Well, I was visiting my cousin in Philadelphia for his 17th birthday. Keep in mind I just turned 18, and I've had my G since I was late 15. It's a 5AT, and I always wanted to have a stick car. Well, my cousins dad has a stick car, so we decided I was gonna learn and try to drive stick by ourselves, without anybody teaching us. I knew what the main idea was from watching movies and racing videos, unfortunantly but I decided I would give it a try. So we got in the car, and the first trouble I was in was turning it on. I stalled it about 5-7 times before I got it finally moving. After going up and down the block a few times, getting used to getting from idol to 1st I got the main idea. Shifting to other gears was no problem at all and it was fairly easy. Rerverse was the complete oposite of getting into 1st so I gave it a try. After 30 minutes, I was driving on main roades, highways, all over town. I had it down and perfect, from rolles, getting into 2nd, braking everything. Getting into first off a light and all, my cousin was totally shocked. He thought I was lying the whole time about me not knowing how to drive stick. So I called up my buddy from Sport Tuned, and told him the story, he was all happy and stuff and hes like "I think its time to trade in ur 5at and get a 6mt." Well I was all excited and stuff so then im moved on by talking to my mom.
I brought up the first idea about getting a stick car and her first response was no way. Well my mom isnt the real car person to talk to after all, so I was thinking about talking to my dad about it. My car is already pretty much done out, but I was thinking about taking all the things I have on my car now and putting it on the new one. Possibly even taking a used one and giving mine back to the dealership. What do you guys think about it, and what ideas do you have for talking to my dad about possibly trading in my car. Or do you guys think I should stick with what I have and possibly get a stick car for my next one! Thanks guys.

 

Make sure you can parallel park with a stick, because on a hill it can get tricky (and there are lots of hills here in SF). Also keep in mind that you'll be putting in more effort with a stick, rather than just putting it in Drive and moving. Lastly, the clutch will have to get replaced periodically as it wears out, compared to the relatively low maintenance of an automatic. Hope this helps!

 

I think somebody has more money than sense. A G35 at 15 years old? Your folks are nuts. I can't tell you how many kids have been killed in HP cars at your age. And you wonder why they want to raise the driving age to 18.

 

did your cousin's father know what you kids were doing?

 

What's your problem? Are you jealous because you didnt have one when you were 18? He didnt write a story about how he was street racing or how he was taking a turn too fast and lost control...

So what if his family is loaded and buys him a lot of stuff. Does that automatically rule out that he's a good kid? Does it instantly make him a spoiled brat? God, some people.. .. Get your head out of your *** man.

 

et tu brute?

 

Well the reason why I did get my car is not only because my parents have money. Yeah they might, but thats only because of God and the hard work my parents went through as they raised me and my siblings. Well, I had to get good grades, stay out of trouble and respect my parents a lot to get my car. And I still do to this day, because I respect everything they have done for me and all the sacrifices they have made. Thats why I dont drink and I dont smoke, because I would feel bad if I did anything to hurt them. Well, besides that this isnt a lecture, yeah my uncle knew we were taking his car. But he didnt know it was my first time haha, I guess everyone does some dumb things when they are young, but at least its better than doing other stupid things like others do or did growing up. But, at least I got the hang of it and stuff, and I was pretty darn proud, I just dont know why people always gotta bash other people about stories they share in a friendly way. I thought it was pretty cool because it was an accomplishment, you dont hear me bashing you do you?

 

It doesn't seem like you respect them very much if you want to trade your car in on an 05 so they take a 10k loss. If you respected them and the sacrifices they have made, you would be happy with the amazing car you already have, not bugging them to buy you a new one because you want to drive stick.

It doesn't bother me at all when people's parents buy their car for them, it's when they change their mind and start asking their parents for something new because they are no longer happy. Then they guilt trip their parents into doing it for them because they can't bear to see their children unhappy. I don't know if this is your exact case, but it is something I have seen from a few people on this site, and it really pisses me off because of the lack of appreciation.

 

Maybe if you could actually read what I was saying in the beginning. This is an exact quote "My car is already pretty much done out, but I was thinking about taking all the things I have on my car now and putting it on the new one. Possibly even taking a used one and giving mine back to the dealership. What do you guys think about it" I want to trade it in for a used one big guy so they dont loose money...

 

Oh ok, so they would only lose 5k rather than 10k. Your car is an 03, so anything else you trade it in on will be worth either as much or more, so you will take at least a 5k hit on an 03 to 03 trade (Dealerships are in business to make money, they will not just trade one car for another).

 

Well when the dealership is a close family friend of my families its a different story my friend =)

 

If that is the case, then more power to you. I don't think you would be happy with a used car though, you got your's brand new, so you know everything about it and how it was treated. When you get a used car, you start to worry about how it was treated, and you notices all the little problems with it (Scratches, funny noises/rattling, interior wear).

 

if you really want to trade cars, you should be the one paying the difference, not your parents. get a job, make the money, and i don't see a problem with it. otherwise keep your car. you already have an exceptionally sweet car at a young age, be very thankful for that. most ppl drive crap cars at that time in life.

 

Would you be happy if someone takes your car and stall it more than 5 times?

If you care about your car, so as other people.

 

I am 17 years old and I had a 04 G35C 5AT and I traded it in for a 05 G35C 6MT. I put 5k down on the original car, my mom put 5k, and my mom does the payments. I do the insurance and gas. I am also paying the difference for the trade.

I have to say that just because we may be young and have nice cars does not mean we are bad kids. Our parents worked hard, and reward us because they like to and feel that we deserve it. I also feel i worked my a$$ off for my car, and am contributing a significant amount of money towards it. But I believe the point of this thread was about the trade, so that being said, lets move on guys.

My exchange went very well, the total difference is cositng me around $5,500. They also threw in lo-jack (huge insurance break) and the wheel and tire protection package for free. (The dealership had been disrespectful to me, so they gave me a break). But IMO, go back to the guy you bought the car from in the first place, and see what you can work out. Make sure you remind him its your second car from him in two years.

As far as learning the stick, it took me about a week or two to really get the hang of it. I mean within 1 day I could drive the car fine, but it took me a while to smooth out the shifts perfectly and what not. The G has a very sensitive clutch and is very different from other stick cars, so you may have trouble at first, but IMHO it is worth it.

Sorry for the long post, but I thought I'd share my experience with you, since I went through the exact same thing.

-Mike