What First Car Should Your Teenager Buy?

You're not going to like what I have to say here.  You're either going to call me an elitist, or impractical, or both.  But I just read an article recommending "first cars" for teenagers.  Are they kidding me here?

Disclaimer:  I'm not knocking any of these brand names.  But having gone thru this once with my son, I can tell you right now, some of these would be a VERY tough sell!  According to CNN Money.com, here's one of the ones they advocate:

CNN - don't get me wrong.  I love ya.  I watch you every nite, and I faithfully read your CNNmoney.com articles.  But if you think for one nano second that my son would have come running into the house yelling "dad - I found the perfect car!  No, not that ugly red Mustang.  PLEASE GET ME THAT SKY BLUE  CHICK MAGNET MINIVAN!!"

You can read the whole article for the rest of the suggestions.  There are some good ones, like the stylish Chevy Cruze and the Ford Focus.  (Hell, my first car was a 1967 Chevy Belair -so I would have taken any of these).

But I guess my point is that you can't project what we were accustomed to accept upon today's kids.  They expect more.  Much more.  Spoiled?  Yes, absolutely.  They expect their own cellphones, their own cars (no junkers, please!)  and no manual labor jobs to help support them.   Maybe I'm over generalizing, but I don't think I"m too far off the mark here.   You as a parent have got to change your thinking a little bit, or you'll go crazy.  Trust me.  I've been there!