[ResidualJinx]

My son is 15 and by the end of this year will be allowed to have a learners permit and eventually a provisional license. There is no way in hell he is learning to drive in my M5 and the wife's giant SUV (Navigator L) is equally out of the question. We've already planned to get him a car, but is it crazy to sync the purchase with the time he gets his permit so he learns on his actual car and not our $100k cars?

Sorry to those that posted in the other copy of this post, idk how it ended up in the tuning section. Just wanted to hit a wider audience here in the general forum.

[nolaf90]

Get him a used double cab pickup like a tacoma. I would have loved to have that as my first car instead of the boring honda accord.

[EMCCM]

I don't have kids yet, but I feel like there isn't a defined "right" time to get a kid their first car. Don't see a downside in getting it while he's learning to drive vs waiting until he is 16, outside of any "tradition" that might exist. At the same time, is there really an issue with him learning in the M5? You'll always be in the car, so I would "hope" he wouldn't do anything stupid in it compared to a less expensive car. But, maybe you're perspective is that if you get in an accident, you'd rather it be the cheaper car?

[ResidualJinx]

Originally Posted by EMCCM

I don't have kids yet, but I feel like there isn't a defined "right" time to get a kid their first car. Don't see a downside in getting it while he's learning to drive vs waiting until he is 16, outside of any "tradition" that might exist. At the same time, is there really an issue with him learning in the M5? You'll always be in the car, so I would "hope" he wouldn't do anything stupid in it compared to a less expensive car. But, maybe you're perspective is that if you get in an accident, you'd rather it be the cheaper car?

It's not necessarily about him doing something i wouldn't approve of while I'm in the car but more about idk how he's going to take to learning to drive and if he makes a mistake like pushing the gas or the brake too hard/long it can result in fairly dramatic changes in the M5 vs a normal car. Plus your point about cost of repairs/depreciation is kind of a big deal too.

[ResidualJinx]

Originally Posted by nolaf90

Get him a used double cab pickup like a tacoma. I would have loved to have that as my first car instead of the boring honda accord.

Lmao, I was looking at a VW Passat which is basically the same. I would prefer a truck too because we don't have a truck in the house but I am also fighting spoiling him by buying him something too expensive. Used sedans are in $15k range and used trucks are closer to $25k. The wife demands something newer as she equates that with reliability/warranty.

[EMCCM]

Originally Posted by ResidualJinx

It's not necessarily about him doing something i wouldn't approve of while I'm in the car but more about idk how he's going to take to learning to drive and if he makes a mistake like pushing the gas or the brake too hard/long it can result in fairly dramatic changes in the M5 vs a normal car. Plus your point about cost of repairs/depreciation is kind of a big deal too.

I suppose so, I get your point. As far as the actual car to get him, have you considered a GTI or even a regular Golf? Not sure how into cars your son is, but it is a more "fun" car than a passat, without crazy power to get into trouble with, and fairly practical given its a hatch. And you could get it in a manual.

[Archimedes65]

Golf GTI. Perfect teen/college male car. If you want to spoil him and trust him to be level headed, go for the R, but the GTI is just fine and much more affordable.

[Aronis]

Teaching to drive. Use drivers ed school.

Taking out for practice. Take your car in for service. Teach kid in loaner.

Take wife’s car in for service. Teach kid on her loaner.

JK


My first new driver drove both my 2003 RS6 and my 2013 A8L to school every chance I could take him. And the first car he drove on his own was our second hand 08 A4 cab. If you don’t trust your kid driving your car with you sitting next to them then you’ll never sleep again.

His first car specifically for him is a 2013 Civic EX. He still drives it 4 years later.

Our next in line is 15. He will learn on our Q7 and I’ll let him drive my M5 at some point. My oldest drove my M2 and M5 with me there.

Mike

[wesleyan92]

Originally Posted by Aronis

Teaching to drive. Use drivers ed school.

Taking out for practice. Take your car in for service. Teach kid in loaner.

Take wife’s car in for service. Teach kid on her loaner.

JK


My first new driver drove both my 2003 RS6 and my 2013 A8L to school every chance I could take him. And the first car he drove on his own was our second hand 08 A4 cab. If you don’t trust your kid driving your car with you sitting next to them then you’ll never sleep again.

His first car specifically for him is a 2013 Civic EX. He still drives it 4 years later.

Our next in line is 15. He will learn on our Q7 and I’ll let him drive my M5 at some point. My oldest drove my M2 and M5 with me there.

Mike

You are a better Dad than I'll ever be Mike. My kid is not using the M5 to learn how to drive. We'll likely let her use my wife's X5 but even that bugs me although wife couldn't care less.

[josec70]

Two of my 3 kids already drive; they learned in my wife's SUV (Infinity QX60) with learner's permits

I purchased cars for them about 3 months before they were eligible for their Driver Licenses to essentially give them some time to learn to drive their own cars.

So far, so good .. no tix or accidents.

Knock on wood!

I did let my now 20 year old drive both of my F10 M5's as well as my current F90 M5C .. with me in the car.

My 20 year old son drives a 6 speed VW GTI and my 18 year old daughter drives the Volvo XC 40 SUV.

[josec70]

Originally Posted by EMCCM

I suppose so, I get your point. As far as the actual car to get him, have you considered a GTI or even a regular Golf? Not sure how into cars your son is, but it is a more "fun" car than a passat, without crazy power to get into trouble with, and fairly practical given its a hatch. And you could get it in a manual.

My son has a 6 speed GTI and it's a lot of fun to drive.

Still love an old school clutch!!

[MysticBlue]

I did this with my son... Got a car for him when he got his learners permit and used it for him to learn with. Actually, I matched what he had saved so we spent 4 grand on a 10 year old AWD Subaru Impreza. That way, he could drive it to school, even in the winter. Manual tranny so he had to learn that also, right from the beginning. It was a nice clean car, but old enough that if the inevitable beginners mistake happened, not a huge loss. And guess what? No mistakes. He kept that car until he graduated and sold it for what we bought it for. By the time he was a senior, and proven to be responsible, I let him drive my M3 to the prom and a few other occasions, but definitely don't need to give an inexperienced driver the huge amounts of horsepower that are now available. Also good to keep them humble. It did seem a little weird to some people, I suppose, that he was getting a car before he actually got his license, but it made sense to us... He would have a car to learn to drive with that wasn't a high performance beast, and the same car he learned in would be the car he took his test in.

[JRod1980]

Originally Posted by ResidualJinx

My son is 15 and by the end of this year will be allowed to have a learners permit and eventually a provisional license. There is no way in hell he is learning to drive in my M5 and the wife's giant SUV (Navigator L) is equally out of the question. We've already planned to get him a car, but is it crazy to sync the purchase with the time he gets his permit so he learns on his actual car and not our $100k cars?

Sorry to those that posted in the other copy of this post, idk how it ended up in the tuning section. Just wanted to hit a wider audience here in the general forum.

I think it mostly depends with the kid, their demeanor and how responsible they are. I let my 15 year old son drive my F90 all the time, but he's super responsible and always extremely careful even at times that I ask him to push the car a little (I don't mean it half the time, I just test him to see how he would give to peer pressure). Here in Florida you're supposed to have your permit for one whole year before getting your full license. He turns 16 in August and going with an Accord for him. Sort of nostalgic as Accord was also my first car. However, on the other hand, my daughter turns 15 next March and no way in hell is she driving the F90. She's a great kid too don't get me wrong, but not nearly as "street" aware as my oldest son.

[Earlando86]

Get him a used, low mileage 3-series for under $15k. That way he can be in the BMW family like his Dad, lol.

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/link/271047745

[ResidualJinx]

Originally Posted by EMCCM

I suppose so, I get your point. As far as the actual car to get him, have you considered a GTI or even a regular Golf? Not sure how into cars your son is, but it is a more "fun" car than a passat, without crazy power to get into trouble with, and fairly practical given its a hatch. And you could get it in a manual.

Previously he wasn't into cars at all but his first taste of car shopping is totally bringing out a new side lol we'll throw in a couple of Golfs to test drive and look at in person when I get back from this deployment.

[ResidualJinx]

Originally Posted by josec70

My son has a 6 speed GTI and it's a lot of fun to drive.

Still love an old school clutch!!

I really like the idea of him learning manual out the gate, even slower cars are so much more engaging when they're stick shift but it's such a dying breed. Still think it's a useful skill if one ever needs it, better to have it and not need it sort of thing.

[ResidualJinx]

Originally Posted by Earlando86

Get him a used, low mileage 3-series for under $15k. That way he can be in the BMW family like his Dad, lol.

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/link/271047745

That's exactly what I was shooting for too but the wife thinks it's spoiling him too much and she is also concerned with maintenance/repair costs. I even said we could do all the maintenance together so he learns some basic mech stuff, it's another set of real useful skills but some fights ain't worth fighting lol

[secretariat]

A word of advice: Do not get your child a VW Golf R for his first car. It has too much power for a novice driver and of course he will use it. Trouble is the only thing that leads to. You need something reliable, you don't want the call that he broke down somewhere. If you are going with a truck get a smaller size truck not what my wife has a gigantic F150. Ford gives you a screen the size of my signature stamp in a gigantic truck. I have no problem with him learning in a gigantic parking lot with no cars around in your M5 or better yet your wife's car. My son learned on our F150 and my X5M, you will be right next to him no reason to tell him what those M1 and M2 buttons are for. Good luck

[Oswiff]

I personally don't have kids but my neighbor has 3 and 2 have gotten their drivers licenses recently and the third is going to get his permit later this month.
He bought a used Jeep Grand Cherokee when his oldest got his license and for teaching, he did use his personal car which was a leased 540i. He is one that doesn't really care much about his cars so it wasn't an issue but I definitely wouldn't teach my kids to drive in an m5.
I think if you're thinking about adding a car to the stable in the near future, right now is a great time to buy a car if you're not trading another in. Many manufacturers are offering 0% financing to try to find buyers like yourself - plus dealers are willing to deal right now.

[AGS]

Originally Posted by ResidualJinx

I really like the idea of him learning manual out the gate, even slower cars are so much more engaging when they're stick shift but it's such a dying breed. Still think it's a useful skill if one ever needs it, better to have it and not need it sort of thing.

I agree with this and is the plan for my sons. The other benefit is it helps with distracted driving as they need one hand to steer and one hand to shift instead of having that hand free to hold a phone.

[ResidualJinx]

Originally Posted by AGS

I agree with this and is the plan for my sons. The other benefit is it helps with distracted driving as they need one hand to steer and one hand to shift instead of having that hand free to hold a phone.

Started looking at Subaru Impreza with the 5-speed and AWD. I'm a fan of the no hands left for devices.

[Salespunk]

We bought our kids cars when they got their permits.

As a parent that bought one son a new 328 sedan and our daughter a new 428i convertible, I highly recommend against it. Buy your kids a beater car for $4K and let them destroy it.

My daughter's car was spit on, had drinks thrown on it, etc at school even though we live in an affluent area. In addition every panel on the 428i was replaced due to accident. These were not her "fault", but probably avoidable by a more experienced driver. We bought my son a beater after the lease was up on the 328 and he loves not having to care about it. Just my $.02.