can someone help

[cj]

fathers buy and maintain cars for their daughters; sons need to man up.

DING DING DING DING!

John

I'm with that! Just tell your son the chicks dig a guy that can handle a stick.

That can have a different meaning in some parts of the left coast.

Not that there's anything wrong with that! LOL!

Cris

[pureaudio]

I used to sit in the driveway in my parent's beater pickup going through the motions of shifting and pushing the clutch in that I had learned from watching my brother drive. When that big day came when I was 14 and my friends bet me that I could not drive a stick while my parents were out shopping, they ate crow. I did get my ass handed to me when they of course found out that I drove the truck but hey, at least I proved I could do it. Everyone should know how to drive a manual, it should be as standard as learning to change a tire.

[Jim_75Sahara]

I was re-reading this thread: I didn't give my son a car exactly..... My brother had a spare one and he offered it to my son free of charge. (a '93 Camry w/~180K mi.) I thought about mandating his proficiency with a stickshift, but I abandoned that notion. I was forced to learn on a manual, but I looked forward to it and was very pleased to master it quickly. One was my sister's Pinto & the other manual was my dad's '72 2002! YAY.

[jgerock]

Please be patient with your son. Have you showed him how fun it is to actually control the car instead of just sitting in it? Are you smiling while driving the car (hopefully you don't have to push it).

I've noticed that many ** teenagers are more interested in the internet and texting than driving a car. My niece isn't really interested in practicing her driving skills (crazy as that seems). Where us "older" folks drove to see things and people, the latest communication methods don't require taking a trip to interact with someone (shame).

** No offense toward the young owners here - I applaud you!

[Jim_75Sahara]

Jim: ummmmm, it's hard for me to be objective when it comes to me and my son. I could be an observer and report back on another father & son, but I don't know how I come across to him. He knows that I love older cars, espec. w/manual transmissions and less luxuries on board. He knows I was taught to drive a manual first before I spent time with an auto trans. He could drive it on a parking lot, but he was terrible on the streets with a manual. He'd get nervous and forget everything.... I could not take it for very long. ha ha