Whereabouts Carolina are you? I was in Jacksonville/Wilmington for a number of years and I'd imagine the worst you have to worry about is hydroplaning when it's a heavy downpour.

I now live on the Cape in Massachusetts, my wife has a DII, new tires (Goodyear HP Wranglers) and it kicks into ABS mode pretty easy when it's raining. I have a Mercury Sable that has an ABS issue and I've pulled the fuse in that...it seems to stop alot better than the DII, but I'd imagine it's substantially lighter and has a lower center of gravity which helps.

As for the DI and your daughter, considering how teen drivers tend to be reckless, especially when they have friends in the car, I have to say I'd be a little apprehensive about the situation. I agree 100% that training is more important than the ABS brakes BUT imho: the discovery doesn't stop well to begin with, with or without ABS.

On the other hand, if memory serves...Carolina is filled with a bunch of single-lane "back-road" highways that tend to claim alot of lives. I am thinking that I'd rather have my kid in a substantial vehicle (i.e. Discovery) instead of a Honda or something small and compact.

It's scary putting your kid in a car...I've got several years before I need to worry about that.

 

I'll back up what others have said. An erratically functioning ABS system in a DI is MUCH more dangerous than no ABS at all even for the most experienced driver. What happens is you press the pedal, you feel a pulsation, but the car does not slow down one bit whatsover. Even @ 10mph coming to an intersection, it'll scare the bejesus out of you as you press the pedal but still continue to roll towards that intersection. VERY DANGEROUS. Considering the inherent design problems with the DI abs system - I'd disconnect it for a young driver just as a precaution. The only real advantage lost is during a panic stop, and in a 6000lb vehicle, an inexperienced drive is unlikely to really be able to take advantage of the ABS anyway. In any event, it's obviously your call. Give her the vehicle without ABS, or select another vehicle. The cost to bring your ABS up to spec isn't worth the price of the vehicle, and it's likely to fail again in the future anyway.

 

Well as a kid that started out driving my DI at 16 I can provide a little insight to the matter. What it comes down to is that I know that I'm a good driver, I do feel like I'm more than capable of controlling my heavy Discovery with or without ABS, but I do agree that most (almost all) of my peers are not able at all to properly control their cars, even the small and slow ones, and even on good dry pavement. I've seen some kids my age do pathetically dumb things. A girl backed into my truck in the school parking lot going very slowly, probably 3 mph. No damage done, I didn't care to be honest. But then I realized that she hadn't noticed that she had hit it yet and stayed on the gas. It was probably the dumbest thing I'd seen in a long time. She pushed my car until the rear suspension was starting to get pushed up, and she did end up denting the plastic bumper on her little useless chick car, but the Disco was untouched. Moral of the story is that even though I know I'm capable of driving well, I know that most of my peers are not fit to be behind the wheel of anything, let alone a 6,000 lb truck.

 

And how exactly would ABS protect your daughter from someone rear ending her?
I'm convinced that to a large degree the moronic behavior you see on the roads is because people just depend on technology to protect them, rather than really learning how to drive.
If your daughter stays off the cell phone, isn't allowed to drive with anyone other than adult family members in the car for at least one year, doesn't tailgate and pays attention to the road, the likelyhood of her needing ABS is extremely slim.
You will add much more to her safety by not letting her have a radio or ipod in the car for at least her first year, than ABS would add.

 

My ABS worked great for the first year, then one day coming to a 4-way I could not stop, pulled up on the parking brake and pumped the brake pedal and stopped just in time.
A month or so later it happened to my wife with our kids in the truck, she almost rearended someone.
That night the ABS fuse was out of the truck and it will NEVER get put back.
Experiance, experiance, experiance is the key, electronics fail, mechaincal devices fail, if we all rely on gadgets to do things for us then when they fail we will be at their mercy.
My son's first car was a 1985 Dodge Ram 3/4 ton with a 318 and a 2 barrle carb and a 3 speed auto.
Not only could he not go fast, he couldnt leave the city or carry any more than 2 friends.
AND he had to learn how to drive a carburated car...in Michigan...in the winter time, how many of YOU know how to drive a carburated car in 0 degree weather?

 

Vermont has the right idea with a graduated drivers permit program.
You have to have learners permit (only allowed to drive with parent, licensed instructor or licensed adult over 25) for a year before they can apply for a Junior Operators License which has these rules, among others, and if you violate any the clock starts over: