a "practice car"?

[Steve S 2]

In a general thread about obtaining drivers licenses, Gary mentioned that he bought a $1000 "practice car" for Alla. Advantages to this approach include having the peace of mind that scratches and dents don't really matter, you can purchase liability insurance only, etc. Disadvantages include fooling with buying and selling a car, and blowing money on something you don't want to keep. Help me decide in my situation:

I have a Volvo, worth perhaps 15K. All kinds of air bags and safety features to protect Irina.

I also have an older car which is worth much less but it is reliable. It is a stick-shift, so I don't want Irina to learn on it but it could be my own car to drive.

I am inclined to let Irina learn on the Volvo, and then it can be her primary car. I didn't scratch or dent anything when I was 15 or 16 years old. Who thinks this is a good call, and who thinks I should get a third car for her to learn on?

[Jasman0717 9]

New drivers should probably have a 'practice car' before they buy a new one. There will be those scratches and dings that come with the new driver territory. I tried to tell Claudeth that and she was offended that I wouldn't buy her a new car until we discussed it in more detail.

[mox 298]

My personal preference would be to put any of my loved ones in the safest car I have. Scratches, dings, scrapes...welcome to life.

[Steve S 2]

I mean, Irina is not 15 or 16 years old (pretty sure I-129 would be rejected), but that when I was learning to drive at that age I did not damage my "practice car" (an old Dodge Colt).

[Neonred 3,564]

My wife learned to drive on our brand new Toyota Camry Hybrid. Of course it worried me that she would damage it but.... it is a safe car. She loves that car and hates to drive anything else. I think it is the CVT that she likes so much as it makes the car so smooth.

So far so good.

[akdiver 3]

In a general thread about obtaining drivers licenses, Gary mentioned that he bought a $1000 "practice car" for Alla.

Hell, that cost more than my "real car" was worth when my wife moved in.

[john & jean 37]

I have been telling Jean she would get a 63 model vw bug as a first car. In retrospect, maybe a Sherman Tank would be the better choice!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

In a general thread about obtaining drivers licenses, Gary mentioned that he bought a $1000 "practice car" for Alla. Advantages to this approach include having the peace of mind that scratches and dents don't really matter, you can purchase liability insurance only, etc. Disadvantages include fooling with buying and selling a car, and blowing money on something you don't want to keep. Help me decide in my situation:

I have a Volvo, worth perhaps 15K. All kinds of air bags and safety features to protect Irina.

I also have an older car which is worth much less but it is reliable. It is a stick-shift, so I don't want Irina to learn on it but it could be my own car to drive.

I am inclined to let Irina learn on the Volvo, and then it can be her primary car. I didn't scratch or dent anything when I was 15 or 16 years old. Who thinks this is a good call, and who thinks I should get a third car for her to learn on?

I do not recommend a stick shift. We have tried that also and she still cannot shift AND keep the car on the pavement.

FWIW, I bought the van for under $1000, and that includes some work I did to it. I actually bought the van for $575 at the auction, then had a brake job and muffler put on. I never did any other work to it for nearly a year and yes, it was abused and bashed into all sorts of inanimate objects. Nothing serious but lots of dents and dings. When we bought her a new car nearly a year later, I put an ad for the van in Craigs List for $995 (comes up on searches for cars under $1000) and sold it the same day as I placed the ad, recouping all the money I paid for it. Maybe I got lucky, but I sure as heck would not have wanted her driving a new expensive car that first year, I mean it was scarey how much stuff she bashed into (ripped three tires on curbs during that time, hit mailboxes, fire hydrants, trees, numerous "lawn jobs" etc.) She usually managed to get it parked somehwere on our 3 acres, but not necessarily near the established driveway.

[mox 298]

I mean, Irina is not 15 or 16 years old (pretty sure I-129 would be rejected), but that when I was learning to drive at that age I did not damage my "practice car" (an old Dodge Colt).

You make a good point Steve. So often in this forum the men tend to think about their fiancees or wives as if they are children. They're not, and they were doing perfectly fine before we came along. It's harder for anyone to learn that's never been part of a "car culture," but they can manage.

Irina will do fine, she probably won't put a scratch on the car. But if she does, imho you'll want her to be protected.

[john & jean 37]

seriously, it is a good thing we started practicing in a for wheel drive, she was in the grass as much as on the road.

doing better, has a long way to go before doing it solo.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

You make a good point Steve. So often in this forum the men tend to think about their fiancees or wives as if they are children. They're not, and they were doing perfectly fine before we came along. It's harder for anyone to learn that's never been part of a "car culture," but they can manage.

Irina will do fine, she probably won't put a scratch on the car. But if she does, imho you'll want her to be protected.

The fallacy is that you seem to think that an older car means unsafe. Not true. You can get (in our area) late 90's (98, 99) model minivans for under $1000, usually under $700 at auto auctions. My wife had an all-wheel-drive deluxe model Dodge Caravan with every modern safety feature available. It was actually in near perfect condiion (appearance and function wise) when I bought it for $575. Yes, I did a brake job and replaced a loud muffler. Big deal. She ended up with a safe vehicle for under $1000 that neither of us worried about getting damaged which made HER more comfortable. I think it is a great resonsibility and stress to put on your new wife, to not only learn to drive but to also be responsible for her new husband's shiny new vehicle. It is way beyond my comprehension to even think about the pressure that could cause someone in a new country with a new husband and lerning something new AND being responsible for someone else's car.

Also, having taught two teenage sons, working on another now and about to start my fourth in March, I can say it was MUCH more difficult to teach a woman who is, shall we say, NOT a teenager and had NO experience with cars except hiring private drivers. I think a 6 year old American kid could probably drive better just from watching Mom and Dad, than Alla could when she arrived. And don't forget, we live in Vermont, that means you learn to drive twice, once in summer and once in winter. The day of her drivers lisence test, two months after starting was the first big snowfall of the season.

ALL the boys, taht started learning to drive at age 12-15 were MUCH faster to catch on and be comfortable with driving. Our 14 year old drives the cars on private roads and parking lots and will get his learners permit in March when he is 15. He has done excellent and can easily manuever parking, backing etc. which Alla had a lot of trouble with.

But that said, Alla is now a really good driver, I can even doze off when she is driving where before I was so terrified every moment there is no way I could have fallen asleep while she drove. She drives a lot, nearly 100 miles every day, or more in city and highway driving and has yet to have an accident which I found amazing, but it is true

All I can say is...wait until they get their first traffic ticket!!!!!!!! ROFLMAO!!!!!! And be SURE to tell them NOT to try and bribe the cops in the USA!

Neither did Alla want to be responsible for damaging an expensive car. She was much more comfortable herself driving an older car. Knocking over a mailbox was nothing more than me fixing the mailbox, no one cared about the dent in the bumper.

I mean if you choose to teach your wife to drive your new Lexus, that is fine, I really couldn't care less, but please do not insinuate that it is somehow safer, taht is just preposterous.

[slim 1,525]

We bought my wife a brand new car for her to learn on.

The way I look at it, if you practice with something nice, there's more of an incentive to do a good job. If you're practicing with a car you don't care about, then who cares if you dent it up or run into stuff, it's just your practice car.

Either way, I recommend an automatic because from what I've seen, it's incredibly hard for any first time driver (and Gary's absolutely right - it's a completely foreign concept for most of them) to understand the relationship between speed and turns, etc. Adding a shift and clutch in there too is just too much.... unless you have a practice car! So, there you go. If your old car is manual and you don't mind her learning on it (and totally messing it up!) then go ahead. But, if you want her to learn to drive without messing the car up, go with the Volvo.

Good luck, you're in for a real treat!

[Neonred 3,564]

I just can not understand how anyone hits mail boxes, fire hydrants, and trees. When my kids were 12 years old they drove better than that.

My wife is VERY careful because she knows the first time she hits something like that she is done.

[Paul and Natalia 0]

Natalia and I will live in a semi-rural area in Maryland with poor public transportation, and she really needed to learn to drive. She wasn't sure that she was meant to be a driver, and she decided to take a driving course in Russia, thinking it might be easier to learn without possible language issues, etc. She found a driving school near her apt and started in.

Russian rules of the road are more complicated and she had to take her practice using a stick shift. Her school required that she pass their internal tests with 99% correct on theory and be able to parallel park, drive up and down ramps, and handle city traffic before they allowed her to take the police license tests. This probably wasn't the easy route to learning to drive, but she did it all, and went on to the police exams. Last week she passed her final city driving test in traffic, in a snow storm, using a stick shift. Although she now has a Russian license, she will still have to take driving and theory tests in Maryland. She'll have to learn a few new rules, but it'll be a piece of cake. May be the most important thing is that she has confidence now - she knows that she can drive.

Natalia still suggests that we get her a practice car. But, frankly, she's welcome to drive any car that we'll own.

Paul

[slim 1,525]

She'll have to learn a few new rules, but it'll be a piece of cake.

Not to burst your bubble, but my wife did the same thing. When she got here, she still couldn't drive. Taking a few hours of training and passing ONE test is not enough to develop what it takes to master the skill of handling a vehicle.

Gary hit the nail on the head earlier - they just don't have the same experience level. Our kids drive big wheels when they're three years old, mow the grass, ride bikes, drive bumper cars, go-karts.... hell, most Russians don't even RIDE in cars all that often.

Have her drive the day she gets here. A lot. Take her out immediately and drive as often as possible. Also, if she can afford it, have her keep driving there. It is a perishable skill and one she's likely to lose in the time between passing the test and arriving here.