Joined Jan 2007
The Mistress of All Evil!
Forum Thread
Would you buy your newly-licensed teen a brand new car?
December 15, 2010 at
08:37 PM
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Chat
Why or why not?
Poll to come.
Poll to come.
169 Comments
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I've seen the hypothetical kid stuff a couple times in this thread.
For the record, I don't feel compelled to put our 16-y.o. behind the wheel of a car, so buying him a car (new or otherwise) hasn't even been considered. He refuses to even get a job. "Why do I need a job? None of my friends have a job." SMH
I even bought my godson a brand new car as soon as he got his license.
I even bought my godson a brand new car as soon as he got his license.
if i ever have kids i might be willing to do something similar, but it would likely depend on how responsible they were, accessibility of public transportation, etc
I can't see myself buying a brand new car as her first vehicle.
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I get the impression that most people wouldn't buy a new car for their teenager because they think it would spoil them and give them a sense of entitlement rather than learning the responsibility of buying their own.
I get the impression that most people wouldn't buy a new car for their teenager because they think it would spoil them and give them a sense of entitlement rather than learning the responsibility of buying their own.
Same logic applies, still the parents fault.
I am thankful I was able to use that car, or I don't know what I would have done. Things would have been much more difficult.
Anyway, thank goodness it already had a few scratches on it. When I was learning how to drive, my first task was "back out of the drive way." And while doing so, I slowly scratched my dad's van (which was also cheap, old, and used - thank goodness). And then there was a time while trying to park in the garage while I was still new to driving. Got some good scratches on the front passenger side due to that, but nothing horrible. All the "accidents" I had happened when I was driving very slowly, but yes they still happened.
I would have hated to get those scratches on a brand new, nice car. Things happen - teens are learning. Not everyone can do something perfectly the first few times.
Now grandma's Geo Prizm is gone... my sister ended up with it later and didn't treat it very well. I made an upgrade and drove my parents' mini van for a few months. And then at 21 I bought my own brand new Honda Fit. I hopefully got all those mistakes out of my system and know what I'm doing. I took good care of the Prizm, and now I'm taking good care of my Fit.
:erm:
Well that was a lot of typing... Nobody's gonna read it, will they? Heck, I only read the first couple pages. At this point people are probably all off-topic now, aren't they? Oh well.
I don't have any kids but make a decent amount for the area I live. In 17+ years if I have kids of driving age my earning potential will be even higher. I will still probably be opposed to buying them a car.
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When he got his license in HS his dad picked him up in a brand new infinity g35 (his 16th birthday present). He drove that until sophmore year of college when it got totaled. His parents then bought him a brand new bimmer coupe. He was a good kid, he did good in school and now has a great job. However he is definitely the minority. I would say 9/10 of the kids given a brand new car were also given everything else in life and never learned to respect the hard work and effort it took their parents to get them to that comfortable of a life.
Shoot, most of them took college for granted, just like they took everything else in life for granted. A couple of them had to transfer out, or drop out, because they didn't realize the opportunity they had to make success for themselves in college.
Having your child buy their first car teaches them responsibility, you aren't throwing them out without a life preserver, you are still there to help them financially (maybe paying half, or paying for major repairs if they happen).
My mother (and the rest of my family) was very very poor until I was around 14 (family opened up a business). However I was still required to buy my own vehicle, pay for insurance, gas etc.. It teaches you to not only respect the things you have, but also respect the hard work and time it takes to reach a goal. It also teaches children that something that seems so hard to do (save up for a car) is not an impossible feat. You teach them dedication, hard work, sacrifice, but more importantly confidence. Confidence in that if you're willing to put the time and effort into something, you can have/be whatever you want.
The mentality that if you buy them something it will OMG COMPLETELY SPOIL them is ridiculous. There is always a balance and a middle ground. People dealing with absolutes might think their parenting is right, but it really isin't (however everyone is entitled to raise their children as they please, as long as its legal). This is all IMO.