Teen Driver and Boxster

[Bladecutter]

Well, speaking from my experiences as a teenager, here's the important things to remember about male teens, and driving cars:

They will always test out the top speed limits of the car, at least once a month, if not every time they get behind the wheel. I know I did in my '81 Pontiac Grand Prix. I'm just glad it had the Buick 231 V-6, and not either the Pontiac 301 V-8, or the Chevy 305 V-8.

They will test out the handling if there is even a single twisty road to drive on nearby.
This means pushing the car harder and harder around the corners until they lose control.
Boxster's don't suffer fools at the wheel, and this could lead to a very bad thing.
I grew up in NYC, and with the GP, there really wasn't anyplace I could go fast enough to lose control of that car, without either really trying, or just plain doing something completely stupid.

Next up are friends, and that's going to be the worst factor that you won't have ANY control over. Everyone has that one friend, that can push your kid's buttons at just the wrong times, and convince your kid that doing something truly stupid right now is the best thing in the world. Or better yet, he will let that moron friend drive the car, and that's when BSHs (Bad S*** Happens). You won't ever be able to prevent this from happening. It will happen.

The truly best thing you can do is this:

Go driving with your kid every weekend.
Spend a couple hours out on the road with him, and swap seats several times during the drive.
Find some great roads to go play on, make sure you do a couple passes in both directions in order to make sure the road is clean and safe, and have some fun, wringing the car out a bit.

If you and your son can bond together over the car, then he will respect you and the car that much more, and will most likely do less stupid stuff if you give him the car on his own.

Oh, and get him a good radar detector.
At least let him learn that there is a time and place for speeding, and that he should learn where the hot spots are fairly safely, and early on.

BC.

[944boy]

I got my 944 when I was 16. I had driven a toyota for less than a year at that point including permit time. With the 944 my parents told me that I was responsible for maintenance and repairs. Also if I got a single speeding ticket, they would take the keys away permanently.

7 years later I still have the 944 with 100K miles more on the odo as well as a boxster. But I was always a good kid though. People have handed me keys to really nice cars for as long as I can remember, and I have never let them down.

But then again, I never let just anyone drive my cars.... and yesterday was the first time I let one of my cars (the boxster) out of my sight in the hands of another.

So it depends on the kid's personality, but instilling some responsibility along with the privilege might help if you think he/she is mature and responsible enough not to do something TOOOO stupid. Oh and learning how to drive at driving schools/HPDE/Auto-x is also really good at a young age.