Buying car for HS kid (only child) who is going to college in 2 years?

[Anonymous]

3 person-/1-car family here. I wfh p/t, use car for errands/shopping; DH bikes to work and around town.

We'd planned to buy our DS (HS junior/only child) a used car, but I'm getting cold feet about dropping $15-20k on a car since he'll be in college in a few years. I understand that some people buy a car for their kid to pass on to a younger kid when they go off to college. Seems reasonable enough. But with an only child, it seems like a waste of $$. We will not need a second car at home when DS goes to college.

At the same time, between our son driving to school daily (we paid for the parking lot sticker this summer, thinking we'd buy another car), his club sport (30-ish minutes+ away at least 4x/week), going to the gym, meeting up with friends (which he does more frequently now that he has his license), occasionally driving to his p/t job, I don't have access to our car much anymore.

It's especially isolating for me since I wfh/part-time and I do need some interaction with people during the week, even if it's just going to the grocery store or Target or going to a coffee shop for a break.

For those with an only child, did you get a car for your kid for the short time they are in HS after getting their license? Was it worth it?

If you bought a car for your kid, did you sell it when they went off to college or keep it? Did your kid take a car to college with them as a freshman if it was allowed?

[Anonymous]

get the car, figure out the rest later when they go to school

[Anonymous]

He will probably want a car after his freshman year in college so at worst, you would have an extra car around for 9 months.

[Anonymous]

You're both probably correct. Now that college is getting closer, for all large purchases, I think about how much better it may be to allocate that money toward tuition. At the same time, everyone needs transportation.

[Anonymous]

Won't he want the car at college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:get the car, figure out the rest later when they go to school

Yeah, you could sell it then.

Or maybe they'll go to a school where it would help to have a car. You can figure that out in 2 years.

[Anonymous]

Do you not expect him to come home in the summer? Our college kid will keep the car as theirs after they graduate college.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like it would really help YOU for him to have a car these next two years.

Perhaps it would help to reframe the decision that way. How will this help you? It's not necessarily a $15K outlay if you choose to sell the car in two more years. Used cars don't depreciate as fast as new cars, so maybe it's a $3-5K decision (plus insurance) for the next two years.

And if he needs the car for college in 2 years, then you'll be glad you already bought one, and don't have the additional outlay when college tuition is due. He can get a part-time job to help contribute toward the monthly cost.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like in your case it would make sense to get one since you are a 3-person, 1 car family. You can sell the car when he goes off to college. Getting 2 years use out of a car isn't bad.

You could also look at leasing for two years if you don't want to put down the big chunk of cash and have to deal with selling it later.

[Anonymous]

We have an only DD who will get her license in the spring. I also mostly wfh and my DH drives daily, so we have two cars. DD will be the primary user of my car once she gets her license. I can walk or take public transportation to go to work or run errands, so I don’t really need it. In your case, since you only have one car, I would get another one. It’s a lot more convenient.

[Anonymous]

I'm not in that situation (3 kids). But the oldest is now a senior in college and used it almost every day during every break. She's the social type. It would have been a real pain--not only during HS but also during all of those breaks--if she didn't have one.

Second kid is now a freshman at UMD. She drove a lot less in HS (not nearly as social) but we're already thinking she may take it to UMD for sophomore, or at least by junior year.

So I'd say to go for it. It sounds like you need it for your own sanity now. And the kid will probably use it more than you think after college begins.

[Anonymous]

On the question of whether the kid can take the car to school, it depends entirely on where they will go. At some schools, no kids have cars and it's incredibly expensive to park. At others, it's allowed freshman year and common after that. It completely depends.

[Anonymous]

Looks like it’s time to start car shopping again. You’ve all given compelling reasons for why we need a car right now; it's not really a luxury. Hard to wrap my head around the idea since we tend to hang onto cars for 10 years+.

DS definitely needs one for his current activities, and DH and I are both relieved that we don’t have to drive him around all the time now. And I could certainly use one to make my life easier, or at least less boring.

The college thing is trickier. The parking situation at a few we’ve visited has not been great, and I was thinking our kid could take a train home for breaks. But not having a car at some of these schools (or at home during breaks) might also be problematic and/or isolating for our kid - and I wouldn’t want that for him either. But, yes, we can figure that out later.

Thanks all -

[Anonymous]

It helps us significantly that our son has a car. We helped him buy it but we made him save some money towards it too. He needs to pay for gas and it’s been so helpful for him to drive himself places. He’s currently a junior. We assume he will take it with him when he eventually moves out. If he can’t, it will stay here or be sold and the money will go towards the next car he will buy.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely get the car.