Would you give your child this car?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious how she’s proven she’s a trustworthy driver if she’s only just turned 16.

Really?

People are odd tonight. I think I’m out.

It was an honest question. Not sure why it was weird. I don’t have a teen driver yet, but I can’t imagine how much experience I would need my kid to have before I deemed them a trustworthy driver.

[Anonymous]

I think your plan is fine.

We have a Subaru CrossTrek for our daughter to use. It's low miles (about 10,000) and new enough to have all the safety features, which was important to me. We don't call it her car. It belongs to us but she can use it with permission. She drives to school and to practice, but she doesn't have free rein to drive wherever and whenever she wants at this point.

[Anonymous]

Parents helped for our first car. First car, only. Parents said they would pay 1/2 and it was our choice. We could wait until we had saved a lot and get something nice, or save less to buy something not as nice.

I don't understand this -gifting- teenagers a car. I mean, if they need/want to go somewhere and it's convenient for you to let them drive one of the family cars, I see that. They ask. You say yes or no.

For them to own it? No, spoiled. Unless they paid a good portion of the cost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What seven year old SUV is worth 4K?

Same question - my 7 year old RAV is worth ~$17k according to KBB. I think OP's understanding of her car as new and nice is deeply skewed if it's worth less than $5k.

By the time you were to sell it, buy a new one, register it, pay taxes and make repairs how much do you think OP or even you is really saving?

How am I not saving money by driving my own car? Your post makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you making her buy it from you?

To learn some financial literacy and responsibility, also in the hope she will have pride of ownership because she bought it? Seriously? Parents don’t do this anymore? Well, we are doing it.

I posted about my Corolla above. My son is paying his own insurance. That’s a few thousand dollars per year. That plus gas and maintenance. That’s plenty. Just have her pay her insurance, etc.

[Anonymous]

You all must live in the burbs.

My 16 year old just wants Uber/lyft gift cards…no interest in actually driving a car.

Parking at W&L is a trainwreck.

[Anonymous]

I also don’t understand making the kid buy the car.

But we let our teen drive DH’s 2019 suv and bought DH a new car. The 2019 was definitely ours that he had the privilege of driving. (He was an athlete who had crazy practices all over the place and was thrilled to let him drive himself.). He’s now in college and the car is here. DD just got her permit and she will drive it. We consider it to be “the kids’ car,” tho I’m not sure that our 7th grader will actually get to drive it!

The car has good safety features and isn’t too flashy. Plus, we have control over it and can stop anyone from driving it for any reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you making her buy it from you?

To learn some financial literacy and responsibility, also in the hope she will have pride of ownership because she bought it? Seriously? Parents don’t do this anymore? Well, we are doing it.

No, that's not financial responsibility and then you lose control of the car. You cannot take away the keys and tell her no car if she owns it. She should take care of it or she loses it, simple.

We will pay for gas and insurance and kid will get a very old car to drive but it’s still OUR car, at 16 and that car will be replaced. When they work, they will put the money away for college for spending money. I would never give or buy a child a car in less we had no other option (like the car died and they need it it vs. want it).

I guess I disagree. She can’t drive it without insurance and she can’t secure that (or afford it!) on her own. But my question was about whether or not a seven year old car was too new, and I understand you think it is, so I will accept your input on that!

I think your plan is just fine. There is plenty of life left in the car but it's new enough to have reasonable safety equipment. After many years of clean driving, our HH has had some claims and we are living with some cosmetic damage from our learner. Remember the most important thing is always the safety of your child, followed by reliability. Tech is changing faster now due to computerization. So a really old car lacks protection. More than 10 years old, I'd be looking for something else.

If you want to make your child pay for it, I see the value in that approach. Parents usually have a larger picture of how they teach financial responsibility. This fits.

Your valuation seems very low. Maybe that's dealer trade-in. Car prices went up during the pandemic. You want to hang on to well-maintained older cars if you can. Keeping this in the family is smart.

I wouldn't put a new young driver in a brand new car because any mild fender bender is $2K now. Cosmetic damage is also costly. My kid brushed a rear view mirror in a way that broke the hinge. That's going to be $400 because I can't DIY it. The power function and side blind zone still work perfect but the mirror shaft requires duct tape to immobilize it.

Good luck, OP. Safe drives!

[Anonymous]

Yes give her the car. Were 4 months behind you and she’s getting my car (suv with 140k worth $10k) and I’m getting a new used car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents helped for our first car. First car, only. Parents said they would pay 1/2 and it was our choice. We could wait until we had saved a lot and get something nice, or save less to buy something not as nice.

I don't understand this -gifting- teenagers a car. I mean, if they need/want to go somewhere and it's convenient for you to let them drive one of the family cars, I see that. They ask. You say yes or no.

For them to own it? No, spoiled. Unless they paid a good portion of the cost.

I’ve thought about this too, but things are different now than they were for us. Our kids have 10x the schedule we did - multiple sports, volunteering, other outside activities, school events, and social events on top of it, that we’ve been shuttling them to since 7th grade. The kid getting their license is now more about freedom for the parents than for the kids. The first car mindset gets shifted with this, so we are more prone to just get them a darn car and be done with being a chauffeur.

[Anonymous]

Some random questions on my mind:

If your DD buys your car, is she in responsible for future maintenance and repairs?

Are you going to sign the title over to her?

If you do sell her the car, it will be 100% hers. That means she can drive it whenever and wherever she wants. Right?

[Anonymous]

You absolutely should charge your kid. They need skin in the game. You can give it back later if they show responsible financial habits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some random questions on my mind:

If your DD buys your car, is she in responsible for future maintenance and repairs?

Are you going to sign the title over to her?

If you do sell her the car, it will be 100% hers. That means she can drive it whenever and wherever she wants. Right?

No, it does not. If you transfer it to her, then she might be able to sure you for compensation if you take it back. But your minor child does not have the right to drive whenever she wants against your will.

[Anonymous]

I won’t give my children a car. Cars become a burden while child is focusing on education. How can they pay insurance and fees if in college full time? If they need a car after they get a job, they can buy one then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you making her buy it from you?

To learn some financial literacy and responsibility, also in the hope she will have pride of ownership because she bought it? Seriously? Parents don’t do this anymore? Well, we are doing it.

She’s 16, moron.