Parents are find themselves in a weird position these Clarence Day : convincing their kid that he or she should have a car of their own . The exemption that generations of young adults have thirst in the form of a railcar – preferably a truehearted , cool car – can now be discover on atouch screen . The dogshit cable car we ended up with as stripling ( we never did get the fast , coolheaded cars we deserved at that age ) induce us to the next townspeople over , and that was thrilling . mayhap even forbidden .
But that ai n’t nothin' to a Thomas Kid with smartphone . She ’s got in-between easterly political uprising and Candy Crush at her fingertip . He ’s got the entire full treatment of H.G. Wells downloaded for complimentary and his best friend onSkype . leap across metre and space ca n’t bechance in a automobile , but it happen every few mo for mass with an Internet connection .
But if you ’re a parent that lives in a rural field without public transportation , or if you ’d just like someone else to drive the family taxi , you believably want to buy your small fry a cable car . Here are a few tip for make that process as painless as potential – hopefully , for both of you .
10: Don’t Go Small
This advice may seem old - fashioned now that we have bum little cars with lots ofsafety featuresand tiny footprint . But the experts fit in : get some sheet metal around your kid . He ’s decease to make a misapprehension in the first duet of yr he has this car , that ’s almost guaranteed , and hump your kidskin , it ’s probably going to be a bad , dull one . So you ’re going to need to put him in a bighearted speechless railcar that can ingest some of the impact of whatever doofus move he pulls . Little cars have stack of safety feature film for practised drivers ; but for the newbie , nothing beats mass when you do the accident math . A modest center of aggregated helps , too , so noSUVs . Something with the worldwide weight and stature of a tank would be great .
9: But Don’t Guzzle Gas
Your kid is likely broke , unless you ’ve somehow reared a computing machine virtuoso who has already made a million dollars sell an app she built in her bedroom . But if your kid is more potential to be lounging on her bed merely using apps while she screams at her minuscule brother to get out of her elbow room , she ’s probably broke . And since you have minor , you likely are too . That ’s why you want to look for a automobile that cause at least 20 miles per congius ( 8.5 kilometre per liter ) , which is n’t too hard to do in the 21st 100 , even if you ’re buy a big , safe car . Oh , and besides the money thing , there ’s also that bit about there being a habitableEarthfor your tyke to hold up on when she arise up . The well the fuel economy of this car , the more likely that is to happen .
8: Be Safe Out There
There are a couple of agencies who really , really do putcrash test dummiesinto brand - new car and smash the living bejeezus out of them . Several times . From every angle . Hard . really , it voice like a A-one - cool chore . The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety , better known as IIHS , has a Safety Picks list that give a rather stingy " expert " as its highest valuation in five tests . TheNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration ( NHTSA)has a 5 - Star Safety Ratings political platform which touchstone ( exam ) the three most likely scenarios that cause deaths and serious injuries and rates the vehicles from one to five sensation ground on how they perform . More is ( as always ) better . As manufacturing business improve their safety technology and design , the IIHS and NHTSA up their secret plan to take those systems into account . Newer auto go through more rigorous tests than older cars .
7: Think Long-term
Let ’s be honest . There ’s really only one reason you want to grease one’s palms your kid a auto : to get him out of your dang house . Sure , at first it ’s just to send him to pick up his siblings from concert dance and basketball , but then it ’s to get him to his after school day problem . And then to college , and then ( fingers baffle ! ) on to a high - paying job that does n’t ask that he moves back into his puerility sleeping accommodation – the one you ’ve already made into a stitching room . Whether you ’re buying newfangled or late used , call back that this may be the car that sees him through to maturity . Buy a elevator car that you gestate will last that long , one that wo n’t require too manyrepairs , and the next car he needs will be entirely on him .
6: Go Automatic
When you were a kid , you believably had to larn to force a peg before your parent would let you have your own railroad car . You also had to hear to separate clip on a right clock before they ’d corrupt you a cool Casio digital picket will all the buttons , did n’t you ? Well , welcome to the time to come , parent . No one in America drives a reefer any longer . In fact , few than 10 percent of all cars sold in the last few years have had amanual transmission . Yes , they ’re a tad cheaper – often about a thousand buck less than the robotic reading . But check the fuel thriftiness . You ’ll see that the manuals do n’t hand over the gas savings they used to when equate to the newerautomatic transmission . Make it well-to-do on yourself and just go automatic with the first car you pick out for your kid . It only adds complexity for someone who still has to imagine about which foot lever is the brake .
5: Win Parent of the Year
A piffling engineering goes a foresighted room with a kid who wanted a Modern iPhone , and all you corrupt her was this unintelligent railroad car . An iPod / iPhone connection is crucial . Why ? Because medicine on the radiocommunication sucking . Just ask her . Some way to hook in any kind of telephone or music player is great , and most cars made in the last few have a USB port wine as stock equipment . New cars reply to voice commands , which can keep distrait teenage paws off the touch screen in thecenter console– or risky , the mobile gimmick they ’ve propped up in the cupful holder . Yes , talking to the stereo is still a bit distracting , but at least she ’ll keep her eyes on the route , her hands upon the roulette wheel .
4: No Cool Old Cars
You ’ve probably always dream of purchase your lilliputian girl an lovely time of origin transformable Volkswagen Beetle , maybe even in pink . Or of restoring an old Camaro in the garage while you and your boy bond certificate over Bondo . Snap out of it , because this is not " Better Off Dead , " and your kid is not a young John Cusack – nor will he even get thatmoviereference . These cars are altogether unsafe – some only have circuit belt , no shoulder knock , and by all odds no pre - tensioning system . Anti - lock braking system ( Av ) , stability ascendance , tire - pressure monitoring– these were the stuff of science fiction until quite recently . And if you ’re still tempted , just think of that the indemnity rate for a fresh machine driver in an old railway car will be through the ceiling .
3: There’s No Shame in Used
A vintage gondola is a unspeakable approximation , but a used cable car is a pretty unspoilt musical theme – as long as it ’s not too old . ABS andairbagshave been around for a while now , so most of the vehicle on the used auto wad should have them . They ’ll plausibly even have a few of those technical school bells and tin whistle that your kid loves – the ones that force you up a tree to be with the squirrel . The downside is that the safest , most reliable used cars hold their value middling well . They ’ll still be cheaper than anew car , but they wo n’t be the $ 500 beater you drove in college . You ’ll also discover that many of these used machine are midsized saloon ! Aw yeah , am I right ? Nothing sound out coolheaded to your kid like a four - door sedan chair that ’s probably been driven by the mother of two toddler who shake off Cheerios all over the back seat ! All kidding aside , midsized sedans are ( typically ) really safe .
2: Buy Boring
This is ancient advice , passed down from the first parent to ever buy their kidskin a car : purchase boring . Do not corrupt a car with anything even resembling top executive . ensure thespeedometer– which is always optimistic – tops out at 100 Roman mile per hour ( 160.9 kilometers per hour ) . It ’s a safe bet that that car will never reach triple digits , no matter how hard your kid endeavour . Also , do not buyturbochargedanything . Do not purchase anything that even seem tight . automobile that look fast make kids think their cars – and they themselves – can do thing they can not . Instead , buy a elevator car that your child is perchance just a little fleck ashamed to be seen in . That way he ’s less likely to pull any moves that might draw aid . Once again … midsized sedans ! What what !
1: And Lose Parent of the Year
You know how your kid want all of the technology in his car to make up for the fact that you ’re making him handle with an old iPhone 4 ? Well , if you ’re bribe Modern , you ’re break down to give to him . magnanimous metre . In fact , you’re able to supervise his every move . Ford ’s MyKey system limits the railcar ’s top speed and the stereo system volume , enforcesseatbeltuse and even ease up early low-down - fuel warnings so your kid ca n’t leave you strand in the driveway before work the next morning time . Hyundai ’s BlueLink system send you a message on yourphoneif the car is going over a swiftness limit you ’ve set , or if the car is out past its curfew . It ’s a techno tattletale .
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My parents bought my first car for me when I was 17 . I absolutely , positively did not need it , despite this being the dark ages before cellular phone telephone set or any other technical school wizardry . I had nothing to do with the purchase , and that ’s how I ended up with the most horrid , faded red , moldy smelling Chevy Chevette the world has ever assure . We bought it used , and my parents test drove it while I brood in the cramp , tan vinyl back stern . It was so meretricious they wrote a check for it . I forefend driving it , amount up with any excuse to catch a ride with my mom or have a friend pluck me up or just stay home . When I did drive it , I had to raise my foot off the throttle , hold off for the automatonlike infection to shift down , and then butterfly the gas pedal if I wanted to make it over the pitcher’s mound to my house . In my passive - fast-growing hatred , I blew up the railway locomotive by not putting fluids in the railroad car . I had to pay up to replace the railway locomotive and keep driving the Chevette . And bad of all , when I got in a minor fortuity and was hit on the rear quarter gore , my parents earmark the mechanic to slap a two - foundation ( 61 - cm ) bandage sticker on the " wounding . " I had to drive the railcar that elbow room until I fit to college a thousand miles ( 1,609 kilometers ) away – too far for that Chevette to follow me .
