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My GF's daughter (Stéfanie) will be flying out of the nest to a remote university this fall. She will be 17 in june. (yeah that's university at 17... you guessed she's NOT from my genes already? ) :)
Anyways, I thought of giving her the key to a small economy car for her birthday. I am not sure wich car to choose. I am not even sure making the choice for her would be the right thing to do.
If you where me, would you hand her a car or an enveloppe?
My GF thought a pale blue Mini Cooper Cabriolet with white stripes will fit her like a glove. I disagree because Stéfanie usually dresses as a hippy, and season her tofu with organic sprouts. A mini just wont do for her. Plus, I think my GF is just giving me a hint about replacing her car for a Mini.
I briefly wondered about a Smart Fortwo... but most mileage will be done on roads, not on streets. Else from never getting speeding tickets, how would this wonderfull urban car behave on snowy Canadian roads?
The Echo sounds great in reviews and is way cheaper to buy. Plus, maybe a groovy paint job?
The more I think about it, the more I believe Stéfanie will benefit in beeing involved in the purchase process. Right?
Problem is, she and I are quite clueless about cars.
Any help?
No offense, but I think giving a kid (and she is a kid, no matter how smart she is) a brand new, sporty car is a bad, bad idea, especially if she is going away to college. Many universities here in the US prohibit first year students from bringing cars. It is a whole lot easier to skip out on class when you have a form of transportation. If she has no way to go anywhere, she is a whole lot more likly to go to class. Not to mention as well, if she is one of the few with a car, she becomes the designated driver, but she may not yet have the maturity to understand that "yes, one or two beers does constitute drinking".
Skip the gift of a car. Save it for her college graduation in 4-5 years. She will appreciate it more then and will have more need of it as a new (poor) young professional.
How about giving her a ticket to Europe or elsewhere for the summer with some spending cash or a rented apartment? A month in Paris has got to be a dream of every teenage girl (or maybe that was just me).
My first car was a used Toyota Corolla
How funny, so was mine. It was old, but extremely dependable, with cold a/c. No groovy paint job, it was faded and had a mismatched trunk lid. :)
LisaB
lawman, my friend, you really burst my 'new car' bubble. Bowing to your 'car stuff' competence and family experience, I take good note of your advice.
1 strong point for a used Toyota Corolla
Thank you lawman. Très apprécié
==
> as a former 17 year old girl who totaled 3 vehicles by the time I was 19
hannamyluv,
Speaking for most foo ites, I am glad your are still with us. Sincerely, I appreciate the fact that some blondes can survive driving trought the teen years. :)
Stupid jokes aside, I take notes about buying a new car for a teenager as a bad, bad idea.
But this process becomes a bit scary. Do you think strawberry blondes can make it too?
Another point for a used Toyota Corolla
==
>Can't beat 'em for a good first bang-around car.
Hawkgirl,
Now I am scared and hesitant. I never pictured the 'toy' as a bang-around car...
Anyone knows about second hand Russian tank fuel consumption?
P.S.
Hawkgirl, last week end, I clocked the Electra at 163 MPH!
Vive la nitro!
[edited by: Macguru at 4:30 am (utc) on April 18, 2005]
Easy to get around campus, good exercise, easy to store, no running costs, good for the environment...
And with your pedal power pedigree I am sure she will look the business too ;)
if you must get her a car nothing looks cooler than retro - a orignal cooper would look A LOT better than it's sadly mundane younger sibling
Stéfanie already owns a very nice bike and will probably use it most of the time. Problem is, the university is about 200 km away from here in Montréal, where all her friends and relatives are.
She will be staying in a small appartment near the school during her study. She will need a car to get back here, beg us some money and waiste it all with her friends during the week ends. See? :)
>nothing looks cooler than retro
With all that been said about banging around, she will get something with air bags. When where they introduced?
Retro probably won't include airbags, it won't include electric windows, no cd player (unless custom) will probably have rust, high mileage, tricky to get parts for, expensive to run and probably not be that good for the environment, but.. it will be cool, and I gurarentte she will love it more than anything you could buy her new...
to make a more helpful reccomendation I would get yourself to an car auction (We have these every weekend in the UK - Canada?). Used cars are very inexpesive and you can get an incredible deal at one of these - make sure you know what you ar looking for though.
<blushing>Oops!</blushing>
I feel ashamed I didn't look into this in the first place... Yup, there is an excellent transit system between Montréal and Sherbrooke. Departure every hour, 7 days a week and the fare is only 20 $ for students. Plus, some 6 months ago the Sherbrooke university was awarded for making local public transit FREE for students instead of paying to increase it's parking space... I didn't know that.
I suddenly feel like an idiot, but thank you limbo!
Now that I think of it, she probably knows everything about it, and will call me a moron if I give her a car. I will talk about this to her mom tonight. We'll see then.
Now, what should we give her for her birthday? She already have an iPod and a iBook...
Departure every hour, 7 days a week and the fare is only 20 $ for students
I think a trip to Europe is a very good idea. But knowing her as a bit insecure, I guess she would be a bit scared to travel all alone abroad. Also, she has an exciting summer job this year at some potential long term employer. Wrong timing, I guess.
I keep your excellent suggestion in mind, cause she will probably meet some nice guy at school. Considering a trip for two in Europe can be cheaper then landing a new car on the road, I would gladly send him there too, if I like him. ;)
Where you alone when you travelled to Paris?
Where you alone when you travelled to Paris?
Yep, as well as all the trips I took. I spent 5 months in Europe all by my little self as well as 5 weeks in Thailand and 3 weeks in Brazil. Does a great deal for a woman's self esteem. I met lots of women traveling alone and they all said the same. The hostels are full of other travelers and a shy person can't help but learn to become more outgoing. Having to figure out where to sleep and eat in a place where you don't even speak the language (and occasionally can't read the language) makes navigating a college campus a cinch. :D
If not now, I would recommend a trip at some point in time. She will thank you for it later.
Does a great deal for a woman's self esteem.
My wife says the same of her travelling experiences years ago, but I absolutely would not let a teeanger travel alone in todays climate. Note that I wouldn't let a 17 year old son travel alone, either. It's not a question of gender (although there are many places in the world where a woman is a more likely target for unpleasantness by virtue of the local attitudes RE gender); it's a question of safety. One person, an obvious outsider and also alone, makes an easy target. A trip would have to be carefully structured to provide security, and is unlikely to be the sort of trip a globetrotting teenager would want to take. And it certainly wouldn't include any hostels.
cEM
Rather convincing to say the least. Most points you made, brings a different and interesting angle. Yeah, she may be a bit shy or introverted, and travelling could help her built more self esteem, but I don't think she will enjoy it as much you did. I guess going away from home and her friends is already a major step for her. I can feel that. She was faced with a period of lower self-esteem just after puberty, and that lead to a couple of mistakes, but she made great progress since a couple of years. It's nothing that will leave her with a poor image about herself.
hannamyluv, your idea is very good, but I just think she is not ready for this yet.
Hi createErrorMsg,
>makes an easy target.
I feel a bit the same as as you do about her safety. Especially that she is petite and attractive.
That sayed, I just had a conversation with her mom. limbo was a great help with his public transit question. Using the bus is more like 'her' anyways.
As most parents (genetic or not), we just try to reward our kids for the efforts they make. The idea of buying her a car was not very original and lacked reflexion. The more I think about it, the more I am tempted to simply ask her what she really wants for her birthday, but my GF insists it must be a surprise.
She also insists it cant be money, and when my GF insists, well, you guys know what I mean... :)
I guess I need to dig deeper.
Thanks everyone!
cEM
I think a trip is an excellent idea. But it should have an itinerary too, with enough free time to explore on her own. I remember my first trip abroad, standing in downtown London with no idea of where to go or what to visit next. So I found a pub and discovered Scotch whiskey instead.
Now cEM comes along with another excellent idea. Depending on how much a hippy type she is, her choice of dorm decor could run from IKEA to thrift shop. You would probably have a better idea than I. Allow me to reflect for a moment on the time I lived in Berkeley, CA - a college town. At the end of every semester you could find nearly anything on the curb, from bikes to computers to furniture.
A trip will have more lasting value.
the more exotic places she can pay for herself later ..
"here" one needs to "do" before it gets so you can't distinguish it from North America ..
Hello you drummin' hippy!
I love createErrorMsg's idea too! She could use some help with the furniture and I find this twisted way of presenting it in a small package a great idea!
Cost of living here is relatively inexpensive. She wont be living on the campus. Instead, she picked a small studio appartment half a mile away from the faculty buildings. She will have her own private stuff like washroom and semi furnished kitchen. When she compared with the campus offer, privacy was just a small premium to pay. Everthing included for less than 300$.ca a month.
What I also like about createErrorMsg's idea is she can make her own decisions and pick the stuff she likes.
Thank you createErrorMsg. I like that!
<added> Hello Leosghost!
Yeah a trip is a good idea, but we will save that for later. She needs her summer job to pay the rent. Oui elle est bilingue. She even speak a better English than I do, but that isn't tough to beat. :)
However, the best present you can possibly give is far more prosaic: it is simply to help ensure that she leaves university without a debt hanging over her. My wife have spent a combined total of 14 years at university (she's far brainier than me!), in both cases we came out with useless qualifications and we share a mountain of student loans. That debt still holds us back. If your daughter can avoid that, it will help her enormously in the future.
this twisted way of presenting it
I don't agree with cEM that the risk is very high: of course there is nothing perfectly secure, but being sensible you can significantly reduce the risks.
help ensure that she leaves university without a debt hanging over her ... in both cases we came out with useless qualifications and we share a mountain of student loans. That debt still holds us back.
cEM
You guys ALMOST make me feel glad she is not eligible to much loans in the public program. ;)
Leosghost, I didn't know Ireland had good high education programs. Even if I am a *debt free* school drop out, I believe free or cheap education is something to be proud of. I see it as a wise investment for any society.
>Did you just call me twisted?
Almost. But, just admit you enjoyed it, weirdo! :)
BTW, my GF likes your idea too. Sold!
Many thanks.
I paid my own way ( the beer/whiskey/girls etc and the art materials soon ate up my grant ) ..so I did lots of jobs and freelanced too to supplement what the state gave ..
Actually I think having to work a little to pay some of your way ( like the alcohol and girls part is a good thing anyway )through college etc ..but is n't easy on all courses ..like lawyer ..doctor etc ..
"flipping" students are what built the burger chains of the world ..sorry folks
Art students have higher alcohol ( etc )and girls expenditure than most other life forms..
I drifted OT there ..can one be OT in Foo?
edited again by "self" for speeling and some "ventilation"
