The reason I put this here and not in the OT section is there are many more mechanically knowledgable people here and this topic is related to that. Anyway I got a new daily driver and gave my old one, a 1986 Pont 6000 with a 2.5 4cyl and auto trans, to my son whos 16 and will be getting his liscence soon. Not the nicest car but a a good reliable learner. Anyway, he points out these black burnout marks on the driveway to me and says look what the pont can do. I say no way that car could never do that. He says yeah it can, all you do is rev up the engine in neutral and drop it into gear. So he's hasnt even driven the car with his liscence yet and he's already doing neutral drops in the driveway. Now ive not always set the best example with all the spirited driving ive done in the vette and sometimes with him in it but I told him neutral drops are one of the most destructive things you can do to a car mechanically speaking. Can you all back me up on this and help me instill upon him how stupid it is to do this? Help me tell him what kind of damage can be done. With a car like that I believe that the damage caused by such action would likely not be worth fixin and he would be out of a set of wheels. I broke stuff doing neutral drops in my youth. Im sure some of you all have too. Tell us about it please. Thanks for your help.

 

You think a 16 year old is going to listen to us. Not! Better get ready to buy some parts. All he has to do is change the torque converter once, and he will see the error of his ways. "specially on a front wheel drive :lolg: :lolg:

 

Try neutral dropping him on his head, he'll get the message. :jester

 

I told my son "you break it, your walking" when I gave him my Corvair to drive. Wiped out the clutch in a month. No car for 2 months while we pulled the engine and fixed that and a bunch of other little things. Much better since then... And they say they don't learn. Ha!

Hans

 

Let him call up a tranny rebuilder and get a quote for a new unit that should do it. :eek:

 

I am an amateur mechanic so I will stay away from those issues, but I am an educational psychologist and as such, I know something about the others. Unfortunately, although your son hears you and probably believes you, his lack of frontal-lobe development will not allow him to make the right choice in this matter. :crazy:

Your reaction to the burn-outs is simple:
1. If I see another one of those in the driveway, you loose the car for x weeks - a length of time that will hurt and perhaps delay the license- he is clearly not to be trusted.
2. Once he gets his license, this poliy will cause your son to do his burnouts elsewhere where he is likely to blow the trans. If he does, he pays for it. If this is unrealistic as he will never have the money, then he pays a portion that hurts - you will have to judge this.
3. Warn him that you will do 1 and 2 above and follow through.
4. Hope for the best and be consistent.

Good luck and have a :cheers:

 

This seems to me to be a very bad start. Part of the problem (and I have the same problem) is that you give the car to a 16 year old for nothing, so to him it has no value. I doubt he would be abusing his ride if he had worked for the money to buy it @$5.00/hr. I might be persuaded to give him the benefit of the doubt if he didn't know how bad a neutral drop is for the tran. But if I explained it to him and told him not to do it ever again I wouldn't take any argument over it! :mad

(I just bought a beater for my 18yr old last week - who might as well be 16 - and so far, so good. Had to jump start it for him once cuz he left his lights on. :rolleyes: )


[Modified by MNJack, 4:20 PM 4/15/2004]

 

I gave a car to my 18 year old daughter primarily to get to school and work. one day on her way to school she hit some ice and slid off the road, bent the spindle, cut a tire, etc. Well I fixed the car for her but she paid for all the parts and to have the second tire taken off and re mounted. Since then she's had a different outlook as to how she drives.

Steve :steering:


[Modified by stpman, 4:26 PM 4/15/2004]

 

I'm only 22, so I don't have any parental advise, but the first car that was ever "mine" was this old mercedes, and the only reason it was mine was because I spent a year restoring it and giving it a brand new paint job. After doing all of that work I was so nice to that car even though I was 17. I made sure to always keep it maintained and washed and everything.

Talk to him about fixing up the old pontiac. Even if it is just stupid rims, a stereo, and exhaust that sounds like a fart cannon. If he puts some time and effort fixing it up he will respect it more and will take care of it more than if he just got it handed to him.

 

A fart cannon?! Where can I get one of these???!!!!

:lolg:

 

I'd explain that that moment of stupidity was free. The next one will be costly. Explain to him the damage and other potential pitfalls. Kids are alright if you take the time to reason with them and treat them as if they are already on the level you would like them to be.

Then, if he breaks it, he learns another lesson: the benefits of walking and doing your own repairs.

 

Thanks for all the input. All good suggestions. I think in a day or two Ill send him the link to this thread.

As for you my son, if you do this in the driveway I wonder whats gonna happen when you got friends in the car egging you on and you try to show off or something. BANG!!! Your car is broken beyond reasonable repair. Suddenly you have no car and you any your friends are walking. Sound fun? Sound like its worth a 2 foot long burnout. Cause thats all it would do even if you do neutral drop it. Its one of the stupidest and most abusive things you can do to a car. Your fair warning has been delivered.