I totally agree, a high school student having a W140 Mercedes S-Class is ridiculous, it used to be one of the world's top luxury cars, far too good for a teenager's first car. Am I right that it goes without saying their parents bought them these cars, no normal teenager could earn the money to buy and run a big Merc.

It seems like insurance in America is too unrestrictive (I think even now at 23 I'd struggle to get insured on a Merc S-Class unless it was an S280 or something), most teenagers shouldn't be allowed to have big cars (when they crash they'll cause more damage). In Britain, just about every teenage driver has to start off small (and usually cheap) with little hatchbacks with engines of 1.6 litres and under.