Well. It's finally happened. My 16 yr old now has her driving permit.....

Since I don't have a spare "beater" lying around my house, she gets to learn on my Max. Lucky her. I got to learn on a Chevy Celebrity station wagon and she gets to learn on the Max!!!!!! She has no idea how lucky she is!

Sadly, dear ole dad is still shaking......

 

Um...Perhaps a few lessons first at a driving school before you let her "practice" on the max.

 

Buy her an old Max, that way she'll still be in the Maxima family. lol

 

Wow Comp, I know that (or should I say, those) moments. I have 3 daughters and I taught my oldest (now 26) how to drive when I had my Altima, the second now 20 learned in my 03 Maxima (she now has an 06 Alti) and I have one more to go now 15 going on 35 that will probably learn on my 09 Max.

Welcome to the club, it is a proud but scary moment for a father and you just sit and ask yourself "where in the world did all the time go" one minute they're in Pampers and the next minute it's "dad, can you teach me to drive" then comes the ultimate "dad, I want a car".

Good luck.

 

hope you got coverage for bumpers, bent wheels, blown shocks, all that good stuff. Potholes, curbs, and parking poles are all magnets for new drivers in nice cars

 

Kids are so lucky these days, don't waste your money and buy a beater, she ain't gonna drive it...lol, my daughter is 10 and I have to drop her to school in the 7th Gen..she doesn't want to go in the 5th gen...guess thats why we are parents..

 

16 and permit eh? decided not to get her permit at 15?

 

She needed the permit for drivers ed in school. But she's going to need more practice than what the school provides tho. Not that I didn't trust the school and the written and sign portion of her test, but we did a much harder version of that at home. Both my wife and I quizzed her for several hours and she only missed 1 sign and she's got the law down.

Sadly she doesn't have the brake and gas pedal control down yet, but that will come in time.

 

You need to find a large empty parking area, like a mall lot before stores open on Sunday morning or an office park where things are closed all day Sunday. That way, she can try different things,such as negotiating narrow driveways, parallel parking, backing into tight spaces, etc, and get more familiar with the car and all its controls.

And accept the fact she will probably have a few fender-benders within the first year or two. Fender-benders aren't that big a deal. . . Unless you are driving a 7th gen Maxima.

 

church lots on the weekday afternoons

 

I'm happy and sad for you at the same time. Your precious daughter is growing up and you want to share what you can. But take heart, your Max, your instruction, and your love, will keep her safe.

 

I feel bad for her because she has to learn to drive in Tampa. LOL I make a yearly trip to Tampa for the Winternationals at Eastbay Raceway and every year we see numerous accidents and fender benders. I've come to the conclusion that 80% of the people in Tampa simply have no driving skills, so I wish her the best.

 

Seems like parents these days spoil their kids and can't exactly say no. I learned to drive on a Chevy Celebrity that belonged to my grandmother. If I had asked to learn on my parents daily driver they'd have laughed at me. When I have kids they'll be learning to drive on a beat-up Civic at best. If they want to get a job and BUY a Maxima that's a different story. I'd reserve it for loaning them on Prom night or something special.

 

lol I only have 1 car. Learning to drive and driving it regularly is different. If she wants to drive often, she will be using her savings account and getting a job to get her own.

 

haha she probably wants a bmw 3 series right ? little does she know what a monster of a car the a35 is.

 

Haha, good luck man! Tell her not to brake on icy corners.....oh wait....nevermind....

 

or Sunday mornings.

 

Fortunately she's pretty good with numbers. When she calculated gas price and insurance, she was smart enough to realize a car wasn't in her near future. Not like she would have anyplace to go. Everything she does is walking or bike distance.

But, I can't deny her the right to take drivers ed and want her license. That's kind of a "right of passage" for 16yr olds.

I'm just not sure if my wife's blood pressure meds are up to being the "crash test dummy" in the passenger seat with her.



Oh and icy roads. hahahaha, If we get that here, I'm moving!

 

Get her a 1981 Pontiac Bonneville. That was my first car

 

You fail to understand. I won't be "GETTING" her anything. If she wants her own car to drive, she pays. Can't learn responsibility with the parent "getting" anything.

However, she will be getting to drive MY car to learn. Fortunately with a licensed driver and only within certain hours of the day. Doesn't make me any less nervous.

 

Whoops, sorry forgot about that tidbit of information above! I was lucky enough to get grandma's old car

Hopefully when learning on your car, she doesn't figure out that the gas pedal has two stages!

 

shhhhh.


First 30 mins it didn't come out of 1st while in Ds manual... She needs to work on pedal control for now. We had a few "whiplash" stops where the brake was applied a bit to, roughly, lets say. Tonight at least another 30 minutes of quiet closed neighborhood with lots of turns and stop signs. I may let her try that magical R gear too.

But can my stress level take it???????? I figure after a few hours of control practice in the neighborhood, we might try a not so busy highway.

 

Well, at least when she wears out the brake pads, you can upgrade to some nice EBC redstuff pads haha!

Might want to have a few "road sodas" to calm the nerves (just be sure to tell her that what you're doing is completely illegal and not condoned whatsoever )

 

i think im the luckiest kid im 17 with a 7gen. i learned to drive on a 97 lexus es and a 04 g35 coupe i was pretty lucky

 

You're a brave soul for admitting that here!


Might want to add in some other nice things to say about your parents right now before people start flaming you left and right

 

im going to match my daughter when she is old enough..she saves 10k...**** ill match it...more of an incentive to save and what not imo

 

it's nice if your parents can/want to help you out with the first one. for example, my dad bought me a 94 accord for $3000 when i graduated. i quickly learned that's all i had to work with. next car was $3500 ($500 mine) next was $4000 (guess where that 500 came from.)

first car: 89 festiva. you're not too picky after that

when the possessions are actually your own hard work, you tend to care more than if "oh, my daddy will just buy me another one"

 

Wow... I remember what those looked like

I hear ya... first car was an '81 Bonneville (aka the land yacht). Learn how to drive that tank and any car after that seems like a micro machine!

 

i loved that car. best times of my life, and plan to get another one when i get a place with a garage. (they'll run with evo's with about $2000 work)

i took maneuverability and drove for my first 6 months in a full size astro. my parents we're like "you got this down"

 

For anyone following along, my daughter now officially has 1 hour, 12 minutes behind the wheel. We played the "every mailbox is a stop sign" game tonight so she could practice pedal control and eliminate the whiplash behavior of her noobness. (Is that a word?) I made her turn and look (at the trees) for oncoming traffic before leaving each mailbox.

She didn't understand why we were doing this, BUT for the older folks here that saw the original Karate Kid movie, I'm sure you all will understand perfectly.

 

You are a patient and loving father. I learned on a 1919 Ford Tractor (after we sold the mules!) I couldn't quite get that I didn't "HAVE" to say "whoa mule" at the end of a row!! My bride says that I still say that at times!!!!

 

This was my point earlier, my stress levels couldn't handle it. Especially with my car lowered with the Stillen lip on it, my car would come home mangled from a speed bump or curb from a fast food drive through...

 

Sadly she doesn't have the clutch and gas pedal control down yet, but that will come in...

Oh. Right. Never-mind.

Like millions of dads before you, you're a brave man, Smurf. I still have 5+ years before I have to deal with that. Anyway, I'm in for the status reports.

What a coincidence, I learned on a 1974 Ford Pinto.

 

Basically the same except for the steel wheels and crank to start (oh wait, my 74 pinto had to be pushed to start!)
Could never get used to those small wheels in the rain! At least the Smurf's daughter doesn't have to worry about that!

 

She got "cocky" tonight and too comfortable in the neighborhood, so I took her to the highway! She's not so comfortable now. Empty stretch with very little traffic, 4 stoplights and places to turn and places to practice parking. She didn't do too badly actually.

Had to reach over and provide additional steering when she underestimated a turn, she definitely looked both ways at the stop signs and stoplights tonight!!!!! I could see how she was sitting that she was REALLY nervous.

 

fear=respect, cautiousness, attention

 

With no prompting from me, my son and daughter both waited until they were 18. Seemed to make a significant difference. At the time I had a 96 max and 97 Chrysler Minivan. The 96 went North with my daughter when she went to college, soon after she got her License (She and I would drive from Tampa to Indiana, I would fly back). Her goal on that first trip was to drive all the way through Atlanta! Oddly enough she now lives in Atlanta. Best advice after you kids get there license is to not let then drive around with their friends! By the way Compusmurf, you didn't take her out on 19 did you?

 

She's in drivers ED in HS, so not much "choice" there.

Drive with friends? LOL, not happening. If you're in Florida and had your kids want a license, Fl has a graduated drivers license program where the first year, they can only have the learners permit. That's with an adult, licensed driver and only certain hours and max certain amount of time a day. The next step is the intermediate (I believe) that gives them a bit more privs, then after that year (18) they can get the full license.


US19? no, that's not on "my" side of town. Fortunately I live in a semi-rural area well outside the Tampa city limits, but call it Tampa as it's a bit more well known to folks. No major highways or interstates for my learner right now. Today's "real road" escapades was to put the fear back into her, and boy did it ever work. On the other hand tho, it'll also give her the confidence (or me, hahaha) that she CAN do this.

Wifey now wants to take her out this weekend. That should be a treat. Hope she doesn't forget her BP meds as wifey scares easy.....

 

I learned to drive at 15 in the 4th gen and my moms Mitsubishi endeavor. I got the 4th gen and my dad bought the M35s that I helped pick out for him. Im almost 18 now, but you shoulda seen the sales guys face when I drove off the lot in the M and Dad drove off in the 4th gen. It was priceless. Too bad it wasnt my car.... lol

Anyways. My parents seemed to have no problem with me driving, they willingly gave me the 4th gen and have allowed me to make it faster. I guess alot of it comes from me being responsible, Ive got a job that I work at full time the days I am off from high school. I help with insurance and pay for all my gas and every mod I have done.

Im pretty fortunate, I love my parents. I guess you've just gotta trust your daughter.

Btw, what's wrong with driving with friends? My parents seem to like it more when I have at least one other person in the car, they think its safer for me. Idk

 

I'm pretty lucky too..got my 7th gen at age 18!