Au Pair car sharing

[Anonymous]

I am curious what most HF are doing with regard to a car for an AP. Did you have an extra the was just sitting there that you gave the AP to use? Did you buy an extra car or do you just let her use or do just let her use your car. We were able to put her on our insurance and she has been doing some short drives but I am not quite confident in her driving. She doesn't need to drive the kids anyway. They walk to school and there a lot of activities in the neighborhood so driving is mostly for her personal reasons. I am a bit nervous because I treated myself to a luxury car and would hate for her to have an accident. I am comtemplating getting a used car for her use or having an driving instructor work with her a couple of times. She says she had been driving in her country with no problem and currently has her country's driver's license and an International one but you can tell she is a bit nervous on the road.

[Anonymous]

We have two cars and one car is typically available for the AP to use, but she needs to check with us. Our cars are not nice and have been banged up by out APs over the years. I would not let our AP drive a luxury car. In your situation, I would buy a car for the AP. I would also make her get a Us driver’s license.

[Anonymous]

Do you live in an area with reasonable access to public transportation?

[Anonymous]

Pay for her to have a couple of lessons if that would make you feel better. Where do you live? If you’re out in the burbs and you need a car to get anywhere then so does she. Get an older reliable car for her to use.

[Anonymous]

We have two cars for me, my spouse and the AP. She drives kid to school and activities in the less nice car. We let her use it for personal use with permission and for really good APs have let them take it on road trips. I think wanting to have access to a car is a reasonable "want" - but then again, she matched knowing there was no dedicated car...

I think if you are planning to go the AP route for more than a short time, its worth it to get a reliable, safe not fancy car for the AP to drive. This is one of the "costs" that folks dont consider when they think about getting an AP.

[Anonymous]

Wow. Do not give her access to your luxury car. Most host families accept the high likelihood that an AP will ding or have an accident in their car.

Do you really want AP to get into an accident and then ask you when you're getting a new car??

[Anonymous]

Our AP has always used our least nice car for her personal use. We previously had 2 so we shared but she had pretty free access to it during off ours. We recently got a third car so our oldest car is for her to use when off hours, not driving kids unless we need it for some reason, which is rare. We never purchased a third for AP, just decided not to trade in when it was time for us to upgrade.

[Anonymous]

I’m a bit surprised by these responses. We are in Rockville, and 99% of the Au pair friends that we’ve encountered in our 6 years of hosting had their own dedicated car. We have 3 cars (nice ones for my husband and I, and a Corolla for the Au Pair).

I think a 3rd / dedicated car is high on the AP wish list, and mostly the norm in MoCo (though o could definitely see how this wouldn’t be the case in DC).

[Anonymous]

I’m in nova and all the Au pairs we know have their own dedicated car

[Anonymous]

same here. Sure, you don't need to provide one, but be warned. When they see all their friends with access, they will rematch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m in nova and all the Au pairs we know have their own dedicated car

Definitely not true. AP's friends take turns picking up the ones without cars. Is it fair to those families? No. Do APs without dedicated cars or can't drive/not allowed to drive make friends with APs with cars and manage? Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:same here. Sure, you don't need to provide one, but be warned. When they see all their friends with access, they will rematch.

Then let AP rematch. A rematch is better than letting a "nervous" driver on the road with your luxury car and being liable for the inevitable accident. If you search, there will be awful stories about how bad AP drivers have hit pedestrians or gotten into accidents bad enough that the host family was plagued by the lawsuits long after AP left their home. Would you take that risk knowing that your AP wasn't up to par on driving?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:same here. Sure, you don't need to provide one, but be warned. When they see all their friends with access, they will rematch.

Then let AP rematch. A rematch is better than letting a "nervous" driver on the road with your luxury car and being liable for the inevitable accident. If you search, there will be awful stories about how bad AP drivers have hit pedestrians or gotten into accidents bad enough that the host family was plagued by the lawsuits long after AP left their home. Would you take that risk knowing that your AP wasn't up to par on driving?

Don’t be dense, we did not say that you needed to let the Au pair drive a luxury car (we are the family with a Corolla for our AP car), nor are we saying that you should let an AP who is a bad driver drive around. Most AP’s in MoCo and Northern VA have a dedicated car, and it will likely lead to a re-match if the AP ends up not having an easily accessible car to use during her off time.

[Anonymous]

AP: Can I use the car to get some tampons.
HF: Please use public transportation.

Good luck with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AP: Can I use the car to get some tampons.
HF: Please use public transportation.

Good luck with that.

You mean you don't buy your AP tampons when she puts it on the weekly grocery list?