So you say we are to presume you are immature due to your age?
Or do you want treated like an adult?
You want treated as an equal or babied?
No need for insults skippy
There is no way to know if anything you say is true
You could be a 50 yr old convict lol
We had a 15 yr old post that he owned 20 cars and was a retired millionaire
So excuse my skepticism

 

Now, now, now
Feelings

I saw an article in the new car and driver
The government is giving away 1mil $ mine resistant vehicles
For free
Police, school districts, etc
Might be good for a teen driver in south africa?

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.s..._ferguson.html

 

No. you should drive for at least 10yrs first.

 

This thread went south quickly. But here is what I thought.

1- Ingenieur, I love the Dunning-Kruger effect and bring it up often. I work in a field full of highly competent and intelligent people that are on the other side of the D-K curve and I like to remind them that they are probably better/brighter than they think.

2- I am a former BMWCCA instructor and also raced F2000 cars. I took many driving courses over the years and instructed for about 5. My impression of the C63 is that it is an animal. It will bite you in the *** faster than a F1600 or F2000. It is nastier and snappier than my old 996TT (550hp/600lbs.ft). Keep in mind I drive with TC off (or sport in the rain/snow). With TC-on, the car is much easier to control, but simply because it is neutered by electronics which kills the fun.

Age don't dictate if you can or should own a C63. I've raced against 16yo that I would let drive my C63 any day. They were great drivers. I know 40+ dude that I wouldn't allow to drive my car on a deserted road on a sunny day. But the thing is, a bad 40yo driver will probably be willing to accept it and drive within his limits and not try to push too much (or not buy such a car to begin with). A bad 18yo might think he rules the world and will find himself way over his head quickly in the C63. Again the Dunning-Kruger effect.

I don't know about the MB-AMG driver's course in South Africa, but if it is a one day course, it is not enough. You don't develop the skills to drive such an animal in a day. I would suggest to work your way up with less powerful rwd car unless you already have great car control skills. But if you already had great car control skills, you wouldn't need to ask us if we think a 18yo should own such a car.

So no. But it's your money. YMMV.

 

 

Eh, I sold a 2007 335i sport package with a bunch of mods and only 110000km on it for 14K CAD. I'd say 20 is about right, give or take based on condition.

Also, if I had 50K at 18... I'd be using it as a down payment on a house. Cars devalue, they ARE NOT a wise investment. Honestly, buy a decent European car for 10K, take the other 40 and put it toward the betterment of your life. Look at most members here, they can afford to buy these cars because they have been successful in life, and didn't spend every dollar they earned the second they earned it.

When I was 19, I inherited several hundred grand, and I pissed away 100g's in two months (partying, buying cars, just trying to escape the hurt of my father passing). I'd give anything to have it back. Thankfully I was able to get it under control.

But, listen to me or don't, up to you.

Unrelated, but as you're in SA, have you seen any Audi RS2's? I hear a lot ended up there. I wanted one since I was a little kid.

 

Sorry about your dad
Sounds like you learned a tough lesson
Good news you are young and can use that lesson for many years

 

Good post
Logical
I would add driving is a skill that is refined thru conscious practice.
Preferably schooled by someone competent.
You learn on machines that are more forgiving; lower limits, slower, some understeer, etc
You see it all the time with sport bikes, so fast they catch experienced riders off guard. Same for guns, how many 'experts' shoot themself or others accidentally?

I think some of the survival instinct improves with age, as you gather years/experienced you realize you are mortal. Paul Walker is an example, the driver was supposedly a racing driver.
Skill and judgement are two distinct traits.

It is ok, normal and expected to make mistakes, but you want to make ones you can survive,

Almost every teenage girl I see on the road is using a cell phonee, many older women too, men do it but it doesn't seem as frequent. Driver's ed is a joke in this country.

As you said, his money, but it is his parents that will deal with the consequences,

 

I bet not many peoples insurance tops mine, I think it's 517 a month, only caused 1 acident @ like <10km an hour too..paid it all out of pocket, ***** ain't cheap in canada

at 18, eh..when i was 18 i was a **** head even though i worked on cars, at 18 your curosity will get the better of you @ some point, hell even @ 25 it still does for me sometimes but i've slowed down a lot. If you can afford it without your parents, do it, but if you're a spoiled brat..no, go get a job

if you have 50k-100k @ 18, don't go buy a house or a c63 ..keep doing whatever you're doing that made you the money in the first place for a few more years, don't listen to everyone and put a down payment on a house, it's dumb..go buy some lower income properties and flip them or something first...buying your first house is cool and all but what no one tells you is it costs easily 20k+ a year to run the stupid thing and then you have to worry about more taxes etc etc, if you have HOA, that BS..it's cool owning a pad, but personally i'd wait until your mid 20s to buy your first house until you have more long-term finanical stablity

 

Coming from LS series v8s cars 2 ls6's an ls7 the car kind of pulls like it's forced induction from about 3k to 4500k but I think that s just the flappy paddles and different power band of the motor. Amazing machine though, I say go for it! Awesome experience.

 

https://www.census.gov/compendia/sta...es/12s1114.pdf
Accident rates per 100k drivers fatal accidents
Age rate
18 42
55 18
US avg 23

look at the % of licensed driver vs % of fatal accidents involved in
Almost double for <24 yrs old

eg
A 55 yr old age group is 16% of all drivers yet only 12% of fatal accidents
Less than 19...5% of all drivers but 8% of the fatal accidents

For all accidents it is 12 vs 10!
19 group 12/5 = 2.5 times the ratio of accidents/drivers
55 group 10/16 = 0.6
A 19 yr old is 4 times as likely to have an accident as the 55 group when unitized

 

mmm quick check on mercedes south africa site for certified pre owned will show you need nothing less than 60k USD for an amg. just saying. I live in Zimbabwe and we bring in cars from south africa all the time., no dealers manufacture cars in Zimbabwe any more and what I know about RSA is cars are not cheap. http://preowned.mercedes-benz.co.za/

 

You do realize this thread was about a year old?

 

necro-bump

 

get a viper. much safer, better handling, more power, etc.

 

That was a good read. I had almost forgotten how much of a professional troll Ingenieur was.