I recently gave my 2008 E63 to my little brother as a college graduation present. His car before this one was my old CLK55 when he graduated high school. He is a great kid, never in any real trouble and always respectful to my parents and my self. I have always said that as long as you keep your grades up and respect the car and the rules of the road, you can drive my cars. Just yesterday, he comes to me and hands me my keys back and said that he was ticketed going 83mph in a 65mph zone. Keep in mind that this is his first speeding ticket in about 5 years of driving. He said he was on an open stretch on the highway and wanted to get on it for a little bit. He was honest and said he got up to about 110 mph and was slowing down already before CHP nailed him. Since day one, I have always said as soon as you get a ticket I will take the car back.

I am kind of stuck between keeping my word and giving him a pass this time. He treats the car better than I do, he babies the car and washes the car weekly. I am leaning towards giving the keys back to him, but don't want to go back on my word after years of saying basically, " speeding ticket = no car". This would be much easier if he was not such a good kid Any thoughts???

 

How about a "time out" for maybe 1 month or so? Just long enough for him to miss the car.

 

hey, he followed through - if he gave the keys - keep em

if you give them back, what did he just learn?

 

Did you specify how long you'd keep the keys? If not, set a time now.

 

man thats a great brother and an honest kid... i'd hand em right back at him, and just tell him to be careful. i mean who doesnt want to push it a little on an open road lol at least he didnt do it on busy roads with pedestrians and stuff..

 

Buy a beater that needs work off Craigslist for a few grand, help him fix it up and flip it over the next month or 2 while he's driving it. Then when it sells,he'll have a little more respect for the nice car you gave him to begin with.

 

Honesty goes long ways, I'd let him keep the car no doubt. 83mph is nothing.

 

Keep the keys for a little while then give them back.
This will show that honesty does pay off and that he can always come to you with the truth and not get burned.
Explain to him that telling you the truth is why he can have a second chance.
And to always come to you with the truth this is a small issue you want this door to be open when there is a big issue.
That's the problem in this world usually telling the truth doesn't seem to pay off. Give him a reason to believe.

 

Isn't the whole point of taking the car back to teach him a lesson?

What lesson do you want him to learn?
That it is ok to speed?
That you are not a man of your word?
That there are no consequences for our actions?

I know it sounds harsh but you need to be firm and show him that there are in fact people in this world that mean what they say.

Besides driving a car is a privilege, not a right.
Driving an E63 in college is extreme privilege and should have strict criteria regarding its use.

That said, there can be a compromise down the road, but no more Amg for him for awhile.

I love the idea of buying, driving and flipping the beater. Then the Amg...lol.

GL

 

^^^^^this,

A "start over" will punctuate your very correct rules and generous way.
Props to your brothers honesty, sounds like a good kid, and you sound like a good big brother.
Great life lesson, that he may pass on to his children.

 

You are his brother, not his dad. Give him the keys back and let him deal with the consequences and financial burden of increased insurance rates, etc.

He is a big boy, he can handle it.

 

I appreciate all the great replies and suggestions. Now I am thinking I should stay firm and not give him the E63 back, at least for the time being. I also like the idea of getting him a car that we can work on together. He currently is driving a 2006 Accord so he does have reliable transportation, so a weekend project we can build together sounds pretty fun. I am thinking maybe a 300Z or a Nissan 240, any thoughts on other project cars?

 

E36 M3. WARNING! YOU BOTH WILL LOVE IT!

 

TC1728, please reread FASN8N's post.

Besides, considering he just graduated college and had superb grades/attitude, I can only conclude in a year or two he will be the one deciding which of his keys older brother can possibly borrow. The prancing horse or the Honda keys? Which will you want? Give em back.

 

Was he racing, was he driving reckless. For someone with such a clean background he is being treated as if he has done this before. I assume he is at least 22 being a college grad. But the way you are treating him, it sounds like he is a highschool grad.

And everybody lets be serious. He is driving a e63. Did you really expect him never to drop it. I mean he actually told the truth and said he went 110. He is a responsible kid. Let him take responsibility. Let him learn this lesson the way everyone would. Dealing with the consenquences of the ticket.

This is the reason why i saved to buy my own cars.

 

Meh. He is a college aged kid and you still want to play Daddy? At this point he is likely paying for his own insurance and may now feel the pain of increased insurance premiums. You gave him the car so let him keep it and the dignity of taking care of his own poop.

 

OP, I'll tell you one thing... he claims he got it up to 110. The kid may have taken it to 130 for all you know. Triple digits is a huge gap to 83. You even said yourself he was slowing down when the cop clocked him at 83. There's a lot to say about this.

 

Same thing. How long you going to not let him make his own decisions and reap the rewards/consequences?

Sounds like the kid did it in an area where he knew it was safer to open it up no in a 25 MPH zone.

 

Give it back, at least he was honest, plus, playin dad to him, is kinda over the top, but hey, it's ur car and therefore your rules, ur still a good brother either way, plus it's an E63, if he didn't floor it, then he doesn't deserve it, LOL

 

Decided to take the car back and will most likely get a project car of his choice in a couple months for us to work on together if that is something he is interested in.

I treat my little brother almost my own kid because we are 10 years apart and also because my parents retired back in 2000 and I have been taking care of him since he was 11. My parents currently spend about 2 months a year in the States.

 

I couldn't have said it better myself!

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT A GREAT, INCREDIBLE BROTHER YOU HAVE! I can't even read anymore of this thread! I have never heard of anything soooooo ridiculous!

You sound like you are just as great of a person...give the kid a break and HEAVILY warn him that next time it's over! Give him the car back and get a project1

If you would like, maybe some of us here can tell you about some of our families!
You will be THROWING your keys back to him! Whatever you do...sounds like you have some great people in your family!

 

Thank you. I appreciate the kind words