865 Ten Ton Hammer said:

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That’s my take too.

We lost a dear family friends daughter when she lost control of a mustang in Virginia several years back. She was 19 at the time and her dad is a mechanic, she grew up in a shop and around cars all her life.

Wanted and got the Stang, and it ended up being too much car for her. RIP.

Sorry Dr. D don’t mean to say that’s what will happen but it was the first thing I thought about when I saw the thread. Second thought was don’t do it.

driving in a Gran Prix GTP - supercharged V6 with 240 hp. Yes a bigger car, but still pretty strong. They all survived without incident.

Dr. D's daughter is not a novice driver as she is in her 3rd year of driving.

Mostly it proves out. Kids eventually crash their first car. Buy them a cheap beater. After the crash or 1 year, help them buy a practical car. When they have their 1st job you can guide them, providing $ if necessary, to their 1st nice car. I don't like giving brand new esp higher end cars to kids that didn't earn it through their own job and income.

I had convertibles my whole life no issues

/

In comment 15356990 D HOS said:

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Mostly it proves out. Kids eventually crash their first car. Buy them a cheap beater. After the crash or 1 year, help them buy a practical car. When they have their 1st job you can guide them, providing $ if necessary, to their 1st nice car. I don't like giving brand new esp higher end cars to kids that didn't earn it through their own job and income.

Yup. Perfect first car:

whatever you get her.... and I do not think "getting good grades" counts.

In comment 15356754 Archer said:

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I always procured stick shift cars for my kids This was done for a variety of reasons You cant drive a stick and use a cell phone simultaneously Their friends had no idea how to drive the car so I did not worry about others driving the car I wanted them to learn how to drive a stick Manual cars were less money than automatic cars I also got the safest compact available (used Audis)

Wow. That’s really smart. Great parenting idea

ones where a dent just added to the ambiance. They were 16 though.

In comment 15357095 EricJ said:
[quote] whatever you get her.... and I do not think "getting good grades" counts. [/quote

I don't either. That may be part of a package, but alone, doesn't mean much. Here in GA good grades will get you an insurance discount and a voucher for discounted (possibly free) driving school.

In comment 15356743 penkap75 said:

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Tons of videos of idiot Mustang drivers wrecking their cars, especially the solid rear axle models.

V6 model will be enough for a non enthusiast girl.

Plus, women aren't the demographic giving these cars the bad name.

In comment 15356854 jamison884 said:

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I have a lot of track time in my own cars and a lot of those supercar rental laps (hitting 145mph on the straight in a Ferrari 488). In addition, I consider myself a legitimate defensive driver due to experience with fast cars on track in my proximity and at least five situations where I successfully evaded an accident. The worth was a fully-stopped mile of cars on the parkway immediately over a blind crest in the Parkway North. I had to use max ABS and offset the car towards the lane lines to avoid the rear of the car in front, then immediately look behind me, but thankfully I was now visible at the top of the crest with brake lights. My point being: I'm not worried about my driving. I'm worried about some real massive idiots out there. The kind of type who don't understand driving too slow in the left or right lane for a given road isn't safer, but more dangerous. The German Autobahn unlimited sections don't have worse safety records than American highways, because Germans (and surrounding EU citizens are taught to drive the correct way: left lane is for passing only. The accidents that are caused on the Autobahn are primarily due to the speed differential between travelling cars. Keep your speed relative to your lane and the lane into which you're moving over to. Then you'll be fine. Off of the highways, it comes down to luck when some asshole runs a red light or is drunk. Credentials: motor-racing enthusiest with the goal of amatuer racing one day (my last two cars were even sporty with the near-extinct manual transmission!), 0 accidents with ~20 years on the road, never even pulled over by a cop (well, except when I borrowed my mom's car to go to university classes and she forgot to renew the registration; he let me go with a warning). I hope this helps.

A few things I see that are problems for drivers in general (not going to single out young drivers):

1) Not looking far enough ahead when driving
2) Poor anticipation skills (ties to #1)
3) Too much ego for right of way scenarios (i.e. it's my right of way, so I won't slow down for a car that could enter my lane/path)
4) Lane discipline

Not everyone will have great reaction time, or elite car control skills. That's ok......however, for the most part those factors translate more for track use than street.

If people are above average in all 4 of those skills, accidents will go way down. Just consider that in real racing and some stunt car precision driving, the amount of cars in super close proximity to each other that don't hit each other..........and now compare that to actual driving. Night and day difference.

I was originally going to add oversteer control (i.e. fishtailing).....which I feel is important in the states that get snow, but also helpful in the dry of course with the more powerful RWD cars. If you want to call yourself a real enthusiast driver, you have to get this skill dialed in on some level.

To your point, the track stuff helps a lot. Lots of fun too. A real shame it costs money to do these things, otherwise many more would be doing so.

Have you tried going to a drift school? Epic level of fun. The one issue I have with most schools is they don't want to encourage you to exceed the limit (for good reason), but outside of skidpads, nowhere else to do it safely. Drift school is all about the loss of control, and the many counterintuitive ways to control a car going sideways.

Rally school is great too, haven't done yet.

The faster you drive the more severe the consequences of an accident. Wreck at 55 and you’ll probably walk away but at 85 your chances of death or serious injury are dramatically increased. Go 90 or 100 and you’re almost certainly going to perish in a wreck no matter the vehicle. That’s just physics.

So it wouldn’t be the convertible aspect that would worry me as much as the speed and power of the Mustang. And I’d probably worry more about my daughter’s boyfriend driving the car. The most dangerous animal on the planet is the young male. But, the truth is that so much is left to chance. You can get good and banged up in a Prius or a big SUV too. You can die riding a bike or skiing or walking to church. Plenty of peril in life. Best to enjoy and have fun while you’re young.

Also, believe it or not, some years of mustangs make damn good used cars.

There are a few reasons to go with the 6-cylinder.
No one has beat the car up racing around in it.
The 6-cylinder is a good reliable engine.
It will also be the cheapest for a used mustang.

When searching for it just pick the Ford Mustang Convertible Base as the trim level. They will all be 6-cylinders

is for my daughter to be driving around with her top down.

In comment 15357080 Jim in Fairfax said:

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In comment 15356990 D HOS said: Quote: Mostly it proves out. Kids eventually crash their first car. Buy them a cheap beater. After the crash or 1 year, help them buy a practical car. When they have their 1st job you can guide them, providing $ if necessary, to their 1st nice car. I don't like giving brand new esp higher end cars to kids that didn't earn it through their own job and income. Yup. Perfect first car:

Lol - I was about to post the same picture. (I love when the guy thinks it was vandalized.)