If you bought your teen a car (or will buy them a car)...questions about money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many kids do you have, and how many years apart are they? Two, 3.5 yrs

What is your HHI? More than plenty.

What kind of car did you buy them (and was it new? used?). Oldest will get mine Younger will probably get a used one of similar vintage. Children do not get new cars as a matter of principle and my oldest has been begging for mine since we took it off the lot. And, I get a shiny new upgraded Jeep in the deal. So, win/win/win.

Did you get any type of "outside help?" Like did a grandparent contribute some money? No.

Did you feel you had to sacrifice in other areas (vacations, home renovations, etc) to afford the car? No.

I guess I'm just surprised (maybe a bit jealous) when I see a teen with a new ($25,000+) car, and then a couple years later their younger sibling also gets a new car...

See above. I get the sentiment. I’m fortunate enough to be able to do this for my kids and hopefully have taught them well enough to understand and appreciate it.

[Anonymous]

OP - our family had a car (usually) available for our teen(s) to drive. My DH and I could never agree on the semantics, was it "their" car or "ours". DH wanted it to be "theirs" but the title was never changed, so I kinda got my way because I never wanted to "give" them a car. Eventually it was a non-issue. Years passed. They graduated college, got jobs, bought their own car. If my DH and I were to talk about it, even now, we would still disagree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many kids do you have, and how many years apart are they?

What is your HHI?

What kind of car did you buy them (and was it new? used?)

Did you get any type of "outside help?" Like did a grandparent contribute some money?

Did you feel you had to sacrifice in other areas (vacations, home renovations, etc) to afford the car?

I guess I'm just surprised (maybe a bit jealous) when I see a teen with a new ($25,000+) car, and then a couple years later their younger sibling also gets a new car...

4 kids, each 2 years apart. Oldest turning 16 soon. HHI 600K+. Will buy a new car for ourselves and they will get our oldest car (2013 Honda CRV) to drive. We may buy a 1 year old used car for DC 2 and trade in the CRV at that point. When each DC graduates college will likely buy them a new car at that point (no car for college), or pay security deposit on first apartment if they are in a big metropolitan area for their first job and will use public transportation.

No help from others, no sacrifice to offer cars.

I do want to say we are not “car” people - we can afford luxury cars but just don’t value them. Almost all our friends have them, though (our very nice Toyota/Honda SUVs stick out in our friend group), and I won’t be surprised if I see most of their kids get new cars. Honestly, we will probably spend $25-$30K on the used car for DC2, but that one should last through DC 4, so feel like that is a good purchase.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These responses are comical, since most of what I see in our UMC NOVA community are new, expensive cars. Not the 2K beaters and used cars people are saying they bought their kids.

Yep. This sample is highly skewed toward the sanctimonious. I see lots of new cars at dc’s school. Most of my friends get a new car and give the “old” one to the kid. Of course, that’s often a Range Rover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Planning on giving DS our Tesla Model S, P100D. Getting myself the Tesla Roadster. By the time DS is old enough to drive in 4 yrs, I'm hoping the car is fully autonomous, level 5 not 3 as it is now. We will trade in our Tesla S in 2 yrs so he'll be getting a 2 yr old car.

Please don’t. See the Miami kid that lost control with its Tesla. That’s a racing car. A teen is not capable of handling it yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 16YO stepDD and a 3 and 4YO. We have full custody of stepDD. Instead of buying her a car we took the money that we would have spent ($10K) and gave it to MIL to put towards a new car and in turn she gave stepDD her 2006 Corolla with 190K miles on it. DH hated the thought of our 16YO driving a nicer car than his mom! StepDD pays us for insurance and personal property tax. She has a job at a pizza place. Our HHI is $350K. I'm very happy with our decision, no teen needs a $10K+ car! My theory is that they need a car that will get them through college, because after they graduate and start their "adult" life, they WILL think they need a new car and they'll want something nicer than their current car - so you set the bar low!!

My Step-DD drives my old 2012 Ford Fiesta; we cover everything except gas when she wants to hang out with her friends. I am going to recommend to DH, she starts paying car registration fees and personal property taxes on it starting in 2020. It's not much, but she needs to learn the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a 16YO stepDD and a 3 and 4YO. We have full custody of stepDD. Instead of buying her a car we took the money that we would have spent ($10K) and gave it to MIL to put towards a new car and in turn she gave stepDD her 2006 Corolla with 190K miles on it. DH hated the thought of our 16YO driving a nicer car than his mom! StepDD pays us for insurance and personal property tax. She has a job at a pizza place. Our HHI is $350K. I'm very happy with our decision, no teen needs a $10K+ car! My theory is that they need a car that will get them through college, because after they graduate and start their "adult" life, they WILL think they need a new car and they'll want something nicer than their current car - so you set the bar low!!

My Step-DD drives my old 2012 Ford Fiesta; we cover everything except gas when she wants to hang out with her friends. I am going to recommend to DH, she starts paying car registration fees and personal property taxes on it starting in 2020. It's not much, but she needs to learn the process.

Really, you think that’s how she needs to learn the process? Coming from a stepmom you sound jealous.

[Anonymous]

My parents have a 2013 Corolla that they’re planning to sell us for our 14 year old DD when the time comes. They won’t give us a sweetheart deal or anything-that’s not how they operate-but it’s been well-maintained and is in good shape. We will probably update it with an after market backup camera. DD is thrilled with this idea. Not sure how we’ll deal with gas/insurance cost exactly but DD will be expected to pay for some of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Planning on giving DS our Tesla Model S, P100D. Getting myself the Tesla Roadster. By the time DS is old enough to drive in 4 yrs, I'm hoping the car is fully autonomous, level 5 not 3 as it is now. We will trade in our Tesla S in 2 yrs so he'll be getting a 2 yr old car.

Please don’t. See the Miami kid that lost control with its Tesla. That’s a racing car. A teen is not capable of handling it yet.

You can put a speed limit so that the car will not go over a certain speed. iPad on wheels. That teenager was going 116 mph, lost control and drove the car into a concrete wall. Dumb.

I expect by the time DS gets a license, I can make the car drive itself home. C’mon Elon!

[Anonymous]

Our kids got a 2 year old used Volvo SUV.

"Motor vehicle fatality is the leading cause of accident death among teenagers, representing over one-third of all deaths to teenagers."

We spend a lot of time worrying about a lot of things but statistically driving is the most dangerous thing your teen will do. I knew that I would easily give $30K to have my child back if they died so it was an easy choice for us. It wasn't a sacrifice for us but I would have gladly sacrificed to know that I did everything I reasonably could to allow them to become independent people but also not die.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our kids got a 2 year old used Volvo SUV.

"Motor vehicle fatality is the leading cause of accident death among teenagers, representing over one-third of all deaths to teenagers."

We spend a lot of time worrying about a lot of things but statistically driving is the most dangerous thing your teen will do. I knew that I would easily give $30K to have my child back if they died so it was an easy choice for us. It wasn't a sacrifice for us but I would have gladly sacrificed to know that I did everything I reasonably could to allow them to become independent people but also not die.

Is there a statistical difference in death rates between kids driving 30k cars and kids driving $10k cars?

[Anonymous]

Great question pp. I’ld Love to know as well. Anybody?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our kids got a 2 year old used Volvo SUV.

"Motor vehicle fatality is the leading cause of accident death among teenagers, representing over one-third of all deaths to teenagers."

We spend a lot of time worrying about a lot of things but statistically driving is the most dangerous thing your teen will do. I knew that I would easily give $30K to have my child back if they died so it was an easy choice for us. It wasn't a sacrifice for us but I would have gladly sacrificed to know that I did everything I reasonably could to allow them to become independent people but also not die.

lol. love the insinuation that those of us who don't purchase our children new cars are letting them die. are you my 16 year old?

[Anonymous]

Newer cars are safer - structurally with improved crumple zones, more air bags, more and better safety features, less likely to break down soon.
Important stuff for a new driver.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our kids got a 2 year old used Volvo SUV.

"Motor vehicle fatality is the leading cause of accident death among teenagers, representing over one-third of all deaths to teenagers."

We spend a lot of time worrying about a lot of things but statistically driving is the most dangerous thing your teen will do. I knew that I would easily give $30K to have my child back if they died so it was an easy choice for us. It wasn't a sacrifice for us but I would have gladly sacrificed to know that I did everything I reasonably could to allow them to become independent people but also not die.

lol. love the insinuation that those of us who don't purchase our children new cars are letting them die. are you my 16 year old?

You are hearing things that aren't there. I was simply explaining our decision making process. You may make a different decision. You'll also see that we didn't get a new car and if you put some effort into it there are a number of cheaper cars that receive high crash test ratings. I'd rather my kid drive a used Volvo than a new Prius but we live in the suburbs with curvy roads and lots of SUVs - your experience may be different.