Do UMC parents buy their adult kid a car after college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Assuming you got rid of their high school car and they attended a college where they lived on campus and/or in a city they didn't need a car. Now they've graduated and begin a job in a region that requires a car. Does it go without saying UMC and wealthy parents go car shopping with their college grad kid the summer after they graduate, so they can begin their career with a stable vehicle? UMC parents should pay for the entire car, or only a large down payment... or parents co-sign a lease and pay the up-fronts but the kid will pay the monthly payment? Unsure what is normal.

The kids we know who get cars from their parents get hand me down cars. We live in McLean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, UMC parents buy their kids a car during HS.

+1

And it’s a nice new car too!

UMC is a big range, lower end would be around a 200-250k HHI. That’s not high enough to randomly spend $40k on a nice new car for your dumb teenage kid without it hurting. Sure maybe at 700k HHI

We were on the lower end of UMC and my parents leased me and my siblings cars when we got our licenses because we didn’t put very many miles on them. No clue if that’s normal. Turned the lease in around the time we went to college. I didn’t need a car right after college because I was living in Manhattan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, UMC parents buy their kids a car during HS.

If your kid goes to say Yale or Notre Dame or NYU and doesn’t drive at college, you’re going to keep their old car in the garage? No. You’re going to unload it. So they’ll need another car when they graduate.

Most people absolutely do not do this. They keep the car at their parents house or find somewhere to park it off campus. Selling a car because someone going to school is something a poor people do. Most kids going to schools like this come from families that can afford to spend a few hundred a month on a car no one is using.

Poor people keep cars in the driveway for five to six years. Rich don’t even own daily driver cars that old. You do not know what you’re talking about. A prissy rich girl isn’t driving her high school Audi or Jeep after she graduates from college. She’s going to ask for a new one.

I'm rich. 2 million comp. Been making over 500k for 20 plus years. I keep my car 10-12 years. Fairly common in my neighborhood where the houses are 2-5 million. Would not sell a car because kid going to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost everyone I know at my high school was given a car by their parents when they got their drivers license. This is the norm among upper middle class and above households. These parents want their kids to focus on grades in school and don’t want a minimum wage job (during the school year) to jeopardize their chances of getting into a good college.

What era was this? Also I am missing the connection between getting a car and taking a minimum wage job.

The difference nowadays is many kids have no interest in driving and a fair number don’t get a license in HS. This is especially true in wealthy, close in parts of the DMV (Bethesda as example) where kids prefer to Uber vs drive themselves.

Whereas 30 years ago at a HS like my kid probably 90% of kids would get a license at 17…now it’s less than 50%.

This was relatively recent. After 2010 in an affluent suburban town.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost everyone I know at my high school was given a car by their parents when they got their drivers license. This is the norm among upper middle class and above households. These parents want their kids to focus on grades in school and don’t want a minimum wage job (during the school year) to jeopardize their chances of getting into a good college.

What era was this? Also I am missing the connection between getting a car and taking a minimum wage job.

The difference nowadays is many kids have no interest in driving and a fair number don’t get a license in HS. This is especially true in wealthy, close in parts of the DMV (Bethesda as example) where kids prefer to Uber vs drive themselves.

Whereas 30 years ago at a HS like my kid probably 90% of kids would get a license at 17…now it’s less than 50%.

This was relatively recent. After 2010 in an affluent suburban town.

Many UMC parents don’t want their kids working long hours after school to pay for a car on their own. They would rather have them focus on getting good grades.

[Anonymous]

My grandparents gave both me and my sibling a car when we got our drivers licenses. My parents paid for car insurance and car maintenance until we finished college and got a full time job. This is normal and most students attending elite universities are given cars by their parents.

[Anonymous]

I’ve never seen an upper middle class or rich kid driving an old car after college. The worn out tropes of moneyed kids driving an old Volvo around are so corny and bogus.

[Anonymous]

The only car my kid is getting is my hand me down when he is in college. If he wants another one after he graduates, he can pay for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost everyone I know at my high school was given a car by their parents when they got their drivers license. This is the norm among upper middle class and above households. These parents want their kids to focus on grades in school and don’t want a minimum wage job (during the school year) to jeopardize their chances of getting into a good college.

What era was this? Also I am missing the connection between getting a car and taking a minimum wage job.

The difference nowadays is many kids have no interest in driving and a fair number don’t get a license in HS. This is especially true in wealthy, close in parts of the DMV (Bethesda as example) where kids prefer to Uber vs drive themselves.

Whereas 30 years ago at a HS like my kid probably 90% of kids would get a license at 17…now it’s less than 50%.

This was relatively recent. After 2010 in an affluent suburban town.

2024 is very different…Uber was only launched in 2008 and barely anywhere in 2010.

Kids love to Uber. Few would try to buy a car on their own if a parent wouldn’t buy one…they will just Uber.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost everyone I know at my high school was given a car by their parents when they got their drivers license. This is the norm among upper middle class and above households. These parents want their kids to focus on grades in school and don’t want a minimum wage job (during the school year) to jeopardize their chances of getting into a good college.

What era was this? Also I am missing the connection between getting a car and taking a minimum wage job.

The difference nowadays is many kids have no interest in driving and a fair number don’t get a license in HS. This is especially true in wealthy, close in parts of the DMV (Bethesda as example) where kids prefer to Uber vs drive themselves.

Whereas 30 years ago at a HS like my kid probably 90% of kids would get a license at 17…now it’s less than 50%.

This was relatively recent. After 2010 in an affluent suburban town.

Many UMC parents don’t want their kids working long hours after school to pay for a car on their own. They would rather have them focus on getting good grades.

Again…a kid will just Uber which gives them plenty of independence. They aren’t getting a job to buy a car on their own in 2024.

[Anonymous]

We buy new and keep them 8-10 years. We bought DS a new car when he got his license and then after getting his PhD. We’d rather he drive a AWD car with up-to date safety equipment but not a luxury vehicle. Our parents gave us their used cars but DH and I now own luxury vehicles which we don’t think is appropriate for a young person just starting out in a regular career.

[Anonymous]

New car (lease?) is a pretty standard UMC college graduation gift.

[Anonymous]

My UMC parents gave me an 8-year-old car of theirs when I graduated college (about 25 years ago) because I needed a car for my job, it didn’t pay that well, and they wanted a newer one. I don’t think there’s a norm one way or the other about this. My own kids are a few years away from going to college, but fwiw, I have no intention of buying them a car after college or, really, before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My grandparents gave both me and my sibling a car when we got our drivers licenses. My parents paid for car insurance and car maintenance until we finished college and got a full time job. This is normal and most students attending elite universities are given cars by their parents.

Same with my grandparents and my husband’s grandparents. Both gifted us used cars when we received our licenses. My husband’s was titled to him; mine was not. Insurance and fees were paid by our parents until we graduated college. The day after graduation, we each paid for our own insurance and taxes.

We don’t expect our kids to be gifted anything by our own parents. One graduated high school recently and got little gift cards from each set of grandparents. We make over 300k but swinging insurance and buying a third car even used is outside of our budget. Our kid is lucky enough to be attending college with us covering the difference between scholarships and cost of attendance. He can order the things I used to drive to Walmart for in college to be delivered so that’s that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost everyone I know at my high school was given a car by their parents when they got their drivers license. This is the norm among upper middle class and above households. These parents want their kids to focus on grades in school and don’t want a minimum wage job (during the school year) to jeopardize their chances of getting into a good college.

What era was this? Also I am missing the connection between getting a car and taking a minimum wage job.

The difference nowadays is many kids have no interest in driving and a fair number don’t get a license in HS. This is especially true in wealthy, close in parts of the DMV (Bethesda as example) where kids prefer to Uber vs drive themselves.

Whereas 30 years ago at a HS like my kid probably 90% of kids would get a license at 17…now it’s less than 50%.

This was relatively recent. After 2010 in an affluent suburban town.

Many UMC parents don’t want their kids working long hours after school to pay for a car on their own. They would rather have them focus on getting good grades.

Again…a kid will just Uber which gives them plenty of independence. They aren’t getting a job to buy a car on their own in 2024.

Exactly. Look at starting salaries and the percentage of college graduates working jobs that require a degree.

I hope I can help them buy used cars when they graduate and get that first job, but until then, nope.