Anupam Routh
Active Member
Greetings! I have to buy a new car for my 16 years old daughter. Is ST suitable for her? My wife drives my ST. I would like the opinions of ladies of this newsgroup. With thanks.
ST for teenagers
- Thread starter Anupam Routh
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Keith McElroy
Active Member
I taught our 16-year-old foster daughter how to drive with my ST. She loved it. Other than that brutal blind backing up with it, she didn't have a problem.
Safer than a cheap smaller car, but you might check the insurance costs first. lol
Safer than a cheap smaller car, but you might check the insurance costs first. lol
Thomas Rogers
Well-Known Member
If likely to drive in snow, then a front-wheel drive is superior to the ST for most teenagers, I suspect. That's my opinion.
TJR
TJR
Benjamin Feinstein
Active Member
I would have to say no to a first time driver owning a Sport Trac. Dont get me wrong ti is a good vehicle but it has some handling issues that a new driver would not know how to deal with. If you want your new driver to have a 4x4 then I sugest a smaller SUV like a Ford Escape. The Escape drives more like a car but still sits up enough for the visibility.
Kirk Risseler
Well-Known Member
Personally, I would take my 4 wheel drive ST over any front wheel drive out there.
Les
Well-Known Member
Other than poor gas milage, I don't see a problem...
David Griffith 2
Well-Known Member
I agree with Les.. The Trac is very hard to keep gas in..Especially on a teenager's budget.. Have you considered a Tacoma? Great little trucks and amazing gas mileage.. I had one before the Trac..
Thomas Rogers
Well-Known Member
CaptKirk said:
To that I submit that you are probably not the typical teenager, Kirk.
The typical teenager, especially if driving in a climate where there can be snow and ice, won't have the experience to know when to use 4x4, and when not to. Most teens just point and drive. As a light truck the ST has a habit of it's back-end getting a little bouncy, and as a rear-wheel vehicle (when not in 4x4) in icy, snowy conditions (or when unexpectedly hitting black ice) the back-end can and does come out and around...a very scary experience for an unexperienced driver. Front-wheel cars are more forgiving for the inexperienced...again, IMHO...which I why I chimed in to explain my rationale.
TJR
To that I submit that you are probably not the typical teenager, Kirk.
The typical teenager, especially if driving in a climate where there can be snow and ice, won't have the experience to know when to use 4x4, and when not to. Most teens just point and drive. As a light truck the ST has a habit of it's back-end getting a little bouncy, and as a rear-wheel vehicle (when not in 4x4) in icy, snowy conditions (or when unexpectedly hitting black ice) the back-end can and does come out and around...a very scary experience for an unexperienced driver. Front-wheel cars are more forgiving for the inexperienced...again, IMHO...which I why I chimed in to explain my rationale.
TJR
ray moyer
Well-Known Member
i started with an ST so i dont think being a first time driver has anything to do with it... its all in how well she is taught to drive
Jeff C
Well-Known Member
I started driving my ST when I was 14 in a parking lot. At 15 I would drive home from school with my mom in the passenger seat, at 16, I took over the keys, and at 18, I wrote my parents a check for it. My little brother has started driving my mom's car on the roads around his school (during weekends) and he's 14. I don't think it matters what you drive (within reason, no 600hp Mustangs, etc, etc) as long as you practice. I have always felt safe in the ST. Riding with friends in their cars (95 Civic, 92 Mustang, 97 Camry, etc) I just don't feel safe being that low to the ground around big SUVs. IMO, set some rules, curfew, etc, and let her drive the ST.
Clay Campbell
Well-Known Member
i got my trac when i was sixteen, i never had any problems with the vehicle, the only accidents were due to driver error, and then it was only once
Thomas Rogers
Well-Known Member
Reaper, Jeff C, I can't agree more that being taught (which is another way to get experience) helps.
My point, and you won't convince me otherwise, is that a front-wheel drive vehicle is more forgiving (for the less experienced) than a rear-wheel drive vehicle, especially on poor road conditions...all other things being equal.
A majority of teens that are killed in auto crashes don't hit another car, and aren't hit by another car, so surviving a multi-vehicle accident, IMHO, isn't a reason to suggest an SUV vs a sedan. Most die for one simple reason: speed + inexperience = death.
Arouth, good luck with whatever you buy for your teen daughter. I still have one year to go with our oldest. He just turned 15. He is already saving for his first car. I don't see us (mom and dad) paying for it, or his insurance. He works hard for his money and having him pay will mean additional responsibility on his part, I am sure. Most everything kids are "given" these days they seem to take for granted.
TJR
My point, and you won't convince me otherwise, is that a front-wheel drive vehicle is more forgiving (for the less experienced) than a rear-wheel drive vehicle, especially on poor road conditions...all other things being equal.
A majority of teens that are killed in auto crashes don't hit another car, and aren't hit by another car, so surviving a multi-vehicle accident, IMHO, isn't a reason to suggest an SUV vs a sedan. Most die for one simple reason: speed + inexperience = death.
Arouth, good luck with whatever you buy for your teen daughter. I still have one year to go with our oldest. He just turned 15. He is already saving for his first car. I don't see us (mom and dad) paying for it, or his insurance. He works hard for his money and having him pay will mean additional responsibility on his part, I am sure. Most everything kids are "given" these days they seem to take for granted.
TJR
Jeff C
Well-Known Member
In that case, get an XCal and have Doug put a speed limiter at 75mph, lol.
Thomas Rogers
Well-Known Member
Jeff C, the stock gen 1 ST is unsafe for the inexperienced at 65mph if you hit the right bump (or pothole) and have stock shocks, sway bar, so 75mph might be too high.
TJR
TJR
Kevin Lang
Well-Known Member
TJR, didn't you say that your son was working at mcdonalds a while ago? Car, gas, and insurance all on minimum wage? I'd be walking...because I couldn't afford even the insurance, let alone the insurance with gas and the car itself...and all the repairs necessary for the kind of car that a mickey d's wage can provide, even if the life savings is blown (something that I'm personally against.)
A car, or money for something else...as much as I like cars, I'd have to go with plan B .
That has to be one of the best experiences. When I went down the road sideways for the first time in the ST, it was an epiphany...I found that rear wheel drive was so much better than fwd...you stick in curves instead of sliding off toward the edge of the road...fwd blows in comparison.
Besides, an alarmingly large number of up-and-coming teen male drivers have seen (and believe) things like Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and of course they're going to try and drive sideways at every opportunity. With the ST, when they try this, when they hit the body kit endowed honda civic or whatnot trying the same thing, the ones in the ST will come out alive
I think that's a reason for the ST right there.
**With rampant credit card debt, it isn't hard to keep the st fueled, and many teens have credit debt....
A car, or money for something else...as much as I like cars, I'd have to go with plan B .
That has to be one of the best experiences. When I went down the road sideways for the first time in the ST, it was an epiphany...I found that rear wheel drive was so much better than fwd...you stick in curves instead of sliding off toward the edge of the road...fwd blows in comparison.
Besides, an alarmingly large number of up-and-coming teen male drivers have seen (and believe) things like Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and of course they're going to try and drive sideways at every opportunity. With the ST, when they try this, when they hit the body kit endowed honda civic or whatnot trying the same thing, the ones in the ST will come out alive
I think that's a reason for the ST right there.
**With rampant credit card debt, it isn't hard to keep the st fueled, and many teens have credit debt....
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ray moyer
Well-Known Member
i dont think a stock gen 1 is unsafe...
mine is a gen 1 and ive raced it, went off roading, slammed corners at high speeds... man im only 19 now... have had my ST since 05 i love it... all the suspension is completely stock
i drive it like i stole it and it keeps going... granted i check everything when i plan on doing what ive said but as long as the driver knows what he/she is doing they will be safe.
i understand what ur saying, bout the front wheel... but again that goes into how responsible of a driver the person is and how experienced they are.
no matter how fast u drive no matter if u have awd, 4x4, front or rear wheel if you are not experienced there will be a higher risk..
personally i wouldnt have wanted anything else... i feel so uncomfy in cars like im going to die or something...
Mike Caldwell
Active Member
I like Jeff C learned to drive my truck when I had a learners permit, that was 4 years ago. Before I took possesion of the truck from my mom, we put shocks and an ee sway bar and new tires on it to make it slightly safer. It is a good truck never gave me any problems (knock on wood) except of some minor leaks, with plenty of opportunities to personalize it. It comes down to the teaching, and personal responsibility. I honestly can say that there isn't a truck out there now that I would want more than the ST.:wub:
Kevin Lang
Well-Known Member
Agreed.
Thomas Rogers
Well-Known Member
Reaper said:
Yes, if you keep making points that are completely logical of course I can't disagree with you.
However, there are cars that for a GIVEN level of experience (or inexperience) one is more likely to be able to maintain control under certain conditions than compared to other cars.
For example, I wouldn't give a teen a 680hp Lamborghini and expect them to be as safe (or in-control) in it as they would be if I gave them a 130hp Ford Focus. That's not to say that a teen can't be taught to be in control in a Lamborghini. They can. But their opportunity to be "out of control" in a Lamborghini, when compared to a Ford Focus is much higher. I hope we would all agree with that. I submit the same is true on many road conditions with rear-wheel vs front-wheel drive vehicles.
TJR
Yes, if you keep making points that are completely logical of course I can't disagree with you.
However, there are cars that for a GIVEN level of experience (or inexperience) one is more likely to be able to maintain control under certain conditions than compared to other cars.
For example, I wouldn't give a teen a 680hp Lamborghini and expect them to be as safe (or in-control) in it as they would be if I gave them a 130hp Ford Focus. That's not to say that a teen can't be taught to be in control in a Lamborghini. They can. But their opportunity to be "out of control" in a Lamborghini, when compared to a Ford Focus is much higher. I hope we would all agree with that. I submit the same is true on many road conditions with rear-wheel vs front-wheel drive vehicles.
TJR
Kyle Keller
Active Member
Im almost 17, the ST was my first car. Gas mileage is a pain for me but other than that its an OK first car. And also insurance is a little higher than something else like a Ford Escape. A Dodge Durango Hemi is cheaper for a 16 year old on insurance than a ST im guessing because of safety issues because thats what my parents have me registered under on State Farm.
