Reply to Anything wrong with buying your teen an nice car? ($40,000 and up)

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[quote=Anonymous]Question 1:  Can you afford this car?  If no, then don't buy it.  If so, go on to question 2.

Question 2:  Why are you doing this?  Is it a reward for being a "good kid"?  Some other reason?

My general take on cars for teens:

_If_ they can afford it, and _if_ the kid really is good, then it makes sense for parents to supply some kind of vehicle for the kid's use.  This works best if it is kept as a "family car" and titled in the parents' name, so that they can maintain control over when and how it is driven.  This also gives the parents the chance to provide a safe car.  While expecting the kid to earn money to pay for his own car is a good lesson, it may result in a cheap/unsafe car and/or lack of attention to school work (due to having to work enough to afford the car+gas+insurance+maintenance).  If the child can contribute something to gas or insurance, that would be a good lesson.  Obviously, if the parents cannot afford a reliable and safe car for their teen, then they should not feel badly about this, nor should they buy an unsafe or unreliable car.

Should the car be a new car, if the parents can afford it?  Personally, I wouldn't do it.  I want my children to know that money does not grow on trees.  I want them to know that a reliable and safe car can be had for a reasonable price, even if it is not fancy or attractive, and I want them to have something to look forward to (better cars) later in life.  I do not want to set up my children for disappointment in the future, and I want to be sure that the car that they can afford to buy with their first job will be better than the one that they had in high school.  Also, the chances are good that one will get into an accident at some point with a first car.  Even if there are no injuries, this will be a painful experience for the kid (emotionally).  Why make it worse buy involving an expensive car?

If you really want to buy a fancy car for your kid, do it as a college graduation present or something.  At that point, the child will have some driving experience and have developed good judgment as a driver.  [/quote]

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