JIBBBY

Alloy

:P Day - light B)

Dawn (I bet you knew I was going to say that DC)

Man, these kids now a days have more skills then we do as adults.. Have you folks seen the games these kids play now on XBox360 and Playstation 3? If that doesn't hone your hand eye coordination for driving nothing will

Sunset B)

Well guys, I agree with you both %100... You guys are taking it to the extreme though... I am just saying if you have a son 16yrs of age and you know he has always had an interest in auto mechanics and fast cars... He saves his money thru Junoir high, and highschool to buy a sportscar for when he gets his drivers license.. The parent should allow him to pursue his hobby and interests to a certain degree if he has earned it.. Now, I am not saying the parents should go out and buy him a car like that, because obviously no parent wants to see their teens driving sportscars that are a potential for danger period.....Again, I believe if the kid is responsible enough to save that money for the car then I would venture to guess he will be mature enough to own and drive it... That is basically my childhood scenerio in nut shell... I do think parents should say "NO" to certain things, absolutely!! Tatoo's, body piercings and even hangining around certain bad friends.. That's a no brainer... I was mainly talking about having a real relationship with your teen, like being able to talk to the teen about responsiblity and build a certain kind of trust and relationship with him or her, being able to tell the teen 'NO" and make him or her understand why you are saying no... That is all I am saying... At some point the parent does have to realise the teen is growing up and becoming an adult and must learn to make their own choices in life.... That's called growing as a person.. I would also say physical discipline is good thing in moderation when raising a child, and timeouts don't always work... I would also say don't give your kids everything they want, including handouts, money, etc.. all the time, but make them work for it in some way... Developing a work ethic is sooooo important in my opinion in young people...Hand outs literaly cripple kids, such like getting junior a brand new M5 BMW for his 16th birthday as you can see what happen with those results from this thread....... Fellas, I think we are all thinking along the same lines...

Rx - I believe you handled that situation correctly... However, if you had developed a more trusting and open relationship with your daughter perhaps she would have never gone behind your back to the beach strip with friends and break your trust and rules to begin with..... Maybe, maybe not... I am all about discipline when deserved but I am also all about COMMUNICATION and developing a trustful relationship with your kids also..... Lexusfreak - No I do not have kids, but I work with homeless teens constantly in help programs and I am also currently helping raise my brothers kids when his wife died of cancer a few years ago... The oldest just got an SUV's as a first car and is very responsible with it and mature, he is a straight A student, very personible and is a star highschool football player.. Doesn't drink or do drugs...My brother and I have an open relationship with this teen and it works out just fine all the way across the board... Communication and understanding is just as important as rules and discipline that is all I am saying.... The younger one is an honor student.. Not bragg'n but I do know a little about raising kids the right way...

Annie

Smoothe you knew that kid?..WOW...Small world... The law allows that when a kid turns 16 he is legally able to drive a car...Whether it be a fast car or a slow car... The more I think about it the more I come to the conclusion it is responsibility of the teen to control his or her actions and not the parent at that age... If the kid has a death wish and is extreme, he was a death wish and I believe the parents cannot stop that, might postpone it, delay it, lessen the chances, but not illiminate it... I turned 16 and I bought myself a Chevy SS Nova (muscle car), I suped it up and it was fast...It was more of a straight ahead speedster and not a curve terror like an M5 BMW...So I never lost control but had fun, some close calls, etc..... I also owned a powerful motor cycle as a teen and never went down but pushed it at times..... All teens look for thrills and that's being a teen, some try to impress, some are influenced by friends to do stupid things, but in the end it is not the parents resposibility for his teens actions it is the teens themselves as he or she becomes an adult..... To do so would be an over bearing and controlling parent which may cause friction in the relationship between parent and teen and that is never good... Talk to teens, show them threads like these, etc. rather then just saying NO!!! Do I think the parent should buy a teen a super fast race car as a first car, absolutely not!!!.. That would be irresponsible as a parent.. If the teen saved his money and wants to buy a fast car that is his choice and I don't think the parent should butt in, the teen earned it..... At some point the parent does have to cut the imbilical cord... Today at age 39 I still own extremely fast car, it's probably a little faster then an M5 BMW, can almost corner as well too...... I enjoy hitting the gas and being thrust back against the seat as a teen and as an adult...Smoothe, I am sure you can relate....I share the same thrill as most teens do today... However, I do know the limits of the cars I drive where as a teen may not.. Bottom line is I believe the parent should teach the teen reponsibility rather then just saying no all the time..... That builds the relationship up and not breaks it down... Teach but not control... Just my two cents as I read some of these posts..... PS. If a teen has a fast car I believe the parent should teach safety and responsibility and maybe even take him or her to a track to learn the limitations of the car...

Down

I think it all depends on how responsible and mature the teen is too... Judgement of character comes into play more so then age now that I think about it..... The parents should be held responsible for that...

Yeah, well all that means is that there is more women for me ;) Team

First car young drivers should not get a brand new M5 BMW elite sportcar...You are inviting trouble with that combination... An SUV would be a better first car for an 18 year old... It's tragic, as I witnessed a simular crash many years ago... 4 - 16 year old kids were driving home in a Brand new Cyrsler conv. Lebaron after a night out and were speeding just a bit and proceeded to drive thru an intersection showing a green light...Another 19 year old kid was driving home drunk in a big SUV from a bar and ran the red light hitting the Lebaron broad side...The collision sent the Lebaron with the 4 teens directly flying into a huge solid big oak tree that was unforgiving.. I heard the bang and ran out of my friends house to see one young girl thrown from the car still laying face down motionless on the ground and the other 3 teens sitting calmly in the car at the tree with seat belts still fastened....I knew they were all dead right away....It looked like the three kids were sleeping peacefully but tragically they all were dead with broken necks and or severe head injures... The young girl thrown from the car also died instantly... The drunk kid in the SUV was sitting on the curve with his face in his hands crying and was unharmed physically... I walked away saying OH MY GOD!!!!! There are still flowers being placed at that accident seen even 15 years later after the fact.... That is one accident I will never forget... I can still see all their faces today in my memory as I did go to check them all at the time......I was the first person at the sceen... I myself was only 24 years old at the time...

I knew you were going to say that.... Bean burrito..

Wrong.... The rear differential does not share the same fluid as the tranny...They are independant from one another on the SC400's... Measure your tranny fluid with the stick when the car is running and warmed up...That will give you most accurate read... You don't want to over fill or you could blow a seal and find a red puddle in your driveway..... 1/2 an inch over full should be ok, that is what my stick reads on my SC400..... On the front wheel drive ES Lexus model's the tranny and differential may share the same fluids, but not on the rear drive Lexus's... Atleast I have never seen one like that....

Chiwawa

Pit Bull... Is it Adam and Eve or Adam and Steve? :P I'm not !Removed! but there sure is alot of them around my neck of the woods of late...

ES250 :cries:

IS300

Chaos

James

Royal B)

Well it sounds like you know what you are talking about...I will take your word for it....Thanks for the info....

Bean

Narcotics